Projekt Titel
EXC 3120 - BlueMat - Water-Driven Materials
Förderkennzeichen
EXC 3120/1
Funding code
945.03-1109
Gepris ID
533771286
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Funder
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Funding Program
Exzellenzcluster (ExStra)
Biological materials achieve an exquisite diversity and functionality through just a small number of abundant chemical elements. While engineering materials primarily use specific, often unsustainable, chemical compositions to realize their functions, nature achieves unparalleled functionality through optimized architectures that span multiple length scales. Water, with its ubiquity and unique structural dynamics, plays a pivotal role as a “working fluid” in shaping the properties and functionality of nature’s materials. Inspired by these marvels of nature, BlueMat will develop a novel class of sustainable, interactive, architected “Blue Materials” deriving their functionality from multiscale structures of hard matter interacting with water. This approach is internationally unique. We will mimic natural processes such as water-driven mechanical actuation, capillarity-driven water transport, humidity-dependent colors, and photocatalytic water splitting, as observed in animals and plants, and extend them to functionalities not found in nature, such as control of acoustic and electromagnetic waves, tunable thermal emission and electrical energy storage and generation. To this end, we will study and exploit novel effects, achieved, for example, through nanoconfinement of water. We will combine experiments with imaging and modeling from the atomic up to the device scale and bridge the gap between top-down and bottom-up fabrication methods to enable scalable production of Blue Materials. BlueMat raises and answers compelling and fundamentally new scientific questions. It promises a radically new concept to functionalize materials, and it will demonstrate the fascinating opportunities of this approach by a host of device-level applications. These include novel energy efficient windows and hydrovoltaic power generation, harvesting electrical energy from environmental processes or waste heat. To accomplish this, BlueMat draws upon the exceptional talents of an interdisciplinary team from several world-class research institutions in Hamburg with outstanding expertise in molecular water science, materials science, process engineering, and diverse application areas (e.g., micromechanics, fluidics, photonics, energy systems). BlueMat will enrich this environment with an artistic dimension, allowing science and art to cross-fertilize and open inspiring new avenues of co-creation. BlueMat leverages Hamburg’s ecosystem of brilliant X-ray analytics, natural sciences, and engineering with a strong focus on sustainable technologies, unique in the world. The vision of this Cluster of Excellence is to make Hamburg a world leader in the science and technology of water-driven materials, thus continuing Hamburg’s history as a city “driven” by water and contributing to the well-being of our blue planet.

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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Cross Area Data
    The CA Data is dedicated to the comprehensive management of research data, facilitating seamless interactions across and within the various RAs of BlueMat and beyond (see Sect. 5.3 on Research Data Management (RDM)). CA Data aims to establish a robust infrastructure, provide essential tools, and host RDM experts to ensure a sustainable data lifecycle, encompassing data from both experiments and simulations.
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Cross Area Exploitation & Experiencing
    Our vision is to make Blue Materials not only useful but also to spark fascination among scientists and the general public. In RF Exploitation, we aim to translate Blue- Mat’s results into real-world applications, including the production of substantial quantities of Blue Materials (Obj. 3). In RF Experiencing we will develop innovative ways to evoke public interest in the diversity and dynamics of water in materials through artistic formats and virtual reality. By creating contact zones for scientists and artists we will build a unique creative environment where scientific and artistic methodologies come into dialogue to unfold new dimensions for co-creation.
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Cross Area Imaging
    To unravel the unique physics and chemistry of water-driven materials, the CA Imaging aims to achieve groundbreaking innovations in three primary focus areas: (1) extreme temporal resolution imaging, (2) multiscale imaging spanning 10 orders of magnitude in length and 16 in time, and (3) correlative image analysis that integrates these diverse data sources to uncover the role and structural dynamics of water in multiscale structured matter with an unprecedented accuracy and comprehensiveness. To this end, BlueMat will leverage the unparalleled infrastructure at the EuXFEL and PETRA III at DESY in Hamburg, offering exceptional opportunities for correlative in-operando characterization. Extreme temporal resolution imaging will be realized by advancing MHz X-ray multi-projection imaging (MHz XMPI), stroboscopic pump-probe X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) at X-ray free electron lasers. This will enable the visualization of atomic interactions, molecular mobility, and flow dynamics down to femtosecond and picosecond timescales. Leveraging a uniquely comprehensive combination of methods, we will image water across a wide range of scales. For instance, we will observe macroscale mean flow using magnetic resonance (MR), ?m- to sub-?m-scale flow patterns via synchrotron radiation nano computed tomography (SRnCT), and detailed processes at the nm-scale using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM). Finally, CA Imaging will pioneer computational and deep learning techniques to achieve a step change in throughput and resolution of characterization methods, enabling truly correlative image analysis. The qualitative and quantitative data collected in CA Imaging are crucial for model validation in CA Modeling and calibration in CA Exploitation & Experiencing. By making these unique methods available to all young researchers in the cluster, CA Imaging further contributes to the highly advanced education they will receive.
