From Hanover to the USA – and back with new insights
A four-month research stay at Clemson University in South Carolina has opened up new methodological opportunities for Merle Wellmann and advanced her doctoral research in the field of energy materials. Wellmann, a doctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Dr. Armin Feldhoff at the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, spent January to May 2026 as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the US university, where she was hosted by the group of Professor Kyle Brinkman in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
Her research took place in the newly opened Advanced Materials Innovation Complex (AMIC), which is regarded as Clemson’s most advanced research facility and brings together materials science, chemistry and engineering under one roof. The centre’s interdisciplinary framework gave Wellmann access to specialised infrastructure and technical expertise that are of central importance to her doctoral project.
Her research focuses on ceramic materials for future energy technologies. In particular, Wellmann investigates oxygen transport processes in these materials, using the Electrical Conductivity Relaxation (ECR) method. This technique allows precise analysis of diffusion and exchange processes that are relevant to applications such as solid oxide fuel cells or oxygen separation membranes. Working in Clemson allowed her to address these questions under experimental conditions that are not available at her home institute.
International exchange boosts research collaboration in energy materials science
In addition to the experimental results, the stay also generated valuable academic contacts. The open research atmosphere at AMIC encouraged exchange with researchers from a range of disciplines and opened up new perspectives for potential collaborations. For Wellmann, the stay was therefore not only an important step in her doctoral project, but also a contribution to the international networking of research in energy materials science.
Professor Armin Feldhoff emphasises how research stays abroad and work in Hanover benefit one another: ‘Our group, Thermo-iono-electronic Materials and Microstructural Analysis, maintains a wide range of international collaborations. These not only make complementary experimental methods accessible, but also give our students and doctoral researchers the opportunity to broaden their horizons. This usually leads to collaborative scientific work in international teams and joint publications in peer-reviewed journals that help shape the international standing of research in thermo-ionic-electronic materials. All involved see this as a great enrichment, including in terms of personal development. For the doctoral project within the DFG-funded third-party project Synthesis of phase pure high entropy perovskites with unique electrocatalytic and oxygen transport properties provided important findings that will help us to identify improved processing parameters and elemental compositions for stoichiometrically complex oxide functional ceramics. Building on this, we are now investigating the performance of the high-entropy perovskites in electrocatalytic experiments and as oxygen transport membranes in Hanover. Improving the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) reduces the energy required to produce green hydrogen and is a key enabling technology for the energy transition.’
The research stay was funded by the Fulbright programme, which supports academic and cultural exchange between the United States and other countries.
