Latest News of the Oschatz group

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/

After successfully completing his Master’s thesis in the Oschatz group under the supervision of Johannes, Mazen is now embarking on his journey as a PhD student. He has joined Tilmann’s junior research group in February and is the first PhD student within the CZS Nexus project “QuiCCoDAC” of the Neubert group. During his doctoral studies, Mazen will focus on quinone-carbon hybrid materials derived from regrowing resources. We wish Mazen a great start and much success on this exciting research journey!

On January 1, 2026, Dr. Tilmann J. Neubert has launched a new junior research group within the Oschatz Group at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The group is funded through Nexus Program of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. In the research project “QuiCCoDAC”, the team develops innovative electrochemical methods for direct air capture of carbon dioxide. The goal is to explore new materials and concepts that will contribute to carbon dioxide reduction and climate protection in the long term. With support from the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, the interdisciplinary junior research group benefits from excellent conditions to advance pioneering energy storage and materials concepts at the intersection of electrochemistry and sustainability.

Dr. Thiago Bertaglia has joined the Oschatz group as a postdoctoral researcher within the CoLi-SCo project. His work will focus on designing novel carbon materials for lithium-sulfur batteries. He joins us from Brazil, where he completed his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Frank Crespilho. Welcome to the team, Thiago!

Khan joins the CilCat team - Recently, Dr. Muhammad Abdulla Khan joined our team as a Postdoc on the ERC Starting grant project CilCat. He will be working on the adsorption and conversion of small molecules on carbon. Welcome to Jena!

We are happy to welcome Dr. Felix Nagler in our CoLi-SCo project team! Felix will be working in HIPOLE Jena together with Dr. Eneli Monerjan and in close collaboration with Dr. Tilmann Neubert from our group on the operando characterization of Li-S batteries and pouch cell design.