Hi, I am Andrea and I am a professor of electrochemistry at the Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena. My work focuses on the development of advanced electrochemical energy storage devices and my main research activities focus on the development of innovative electrolytic components.
What was your original motivation to become a researcher and what is your main research area today?
My main motivation is curiosity and the freedom to follow my own ideas. My research focuses on the development of new electrolytes for efficient and sustainable energy storage, particularly for supercapacitors and batteries. We are working on developing new solvents, salts and ionic liquids suitable for these devices. In addition, we are developing new tools to study the degradation processes occurring in these new electrolytes.
What is the main objective of your team in GREENCAP?
My team’s main objective in GREENCAP is the development of novel and sustainable electrolyte for supercapacitors.
What expertise and facilities does your team have to meet those objectives?
We are a group focused on the development of new electrolyte components and electrochemical and analytical characterisation. We have over 15 years of experience in the field of electrochemistry and energy storage devices.
We have fully equipped laboratories for the characterisation of electrolyte components. We are able to study the transport and thermal properties of liquid electrolytes over a wide temperature range and have developed innovative in-situ and in-operando cells, e.g. the in-operando GC-MS cell, suitable for the investigation of the degradation of the electrolyte components in electrochemical cells.
Which aspects of your research at GREENCAP do you believe are the most innovative and what unique opportunities offer GREENCAP to yourself and/or your organisation?
The GREENCAP project can contribute to improving the sustainability of supercapacitor technology.
The GREENCAP project offers FSU Jena the opportunity to collaborate with excellent groups and test very promising materials such as MXenes. Our research into innovative electrolytes can help introduce new and sustainable components in this technology.
How do you see the future use of the GREENCAP results and the impact of GREENCAP project in our daily lives?
The supercapsules developed within GREENCAP have the potential to be applied to a wide range of technologies, from automotive to stationary. The use of MXene, graphene and ionic liquid has the potential to significantly improve the energy density of this technology. The combination of these materials can lead to the realisation of a new, more environmentally friendly generation of supercapacitors.
