COMPETENCE CENTREs & PLATFORMS
Platforms at Kiel University
Kiel Nanolaboratory
The Kiel Nanolaboratory with its cleanroom and research instruments (total value around 12 million Euros) at the Faculty of Engineering serves as a research platform for higher education, collaborative and industrial projects. Scientists use this infrastructure to investigate the basics for new materials und applications. Piezo- and thermoelectric layers, batteries, solar technology, chip laboratories and magnetoelectric sensors are but a few research areas of scientists in the nano lab.
BAEW Battery Lab
Batteries play a key role in electric mobility and energy supply as central issues of our time. In order to develop innovative battery systems new storage materials as well as the appropriate power electronics are needed. The Laboratory for Reliable Battery-Assisted Energy Conversion (BAEW, Labor für zuverlässige batteriegestützte Energiewandlung) is working closely on this in the fields of materials science and power electronics.
Researchers from different disciplines are conducting interdisciplinary research on sustainable storage materials such as silicon, which could drastically increase the capacity of batteries, and highly efficient semiconductor technologies such as silicon carbide or gallium nitride. Together they are optimising the efficiency and service life of individual components as well as the entire battery system. The laboratory equipment includes a facility for the development of particularly powerful battery cells as well as a climate chamber to test their use under extreme temperature and humidity conditions for solar and wind farms (onshore and offshore), electric vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles or photovoltaic systems. The interdisciplinary laboratory at the Faculty of Engineering is also available for cooperation with companies and is firmly integrated into practical university teaching. Last but not least, by providing high-quality research and education it also strengthens the region of Schleswig-Holstein.
Since 1 January 2020, the project has been supported with around 2 million euros from the State Programme Economy 2014-2020 with funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and with funds from the State of Schleswig-Holstein. The funds were approved on behalf of the state by the Wirtschaftsförderung und Technologietransfer Schleswig-Holstein GmbH (WTSH).
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Marco Liserre
Research Group Power Electronics
Institute of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
TEM-Center
The Kiel Centre for Transmission Electron Microscopy (Kiel TEM Center) at the Faculty of Engineering offers access to transmission electron microscopy and to the preparation labs to every working group at Kiel University dealing with microstructures. The scientific staff offer TEM investigations and analyses as a service but also training in operating the devices.
Ruprecht Haensel Laboratory
As a joint research institution of the CAU and the Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, the Ruprecht-Haensel Laboratory bundles modern instruments and methods of nano research, makes new developments available to international cooperation partners and ensures a research-oriented strengthening of teaching in the field of nanosciences and surface research with joint appointments. Since 2022, the RHL has been located in the Centre for X-ray and Nano Science (CXNS) on the DESY site. It is thus closely integrated into the outstanding infrastructure of DESY with its high-intensity X-ray sources PETRA III, FLASH, European XFEL and also spatially represents a central interface between the research activities of KiNSIS and the CAU as well as DESY.
The experimental stations of the Ruprecht-Haensel Laboratory developed in Kiel and operated at DESY include the instruments LISA and ASPHERE. The X-ray diffractometer LISA is used to investigate the movement of atoms at liquid interfaces over many time scales. It enables the excitation of atoms with a high-power laser in order to investigate in detail, for example, the biochemical processes at cell membranes via the scattering of short X-ray pulses. The ASPHERE photoelectron spectrometer is used for questions concerning the understanding and production of new high-tech materials. By filming the behaviour of individual electrons,
MOIN CC
The MOIN CC (Molecular Imaging North Competence Center) is an interdisciplinary center that acts as CAU’s core unit for imaging in vivo. The development and application of multimodal visualization techniques is available especially for preclinical research but also for imaging of biological samples and for (nanoparticle) materials research.
The techniques include high field magnetic resonance imaging, also with hyperpolarization, micro computed tomography, fluorescence tomography and bioluminescence, high resolution sonography and photoacoustics as well as (multiphoton) microscopy. This is complemented by quantitative image processing and analysis, in particular also with artificial intelligence methods.
Center for Networked Sensor Systems
At the Center for Networked Sensor Systems (ZEVS) Kiel University’s research activities in the field of sensor systems are bundled, networking with regional industry is strengthened and future-oriented projects are initiated. The researchers address and connect Schleswig-Holstein’s areas of strength – medicine and life sciences, maritime applications, energy technology and environmental sensor technology. Beyond fundamental research, the ZEVS, based on the campus of the Faculty of Engineering, offers the opportunity to test product ideas and introduce new utilisation concepts for technological spin-offs as well as regional companies. This also supports a close exchange of experience and know-how between scientists, companies and university members. The opening is planned for the second half of 2023.
Digital Science Center
Bundling digital competences, networking experts and further developing methods are the goals of the Digital Science Center (DSC) founded at CAU in 2022 for data-intensive research. Here, methods and findings from computer science and mathematics will be applied to topics from various disciplines and thus further developed. This creates added value in research, teaching and for knowledge and technology transfer. Researchers and institutions at Kiel University benefit from the interdisciplinary exchange as well as from central service offers and tools in the field of numerical simulations and data analyses. The founding members come from all eight faculties of Kiel University.
