Overview: Advanced Materials Science

Whether cars, planes, computers, mobile phones or medical equipment – all these products ultimately rely on materials research. Research in the Field of Expertise Advanced Materials Science at TU Graz aims to understand the smallest components in their structure and function, to develop new materials and to assemble them in special processes. It’s all about improving existing materials, and designing them to be lighter, more flexible, cheaper or more robust. The researchers in this Field of Expertise work primarily with materials for the areas of energy technology, electronics, lightweight construction and medical technology in basic and application oriented research.

• TU Graz manufactures batteries from lithium, sodium or zinc and tests their use.
• The researchers develop ecological lightweight concrete for use as e.g. prefabricated concrete parts or in tunnel and bridge construction.
• With one of the world’s most powerful electron microscopes, the distribution of elements at atomic resolution can be determined quantitatively.
• From hybrid materials combining organic and inorganic compounds, the researchers develop thin functional layers for solar cells.
• Using the electron beam welding system, particularly thick-walled moulded parts (up to 20 cm thick) can be joined with very deep, narrow weld seams.
• Using computer simulations, the researchers study organic semiconductors in order to apply them in the optimum way in new materials systems. 

Number of participants:
around 130 researchers from 6 faculties of TU Graz

Development of new materials and processes 

• Cathode, anode, electrolyte and separator materials for batteries and accumulators
• Inorganic and organic semiconductors
• Paper and the physical and chemical basics of paper strength
• Metallic materials for energy applications and lightweight construction
• New joining, forming and additive processes

Microanalytics and nanoanalytics, structure determination

• Diffraction and scattering methods (light, X-ray and synchrotron radiation)
• Analytical electron microscopy
• Solid-state spectroscopy
• Surface analysis
• Thermomechanical tests
• Functional layers and components
• Sensor materials for in vivo determination of medically relevant parameters
• Biocides, bioresponsive and biodegradable plastics
• Composite and hybrid solar cells
• Ceramic semiconductors, sensors and piezoelectric components
• Lithium-ion batteries, zinc-air batteries, organic radical batteries

Materials modelling

• Multi-scale materials modelling
• Optimisation of casting, forming and joining processes by numerical simulation