• Novel electrocatalysts
• Materials for solar water splitting
• Thermoelectrics

(Multi)Ferroic materials are characterized by reversible phase transformations and the appearance of hysteresis-affected properties. These include ferromagnetic, ferroelastic, and ferroelectric materials. An example of (multi)ferroic materials are ferromagnetic shape memory alloys. We are particularly active in the field of shape memory alloys and magnetic materials.

• Ni-Ti based shape memory alloys
• High temperature shape memory alloys 
• Magnetic shape memory alloys
• Oxide shape memory alloys

• Antibacterial surfaces
  At the Chair Materials Discovery and Interfaces, formerly Materials of Microtechnology, (Head: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alfred Ludwig) new multifunctional materials, among others for miniaturized technical products, are developed using the methods of combinatorial materials research. To this end, material libraries are produced using special coating processes and characterized using automated high-throughput methods. The information obtained is visualized in the form of composition-processing-structure-function diagrams (functional phase diagrams). The most important research topics include thin film systems for microsystems technology (ferromagnetic layers, shape memory layers) and materials for the energy systems of the future (nanostructured semiconductor thin film for the solar production of hydrogen, thin-film battery materials, thermoelectrics). Furthermore, the use of microsystems for materials research is the subject of research, as well as the transfer of results from thin film screening to bulk materials.