New professorship at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg

Prof. Dr. Simon Thiele – HI ERN’s new professor for Electrocatalytic Interface Engineering

Prof. Dr. Simon Thiele supports our institute as head of the research unit “Electrocatalytic Interface Engineering” (RU-D) since the beginning of January 2018 in Erlangen.

He studied physics at the University of Freiburg and successfully concluded his PhD in 2013 at the Laboratory for MEMS Applications of professor Zengerle with the title „Tomographic reconstruction of the cathode catalyst layer in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells“. So far, he was head of the Porous Media Group (now ‚Electrochemical Energy Systems'), wherein the focus was on the investigation of the relation between morphology and transport processes in porous media and of energy relevant materials for batteries, fuel cells and electrolyzers.

The present group „Electrocatalytic Interface Engineering” at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg focuses on the design of technical interfaces for electrocatalytical energy conversion. The approach builds upon the determination of interface structures by tomographic analyses and combined with modelling to understand the relation between structure and performance. Complementary advanced processing methods are developed to implement novel structures with improved functionality. In summary, the research group deals with structure optimization based on fundamental electrocatalytical data, modelling, and electrochemical cell characterization.