Material Matters – Återvinning och regenerering av hållbara material för energiomvandling

Welcome to the Materials Seminar Series at Chalmers. The focus of the seminars lies on recent advances in materials development for existing and emerging technologies.  Our vision is to invite exciting speakers to present their newest research findings and provide a forum to discuss research questions and to meet the speaker.

Abstract

Recycling and Regeneration of Sustainable Energy Converter Materials

The needed substitution of our linear economy by a renewable energy based green circular economy will require a new, more materials intense infrastructure. The development and production of advanced materials rely on sustainable and just resources.

Recyclable materials for e.g. thermoelectric converters, renewable energy storage, transport and utilisation requires thus large-scale production from secondary or renewable raw materials. Future resilient energy systems have to be based on environmentally friendly technologies as well as on new ecologic performance criteria defined by a life cycle assessment. Such goals can be achieved by using resource efficient, long-lasting, regenerative or self-repairing materials designed by taking advanced life cycle models into account.

Biography

Anke Weidenkaff is a W3 Professor of Sustainable Materials Science at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Her research focuses on materials science and resource strategies, especially the development and characterization of sustainable materials for energy conversion and storage.

She currently works on regenerative circular materials and next-generation green process technologies for fast and efficient closed material cycles. She received her PhD in Chemistry from ETH Zurich in 1999, obtained the Venia Legendi in Solid State Chemistry and Materials Science from the University of Augsburg in 2006, and subsequently served as section head at Empa and associate professor at the University of Bern.

She later became Chair of Materials Chemistry and Director of the Institute for Materials Science at the University of Stuttgart, and from 2018 to 2024 she was Executive Director of the Fraunhofer IWKS. Weidenkaff serves on numerous international boards and scientific councils, including the International Society of Solid State Ionics, Materials Valley e.V., and the E-MRS Scientific Council. She has received several awards, such as the Kavli Foundation Lectureship and the Karl Böer Award. She has contributed to expert panels for the DFG and ERC, served as President of the European Thermoelectric Society, and was a member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU).
She represents the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) in the High-Tech Founders Fund, and holds positions on advisory boards across various research institutions.

Weidenkaff is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the National Academy of Science and Engineering, acatech.