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Cross Area Modeling
    The characteristic behavior of water-driven materials results to a large extent from complex and as yet often poorly understood interactions across different scales. To unravel the fundamental physics and chemistry of water-driven materials, (1) we will develop novel multiscale modeling methods bridging from the quantum to the device level; (2) machine learning (ML) will help to bridge between the scales and leverage the unique imaging data collected in the CA Imaging. Including physical knowledge into ML architectures will help accelerate the design of water-driven materials by identifying, for example, process-structure-property relationships in a fast and automated manner (physics-informed ML). To achieve these ambitious goals, we will rely on extensive (3) research software engineering, providing a whole ecosystem of cutting-edge open-source research software. Overall, we will create a unique multiscale and multi-purpose open-source software ecosystem for computer simulation and ML to understand, predict and optimize Blue Materials from the quantum level to the device level, laying the foundations to leverage cutting-edge imaging and AI to go from “nature-inspired materials” to materials and functionalities “beyond nature”
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Research Topic A1: Hydrogen-Driven Nanoporous Materials
    We will develop a hydrogen-enabled acoustic metamaterial. The key parameter is the wavelength of sound, which needs to be (1) small (in the order of mm to cm) to enable miniaturization and (2) tunable to enable device switching. The wavelength is determined by the ratio of elastic modulus to mass density. As these parameters are usually strongly correlated, mate- rials with the required properties do not currently exist. A promising approach, demonstrated in preliminary research by the members of the RA A team, is np-Pd, which substantially changes its elastic compliance when alloyed with hydrogen. Thus, a metal/water hybrid nanomaterial achieves switching when hydrogen is relocated between its metal and water phases under the control of an electric potential bias. This new effect implies that one and the same metallic body can be reversibly switched between a hard-matter-like elastic response characteristic of metals and a supercompliant characteristic of soft matter, such as polymers or biological tissue. The key scientific questions are: How can the underlying materials design be shaped in terms of base metal composition and microstructure? How can the open-system elastic response in a nanoscale material with complex microstructural geometry be understood? How can processing routes for components that meet the requirements of Topic A4 be established?
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Research Topic A2: Electrolyte-Driven Nanoporous Materials
    Nanoporous metals, characterized by their high surface-to-volume ratio, have demonstrated promising surface-controlled chemo-mechanical coupling behaviors that can rival or surpass those of bulk functional materials. These behaviors include bidirectional actuation/sensing and switchable elastic compliance. However, there is a trade-off between amplitude and response time. Our goal is to significantly enhance functional performance by designing multiscale hierarchical nanoporous materials that harmonize large amplitude and rapid switching. Nanoscale ligaments at lower hierarchy levels provide high specific surface area for enhanced functional amplitude, while larger pore channels at upper hierarchy levels facilitate efficient mass transport, accelerating response time. Reducing the smallest ligament/pore sizes to single-digit nanometers will create a huge surface area, enabling (1) significant modulation of the elastic modulus and sound velocity in-operando and (2) substantial enhancement of actuation/sensing output signals through reversible electrochemical surface oxidation in an aqueous environment. This provides the basis for sustainable robotic materials for autonomous locomotion and self-reconfiguration. Key scientific questions include: How can we refine and stabilize the microstructure at the lowest hierarchical level while achieving scalable production of these materials in the form of monolithic and mechanically loadable bodies? How can we maximize both the switching kinetics and amplitude of output signals for bidirectional sensing/actuation and switchable mechanical/acoustic properties?
