PhD Thesis:

Title: Solid State NMR investigation on ion motions and proton conducting materials

Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a powerful analysis technique to investigate structure and dynamics of various solid materials.

The aim of my research is to use advanced solid state NMR for gaining new insights on ion motions and proton conduction pathways in energy storage materials.

Structural information will be obtained from conventional solid state NMR experiments as well as from more complex measurements of nuclear distances and dipolar interactions.

Dynamical information will be obtained from variable temperature NMR experiments. In comparison to Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) which measures the overall conduction of all components of a sample, solid state NMR displays the conduction of only the species of interest, e.g. protons or sodium ions.

In this way, ion motions as well as proton conduction mechanisms and pathways can be investigated. This proves to be useful for understanding and improving e.g. porous organic frameworks which might be used in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEM-FCs) or sodium/lithium motions in metal ion batteries.