LL&M Competence Centres at the University of Rostock
°CALOR
The scientific work at the Competence Centre °CALOR focuses on the kinetics of phase transformations by means of thermal analysis. For this purpose, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) is used predominantly. °CALOR provides the world’s largest dynamic range (time range, approx. 10-4 K/s to 105 K/s for metals and up to more than 106 K/s for polymers) accessible for scanning calorimetry. New measuring devices including software (in particular chip sensor based Fast Scanning Calorimetry (FSC)) and measuring methods are continuously developed in order to continuously expand our competencies and fields of application.
Field of application
- Kinetics of phase transformations and chemical reactions
- Controlled adjustment of nano-/ microstructures
- Thereby adjustment of materials properties
- Determination of ideal heat treatment parameters
- Material analysis and models
Actors
- Olaf Kessler, Materials Engineering
- Christoph Schick, Polymer Physics
- Sergey Verevkin, Thermochemistry
- Ralf Zimmermann, Analytical Chemistry
- Laboratory Manager Benjamin Milkereit
Devices
- Several high-performance calorimeters of Setaram, PerkinElmer and Mettler-Toledo
- Fast-Scanning Chip-Calorimeters
- Thermobalances
- Quenching dilatometer TA Baehr
InterSurf
The Competence Center InterSurf comprises our activities concerning the interaction at, in, and on Surfaces and Interfaces. The aim is to understand and design “active” interfaces and structures, which respond in a desired way to triggers from the local environment, such as forces, electronic potentials, and light, with respect to tasks in medicine and energy supply. The application background comprises electrically active implant surfaces, initiation and control of cellular programs, and materials and structures for energy transport. Nanostructuration- and nanomanipulation protocols for interfaces are developed, in order to arrange for dedicated structures, the function of them can be locally initiated, measured and comprehended. In an number of pilot studies and projects we aim to identify the most promising questions and approaches in order to implement those as interdisciplinary collaborative projects.
- Surface structures for cell growth and differentiation
- Influence of electric fields on cellular processes
- Triggering and sensing live cells via nanoprobes
- Interaction processes of cardiomyocytes
- Structure and Dynamics of Molecular Interfaces
- Energy transport through molecule crystals
- Quantum-Engineering for opto-mechanical detection
Actors
- Sylvia Speller, Ingo Barke, Surfaces and interfaces
- Barbara Nebe, Kirsten Peters, Cellular Biology
- Ursula van Rienen, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
- Rigo Peters, Applied Laser Physics, SLV Mecklenburg-Vorpommern GmbH
- Ralf Ludwig, Physical Chemistry
- Karl-Heinz Meiwes-Broer, Clusters and Nanostructures
- Detlef Behrend, Materials for Medical Engineering
- Boris Hage, Experimental Quantum Optics
- Robert David, Gustav Steinhoff, Cardial Regeneration
- Jürgen Kolb, Bioelectrics
Instruments
- Photo Emission Electron Microscopy
- ζ -siser for extended structured surfaces and membranes
- Scanning Ion Conductance and
- Atomic Force Microscopy
- Five Axes Ultra Short Pulse Laser Machining
NMR
The NMR competence centre focuses on the characterisation of molecular structures of solid materials with the help of solid-state NMR on the one hand, and on the investigation of the molecular dynamics of complex systems by measuring the NMR relaxation times of a wide variety of atomic nuclei in a variable magnetic field (NMR relaxometry) on the other. The aim is to understand the macroscopic properties of complex matter at the molecular level, for example, in order to optimise and ideally predict the properties of novel materials for concrete applications.
Microscopy and Spectroscopy
In the competence center Microscopy and Spectroscopy we investigate biological systems, functional materials, and nanostructures using optical and electron microscopy as well as time resolved spectroscopy. The goal is to characterize the processes occurring in these systems and to elucidate the responsible molecular mechanisms. The center provides access to high-end methods by facilitating collaborations between experts of different disciplines and pushes new methodical developments.
Topics
- 1. Light induced processes in molecular complexes, nanostructures, and materials
- 2. Interaction between proteins and metabolic constituents
- 3. Molecular mechanisms in photocatalysis and renewable energy research
- 4. Subcellular and molecular changes in aging and disease evolution
- 5. Dynamics of extremely excited matter
People and Expertise
- Simone Baltrusch, Optical and laser microscopy of cellular processes
- Stefan Lochbrunner, Time resolved spectroscopy of molecular systems
- Marcus Frank, Electron microscopy
- Angelika Brückner, Operando spectroscopy in catalysis
- Oliver Stachs, Diagnostics for ophthalmology
- Ralf Ludwig, IR spectroscopy and molecular liquids
- Peter Ottl, Detlef Behrend, Dental material science
- Oliver Kühn, Theory of molecular system
Instruments
1. Fluorescence lifetime microscope
2. Multiphoton microscope
3. Electron microscopes
4. Laser system for ultrashort high energy pulses
5. Femtosecond pump-probe setup
6. Streak camera
Mass spectrometry
The core topic of the Mass Spectrometry Competence Centre is the chemical analysis of complex molecular systems. For this purpose, modern mass spectrometry techniques are being further developed for research on (nano-)particles in environmental and combustion aerosols and for elucidating their effect in the biological system.
Another focus is the investigation of complex mixtures, for example from thermal processes, in the form of trace gases or surface contaminations. As an independent research objective, mass spectrometric methods are adapted for this purpose and linked and further developed with new techniques such as desorption and ionisation using short laser pulses.