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Research Topic A3: Water Absorption-Driven Nanoporous Materials
    We aim to establish and enhance mechanical actuation based on the reversible switching of soft, water-filled hydrogels in response to external triggers (e.g., pH, ionic strength, electrical potential, CO2). For the first time, we aim to realize such an actuation on both nm- (ligament/pore scale) and mm-scopic levels by embedding soft responsive hydrogels in a hard, porous matrix (np-Au from A2) with responsive hydrogels, thus combining reversible switchability in aqueous media with significant macroscopic response and local controllability. We will focus on cellulose-based hydrogels, known for their inherent responsiveness in aqueous environments [Don21]. The envisioned materials will refine and optimize hydrogel actuation for broader applicability in diverse devices. The precise control of mechanical properties of hydrogels needed for active control of actuation is a challenge: although fundamental mechanisms are understood, there is a lack of research aiming at the predictable control of overall hydrogel actuation, which is necessary to pave the way for the application of these sustainable materials in devices [Che22]. Key scientific questions include: How can we tune hydrogel/wall interactions for optimal integration of hydrogels into a porous metal matrix forming a hybrid material? How can we use engineered biofilm matrix-enzyme interactions to maximize the actuation of hydrogel/metal hybrid systems in response to external stimuli? How can we predict/model the hybrid material response and thus define optimal mechanical actuation?
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Research Topic A4: Bioinspired and Modeling-Guided Nanoporous Device Concepts
    3D hybrid nanomaterial systems developed in A1 to A3 exhibit a variety of water-driven functionalities, including electrochemo-mechanical coupling that enables an active control of acoustic properties (A1, A2), sensing and actuation (A2, A3), and transfer of large actuation energies in metal/polymer/water hybrid nanomaterials (A2, A3) that can be tuned via an external chemical or physical stimulus. By integrating these systems in A4, we aim to achieve applications with high flexibility and even free programmability. Inspiration from biological principles and advanced modeling approaches serve as sources for creativity and innovation, providing a theoretical proof of concept. Key scientific questions include: How can we translate concepts from biology, such as autonomous sensing and versatile shape change, into technological systems? How can we independently control defined material volumes within a material system via an external stimulus? How can we predict the macroscopic behavior of such multiscale systems to identify the most promising designs?
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Research Topic B1: Tunable Water Condensation and Evaporation
    Evaporative flows at porous surfaces are significantly influenced by the liquid surface exposed to the vapor phase and the vapor pressure of the liquid at the interface, with additional contributions from hydraulic permeability and hydrophilicity within the porous structure. Our goal is to actively control water condensation and evaporation at the vapor-exposed surfaces of structured materials. The key scientific questions are: How can we fabricate 3D structured porous materials systems that – depending on electrical, photonic, or chemical (pH) stimuli – change their evaporative behavior? How can we characterize, understand, and predict water condensation and evaporation (and drying) across scales? How can we achieve tailor-made switching times, imbibition-drying cycles, and minimal energy losses from viscous dissipation?
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Research Topic B2: Selective Electrosorption
    Reversible electrochemical processes offer promising options in water treatment for removing oxyanions, dissolved organic carbon, and partial desalination by ion adsorption. Sorbent effectiveness depends on pore size, volume, surface area, and charge. However, current electrode fabrication processes limit control over multiscale porosity and surface charge, reducing their effectiveness in selective ion removal. Additionally, these properties are static, limiting adaptivity to avoid clogging and the ability to switch between adsorption and desorption. This RT advances the field by tailoring multiscale porosity of material systems for utilization as selective ion adsorbents and membrane filters. Innovative control of adsorption and desorption via adjustable surface potentials and selective ion sorption will transform materials into reversible, selective electrosorption systems. This facilitates strategic ion removal with low energy consumption, like lithium from seawater, marking a significant leap in harvesting engineering-valuable elements. The key scientific questions are: How can we functionalize 3D structured materials with locally and reversibly tunable adsorption and desorption of water-dissolved ions? How can we study the ion structure (+ hydration shell) and the spatiotemporal ion concentration evolution under electric potential and external flow, as well as the coupling of both, in a multiscale porous medium? How can we use multiscale modeling for functional optimization of materials for fast ion adsorption and desorption and low electrode degeneration rates resulting either in selective removal (water treatment) or selective ion (element) harvesting?
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