Immediate steps are needed to improve the world’s climate tangibly. A pivotal aspect to this end is the provision of clean and renewable energy stored in portable rechargeable batteries. This is what Dr. Samantha Husmann will be researching at INM from November 2021 as part of an “Eigene Stelle” (own position) funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Prussian blue and its analogues (PBA) are inexpensive, easy-to-synthesize metal complexes. They are also non-toxic and stable in water and air. Due to their structure and composition, they are an ideal template for electrode materials. Over a period of 3 years, Dr. Husmann will investigate the use of PBA as template materials for the production of low-cost, conductive, and stable battery electrodes. Achieving control on this templating strategy translates to establishing a new class of environmental and economic-friendly energy storage devices.
Samantha Husmann earned her degree in chemistry (2012), her Master’s degree (2014), and her PhD (2018) in inorganic and materials chemistry from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR, Brazil), where she worked with the Prussian blue family of compounds. Driven by expanding into energy storage applications, she joined INM Program Division Energy Materials in 2018.