Welcome at the Institute for Applied Materials
The Institute for Applied Materials (IAM) is a leading institution in research and education in materials science and technology. With its interdepartmental character it is one of the largest facilities of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). It pursues the KIT missions of research, teaching and innovation and contributes to the areas of energy, nano- and microtechnology, and mobility systems.
IAM pursues an interdisciplinary approach to materials research that covers the diversity and multiscale character of materials science. In cooperation with national and international partners, we study materials from their atomic structure to their function in the product. Our activities bridge the gap from materials development over process technology to systems integration.
In teaching IAM is responsible for the consecutive bachelor/master course Materials Science and Engineering. It also provides the materials science education in other university programs in engineering and natural sciences.
IAM has broad methodological competences in the fields of materials synthesis, processing, characterization, and simulation. It, thus, offers an attractive scientific environment and excellent opportunities for scientific and personal development to its members.
Contact
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Managing Director Prof. Dr. mont. Christoph Kirchlechner
Tel.: +49 721 608-24815 christoph.kirchlechner∂kit.edu
Dr. Johanna Lampert
Tel.: +49 721 608 47912
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More than 500 employees are working at the 8 IAM units
link to IAM Units
For all those interested we offer insights into materials science research
Link to IAM Events
The interdisciplinary BSc and MSc programs "Materials Science and Engineering" combine fundamentals with applications
link to MatWerk
In cooperation with Texas A&M University, IAM-ET for the first time could simulate and analyze the interfacial layer formation between lithium-metal anodes and liquid electrolytes at molecular resolution, reaching into the µs-scale. The results enhance the understanding of the so-called solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) and provide access to new strategies for knowledge-driven design of the SEI. The study was published in Nature Communications.
Link to the publication
For the lecture „Wasserstoff in Materialien: von der Energiespeicherung zur Materialversprödung“ ("Hydrogen in Materials: from Energy Storage to Material Embrittlement") at IAM-WK, Prof. Astrid Pundt receives the KIT Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Teaching Award. With faculty teaching awards, the KIT Presidium honors courses that are characterized by new forms of teaching and learning, interdisciplinarity, and high topicality of the imparted expert knowledge.
About 170 colleagues from the different IAM parts met for scientific exchange at the IAM networking seminar on 28.04.2023. After the presentations and at the posters, there were lively discussions, new contacts were made and common topics were identified. By popular demand, this format will be held again in the future.
Geothermal energy not only enables a sustainable supply of electricity and heat, but also, incidentally, regional lithium extraction. KIT researchers - including those from IAM-ESS - and EnBW have produced a lithium ion screen from a lithium-manganese oxide and used it to adsorb lithium from geothermal brines. In the future, using domestic lithium sources can help meet the increasing demand for the light metal, which is indispensable as an energy storage material.
Link to Press Release at KIT
Together with HIU and EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, IAM-ESS has developed a new mechanochemical process for the recovery of lithium. Compared to the available metallurgical processes, this process promises higher yields at lower cost and greater sustainability (publication in Nature Communications Chemistry).
Link to Press Release at KIT
On March 29, Prof. Hoffmann was awarded the Seger Plaque by the German Ceramic Society (DKG) at its annual meeting (https://dkg.de/dkg/ehrungen/seger-plakette). The plaque honors personalities who have made outstanding scientific achievements in the field of ceramics.
Astrid Pundt (IAM-WK) was elected chairwoman of the working group of the Metal and Materials Physics (MM) of the German Physical Society (DPG) in the section of condensed method section of the German Physical Society (DPG) and was appointed KIT representative to the Materials Engineering.
Martin Heilmaier (IAM-WK) was elected at the DGM meeting in Darmstadt in the fall as one of the two Presidents of the German Society for Materials Science. The term of office is two years and starts on 01.01.2023
more information
A team led by Jarir Aktaa (IAM-MMI) with cooperation partners from Forschungszentrum Jülich won the 1st SOFT Innovation Award for the development of plasma-sprayed, functionally graded tungsten/EUROFER layers for the first wall of future fusion power plants. The innovation opens up applications in further components of fusion technology, in high-voltage components and in the field of concentrating solar energy.
The "European Network for the Mechanics of Matter at the Nano-Scale" (MecaNano) has been approved as a European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) for a period of four years. The IAM-MMI will also be part of MecaNano with Christoph Kirchlechner as the German representative.
MecaNano offers its members numerous opportunities for interaction and collaboration, supports the geographic mobility of its participants and promotes the professional development of its young researchers.
The action is open to researchers from all countries.
more information
Basic chemicals, which are raw materials for a wide range of products such as medicines or detergents, can currently only be produced with an enormously high input of energy and fossil fuels. The aim of the future cluster ETOS, which is co-led by IAM-ET, is to develop more sustainable processes based on electrolysis. The BMBF is funding ETOS as one of seven projects in the Clusters4Future competition.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation awarded Ji-Cheng Zhao, Minta-Martin Professor of Engineering and Chair of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Maryland (USA), a Humboldt Research Award endowed with 60,000 Euros. With this award, Zhao will further his collaboration especially with Professors Dierk Raabe (MPIE) and Peter Gumbsch at IAM-ZM and Fraunhofer IWM.
read more
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Elsner, Professor of Polymer Technology at the IAM-WK and Institute Director of the Fraunhofer ICT, passed away at the age of 65. Peter Elsner was a highly esteemed colleague and respected researcher whose memory will be cherished by the staff of the IAM.
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded Professor Christoph Kirchlechner (IAM-MMI) with the prestigious Consolidator Grant. His project TRITIME aims to fundamentally understand the mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement and help tailor new materials used in the distribution and storage of hydrogen.
Link to Press Release at KIT
Dr. Haruyuki Inui, professor of materials science and engineering from Kyoto University (Japan), has been granted the Humboldt Research Award. Prof. Inui, an expert on intermetallic phases which play a significant role in the development of new types of structural materials plans to spend his stay associated with the Award i.a. as a guest at IAM-WK.
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Prof. Dr. Ulrike Krewer (IAM-ET) and Prof. Dr. Helmut Ehrenberg (IAM-ESS) were appointed to the advisory board "Batterieforschung Deutschland" (Battery Research Germany) of the Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) (BMBF). The task of the advisory board is, among other things, the development and evaluation of proposals as well as the formulation of recommendations on funding programs and topic clusters.
Link to Batterieforum Deutschland
Several sub-institutes of the IAM are often involved in a leading role in the battery competence clusters of the BMBF and thus in a sustainable support of battery research as well as in the establishment of battery cell production in Germany: FestBatt, AQua, InZePro and BattNutzung.
Link to Press Release at KIT
