Materials Design

How far can we push the design and tailoring of materials properties for new applications? This ultimately depends on the control of atomic constituents while composing and structuring a material.

To explore the range of attainable properties, we need to increase the fundamental understanding of the materials and the synthesis processes in which they form, on an atomistic level.

The research in the Materials Design Division is therefore a stimulating mix of fundamental physics and application inspired research, including theory and modelling, material synthesis and characterization of 3D and 2D materials, and property testing.

A particular focus is on materials for a sustainable future, targeting applications within, e.g., the area of energy storage and energy conversion.

We are currently a team of ~25 people using an interdisciplinary approach to find optimal solutions for the design of novel materials.

The Division is divided in three Units:

Thin films and nanolaminated materials
Materials theory
Applied electrochemistry.

News

Stronger Berzelius ready for the research of the future

The latest upgrading of the supercomputer Berzelius at LiU has now been completed. Its doubled capacity enables researchers across Sweden to tackle current and future challenges in areas such as materials science, bioinformatics and machine learning.

Portrait of Johanna Rosén, professor in material physics

Contribute to vital materials research

New materials have enormous potential to solve today’s energy and environmental challenges. Johanna Rosén develops more sustainable materials for the transition we are facing.

Research for a sustainable future awarded almost SEK 20 million grant

An unexpected collaboration between materials science and behavioural science. The development of better and more useful services to tackle climate change. Two projects at LiU are to receive support from the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation.

Research Units

Thin films and nanolaminated materials

We work on thin films, i.e. a thin layer of material deposited onto a surface to achieve properties that can not be attained by the surface material alone.

Our goal is to enable design of thin films with specific properties, and to control for example hardness, conductivity, transparency, magnetism, and ability to withstand heat and wear.

Another focus within the unit is to synthesize laminated 3D materials (in powder form) that can be converted into 2D, through chemical exfoliation. Exampled of such materials are 2D metal carbides (MXenes) and borides (boridene). These materials display a large surface to volume ratio, which makes them potentially very interesting for energy storage and catalysis.

Materials theory

Within the Materials theory unit we perform predictive and explanatory simulations based on primarily Density Functional Theory (DFT).

A major goal is to theoretically predict novel materials that can be synthesized in the lab, and to aid in fundamental understanding of the formed structure, composition and basic properties.

The simulations involve 3D as well as 2D materials, and we work in close connection to experimentalists.

Applied electrochemistry

Within the Applied electrochemistry unit, we work on already know materials as well as new materials discovered within the Materials design division.

We focus on sustainable materials development, and design electrodes and devices that we test for energy storage (supercapacitors, batteries) and energy conversion (HER, OER, etc.).

Members

Jonas Björk

Associate Professor, Head of Unit, Docent

Associate Professor, Docent

Principal Research Engineer

Principal Research Engineer

Leiqiang Qin

Principal Research Engineer

Guilherme Ribeiro Portugal

Postdoc

Ania Beatriz Rodriguez Barrera

Deputy Head of Department, Professor, Head of Division, Head of Unit

Ali Saffar Shamshirgar

Postdoc

Manisha Sharma

Akshaya Subhramaniyan Rasappagounder

Postdoc

Quanzheng Tao

Postdoc

Durga Sankar Vavilapalli

Principal Research Engineer

Jie Zhou

Assistant Professor

Organisation