Latest News of the Oschatz group

On July 8, 2026, Dr. Matthew Mayer from HZB visited the ITUC at FSU Jena and HIPOLE Jena. During a fruitful exchange, Matt and Tilmann explored areas of common research interest. Afterward, Matt gave a presentation titled “Dynamic effects in CO2 electrolysis: in situ methods to observe catalysts and interfaces” at our Chemistry Colloquium. Matt’s presentation also marked the conclusion of the Chemistry Colloquium for this semester. With this, Martin is handing over the chairmanship of the GDCh local chapter to his successor, Jun.-Prof. Andrea Pannwitz, for the upcoming semester.

On June 29, 2026, Jun.-Prof. Dr. M. Nieves López Salas from the University of Paderborn visited us. In addition to many enriching conversations, her presentation on “Functional Carbon Materials: Learning New Tricks for Established Systems” as part of the GDCh Colloquium was a highlight. Thank you very much for the wonderful time, Nieves!

Our master’s student Amar Diab has completed his studies by defending his master’s thesis. In his thesis, which he wrote in the battery subgroup under the supervision of Johannes, Amar investigated coated hard carbon materials for sodium-ion batteries. He gave an inspiring presentation to mark the completion of his studies. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors, Amar!

Three new students are starting their theses with us this semester. Matthias Dotzel is exploring new approaches to porous carbons in his bachelor’s thesis. In his master’s thesis, Marko Bursac is investigating molecules that can modulate the pH of aqueous solutions through redox processes. Elias Schönekeß is working on a symmetrical battery based on naturally occurring quinones in his master’s thesis. All three are part of the Neubert Research Group. Good luck with your projects!

Over the past few months, the Oschatz Research Group has been on a conference tour, presenting numerous poster presentations and talks that allowed us to share our research with the world. Among other events, we were represented at the “59. Jahrestreffen Deutscher Katalytiker” in Weimar, “MATSUS Spring 2026” in Barcelona, the “Bunsen-Tagung” in Dresden, and the “12th International Symposium on the Characterization of Porous Solids (COPS XII)” in Dresden.

Last week, the 1st AluSym (Symposium on Aluminum in Energy Conversion and Storage) took place in Jena. The meeting was co-organized by our junior group leader Dr. Desiree Leistenschneider, together with Sonia Dsoke and Franziska Jach. It brought together researchers and industry experts from across Europe to discuss current challenges and opportunities of aluminum in energy conversion and storage. Led by Marius, Franz, and Rudolf, the event was conducted by a local team from AG Leistenschneider, AG Oschatz and the ITUC. Many thanks to Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung for supporting the symposium and making participation free of charge, enabling researchers at all career stages to join the discussions. It was wonderful to see Jena become a meeting point for the European aluminum battery and energy storage community for these two days.

Anjana Ros is starting her journey as a doctoral student in our group. She will be researching the electrocatalytic conversion of nitrogen to ammonia and is part of the project “Synergistic design of catalysts, electrodes, and process for electrochemical nitrogen reduction with carbon(nitride) stabilized zirconium nitride systems” within the framework of “SPP2370 Nitroconversion.” Anjana joins us from Berlin, where she recently completed her master's degree.

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Sonja Mürtz as the head of a new junior research group at our institute. Sonja joins us from the group of Prof. Regina Palkovits at RWTH Aachen University. Her research will focus on the valorization of lignin using renewable energy with the aim of converting this biopolymer into smaller, valuable molecules. The junior group is part of the LignUp project, which, alongside other PIs including the Oschatz group, is funded by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung within the CZS Breakthroughs program. We wish you every success with your research, Sonja!

We are welcoming Indrajit Patil as new Postdoc in our group. Indrajit joined from the group of Andrea Balducci and will work on electrocatalytic conversion of small molecules in industrially-relevant electrochemical cell concepts within our project CILCat funded by the European Research Council (ERC). Welcome Indrajit! We are looking forward to work with you!

Our group attended the 37th German Zeolite Meeting at the Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung in Stuttgart. The conference was organized by Simon Krause and Mika Linden from Universität Ulm and Bettina Lotsch from the MPI. Many thanks to them and also to the DECHEMA for the great organization! Konstantin gave a lecture about our research on carbon-ionic liquid-interfaces in electrocatalysis. Merve presented a poster about her work within the CILCat project funded by the ERC. Further posters were presented by Aura (LignUp), Akshay (CataLight) and Leila (WaNaWa). Looking forward to the next DZT 2027 in Leipzig which will be organized by Roger Gläser and Majd Al-Naji!

On February 16, 2026, the kick-off meeting of our research group “PolyCapture” took place at HIPOLE Jena. The project is funded by the State of Thuringia and the ESF+. Over the next three years, the team will investigate the electrochemically switchable adsorption and desorption of carbon dioxide on polymers and carbon-based materials. In addition to the Oschatz group, which acts as the coordinator, four other PIs from HIPOLE Jena are involved. We would like to thank the representatives of the Thüringer Aufbaubank, the Thüringer Ministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur, as well as LEG Thüringen for their participation in the workshop.

Our group has just kicked off the USE-G project, focusing on graphite cleaning and recycling in collaboration with our industrial partners Northern Graphite, H.C. Starck Tungsten Powders, and Rain Carbon Inc. The project officially started this year, and we celebrated its launch with a successful Kick-Off Meeting in Kleinostheim this week. More info: https://www.northerngraphite.com/northern-graphite-and-partners-launch-german-funded-rd-program/