









Research Center Future Energy Materials and Systems

The Research Center Future Energy Materials and Systems aims to develop new materials that are urgently needed for energy carrier generation, energy conversion, storage, and transport in a targeted, rapid and sustainable manner. The goal is to understand fundamental properties and relevant processes in the generation and use of complex materials in order to develop building blocks for a sustainable energy system. At the same time, the college is looking into regenerative processes to replace energy-intensive ways of materials production and processing.
The ways in which composition and processing influence materials structures and properties are considered along all relevant length scales from the atom to the component. The goal is to realize the vision of the knowledge-based development of novel materials and processes for the energy system of the future, thus replacing a development approach, which so far is often empirical and sequential, with materials and process design.
In concrete terms, this involves such things as the fundamental design of novel materials, including interfaces and surfaces, starting from the atomic scale on the basis of materials exploration with experimental and simulative high-throughput methods. For this purpose, hypotheses are derived from physical and chemical models in combination with machine learning and optimized in an iterative and experimentally simulative design cycle to obtain correlations between chemical composition, crystal structure and microstructure of new, chemically complex materials for applications under extreme conditions. Furthermore, the focus is on observing and controlling quantum mechanical processes in real time at interfaces and in heterostructures for energy-relevant materials such as catalysts, batteries, magnets, and superconductors. Another field of interest is the development of scalable synthesis, coating, and structuring methods. These close the gap between newly discovered materials and their implementation in electrochemical and electrified processes and make it possible to evaluate the innovative material concepts in a system context. Aspects of sustainability, resource availability, cost effectiveness and usability in the energy system are considered from the very outset and set priorities for the development of components and system-compatible materials.
Interdisciplinary approach
The Research Center Future Energy Materials and Systems brings together numerous disciplines of the natural sciences and engineering:
- Material Science
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Information Technology
- Mechanical Engineering
- Process Engineering
- Electrical Engineering

Professor Alfred Ludwig, Director:
“At the Research Center Future Energy Materials and Systems, our goal is to develop new, urgently needed materials for a sustainable energy system of the future. With a diverse and powerful research landscape, which also has many ties to industry, the Ruhr region constitutes an excellent basis for our Center. We combine scientific creativity with the expertise on how to bring new ideas to fruition. Exploring materials in the context of energy transition is highly relevant, and our Research Center will provide the platform enabling the three universities in the Ruhr Area to make a significant contribution in this field.
We are pleased that the first three outstanding colleagues will be conducting research in new professorships at the center starting in April 2023. One of the aims involves the development of functional materials such as catalysts for energy carrier production – keyword green hydrogen – as well as materials that can be used for climate-friendly cooling, for example. To this end, we need to understand the basic properties and relevant processes of producing and using new materials. We examine how the composition and processing of materials influence structures and properties, from the atom to the component. We approach the design of new materials, including interfaces, for example, with experimental and simulative high-throughput methods and bridge the gap between newly discovered materials and their implementation in applications through scalable synthesis, coating and structuring processes. In the process, we also consider aspects of sustainability, resource availability, economic efficiency and usability in the energy system from the outset.”
(Photo credit: RUB, Marquard)
Infrastructure and collaborative projects
The following research buildings offer infrastructure of the highest quality for interdisciplinary collaboration:
• NETZ (NanoEnergyTechnologyCenter)
• Centre for Interface-Dominated High Performance Materials (ZGH)
The innovative research endeavors of the Research Center Future Energy Materials and Systems are based on the successful, cross-location cooperation taking place in numerous collaborative research centers (CRCs) and transregios (TR):
- CRC 1242: Non-Equilibrium Dynamics of Condensed Matter in the Time Domain
- CRC / TR 247: Heterogeneous Oxidation Catalysis in the Liquid Phase
- CRC/ TR 270: Hysteresis design of magnetic materials for efficient energy conversion
- CRC / TR 196: Mobile material characterization and localization by electromagnetic sensing (MARIE)
- CRC / TR 103: From atoms to turbine blades - a scientific basis for a new generation of single crystal superalloys
- CRC / TR 87: Pulsed high power plasmas for the synthesis of nanostructured functional layers
- CRC / TR 129: Oxyflame: Development of Methods and Models to Describe Solid Fuel Reactions within an Oxy-Fuel Atmosphere
- CRC 1316: Transient atmospheric pressure plasmas: from plasmas to liquids to solids
- CRC / TR 160: Coherent manipulation of interacting spin excitations in tailored semiconductors
- CRC / TR 142: Tailored nonlinear photonics: From fundamental concepts to functional structures
- CRC / TR 287: Bulk Reactions – Reacting and moving granular assemblies with gas flow
Non-university partners
The Research Center Future Energy Materials and Systems is firmly rooted in a strong research environment in the Ruhr valley:
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, Mülheim
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim
- Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, Düsseldorf
- The hydrogen and fuel cell center ZBT, Duisburg
- Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology UMSICHT, Oberhausen
- Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS, Duisburg
Contact for further information
Scientific Board Members:
- Prof. Dr. Manfred Bayer, TU Dortmund University
- Prof. Dr. Alfred Ludwig, Ruhr University Bochum
- Prof. Dr. Christof Schulz, University of Duisburg-Essen
Further Members:
- Prof. Dr. Silvana Botti, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
- Prof. Dr. Miguel A. L. Marques, Ruhr University Bochum
- Prof. Dr. Gabi Schierning, University of Duisburg-Essen
Managing Director:
- Dr. Felicitas Scholz und Sinah Loerke, Phone: +49 203 379 8155, E-Mail: rcfems@uaruhr.de or sinah.loerke@uni-due.de
The Research Centre Future Energy Materials and Systems is part of the Research Alliance Ruhr.
