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    GRK 3144: Multiscale Imaging and Analytics of Interfaces in Musculoskeletal Health
    The interdisciplinary Research Training Group (RTG) program entitled "Multiscale Imaging and Analytics of Interfaces in Musculoskeletal Health" extends beyond traditional assessments of bone quantity and density to investigate the complexities of musculoskeletal integrity. This program seeks to understand the interactions between bones, muscles, tendons, fat, and vessels, including their interfaces. By integrating biomedical and technological insights, the program aims to drive innovation in diagnostics and preventive healthcare. Its research objectives include exploring the muscle-fat-bone axis, the tendon-bone interface, the role of vascularization in skeletal health, advanced imaging techniques, models for tissue interfaces, and the use of posture and motion as health indicators. Graduates will gain proficiency in state-of-the-art imaging, disease modeling, and machine learning techniques focused on interfaces, equipping them for addressing global challenges in medicine and technology. The Qualification Program is designed to train a new generation of interdisciplinary STEM scientists in musculoskeletal research. Spanning three cohorts over nine years, it emphasizes skill development in interdisciplinary project management, research ethics, and foundational musculoskeletal research knowledge. Networking opportunities are facilitated through workshops, industry excursions, and international conferences. The inclusion of a Mercator fellow position and the involvement of physicians promote international collaboration and research profile development. This program prepares students for careers in research, teaching, and industry, with a strong emphasis on ethical conduct, collaborative skills, and independence. Located in Hamburg, the RTG benefits from the Interdisciplinary Competence Center for Interface Research (ICCIR) and operates across five laboratory campuses in Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg-Harburg, and Hamburg’s Science City Bahrenfeld. The University Medical Center Hamburg (UKE) provides an interdisciplinary research environment, laboratory facilities, and high-resolution imaging tools. The Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) specializes in engineering sciences, with a focus on artificial intelligence, data analysis, and computational modeling. Hereon, a member of the Helmholtz Association, offers large-scale facilities for synchrotron science and bone interface research. Hamburg's strategic positioning, robust research infrastructure, and collaborative culture create an optimal setting for musculoskeletal research. The RTG is committed to promoting diversity and gender equality, providing support and initiatives for female scientists. Our interdisciplinary approach not only strengthens healthcare and technological innovation but also prepares graduates for significant roles in academic and corporate research sectors, benefiting both the local and global research communities.
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    Machine-Learned Force Fields for Lithium Manganese Oxide Cathode Materials
    Lithium manganese oxides (LMO) are promising cathode materials for lithium batteries. The transport properties crucial for battery performance are heavily dependent on the electronic structure and polarons, coupling the electronic structure with lattice distortions. While advanced X-ray scattering methods can, in principle, be used to investigate such properties, detailed knowledge of LMO is necessary to guide and analyze such experiments. Computational approaches can contribute significantly here. Traditionally, this requires sophisticated quantum mechanics calculations. However, accessible system sizes and time scales are limited using such methods. Thus, they often offer only an insufficient picture of the charging and discharging process. The development and training of a machine-learned force field (MLFF) for LMO has the potential to complete this picture. However, it requires a novel class of MLFFs that treat explicit charges in a way that accounts for long-range electrostatic interactions. Based on the charge equilibration (QEq) approach implemented in our ELECTRODE software package, we envisage incorporating charges into the MLFF. It is necessary to describe the short- and long-range order of extended polaronic structures in LMO. This study will support X-ray experiments to enable the tracking of lithium transport in LMO. Therefore, combining atomistic simulations with experiments would provide novel insights into this material and technological advancements.
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Research Topic D3: Hydrovoltaics
    BlueMat aims to revolutionize hydrovoltaics by developing next-generation hydrovoltaic material technologies. Our goal within D3 is to create high-performance, multiscale, porous materials and innovative hydrovoltaic device architectures to efficiently harness electrical energy from humidity variations, imbibition and drying cycles. We will systematically evaluate their energy conversion performance under varying humidity levels, temperatures, and operating conditions. Our research will focus on reducing imbibition–drying cycle times while enhancing energy output by leveraging humidity variations and low-grade waste heat. This interdisciplinary program aims to advance hydrovoltaics through cutting-edge experimentation, addressing key challenges, and unlocking new opportunities for sustainable energy generation from ambient environmental sources. We will develop highly adapted material architectures to optimize power, addressing issues like minimum friction, salt crystallization upon drying, or evaporation using aqueous electrolytes or water itself. The efforts in D3 aim to improve energy conversion efficiency, durability, and scalability of hydrovoltaic applications, paving the way for widespread deployment in diverse environmental settings. The key scientific questions include: How can we exploit novel hydrovoltaic mechanisms to generate energy from cyclic imbibition and desiccation of electrolyte-infused porous media? How do non-equilibrium fluid dynamics, surface chemistry, open-circuit potential, and other fundamental factors, including the interaction of imbibition and drying influenced by pore characteristics and external stimuli, affect the proposed scheme? How can we optimize the performance of the hydrovoltaic scheme using concepts like hierarchically porous electrodes and adaptive pore wall coatings?
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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 - Research Topic B3: Tunable Hydraulic and Capillarity-Driven Water Flow
    In conventional porous media, hydraulic permeability and capillary pressure during imbibition are determined by static geometry, water–solid interaction, and fluid viscosity. RT B3 aims to integrate mechanisms for stimulus-dependent changes in the pore size and solid- liquid interaction, resulting in tunable permeability and hydrophilicity-induced changes of local capillary forces. Combining this strategy with multiscale 3D structuring and local interface modification will enable materials that can locally and reversibly switch imbibition ability and kinetics. Challenges include the fabrication of multiscale 3D structures and precise hydrophilicity change at local levels. This RT focuses on understanding dynamic fluid–solid interactions upon reversible tuning by external stimuli in 3D multiscale porous structures. Key questions include: How can we explore the water–solid interfacial structure and measure the impact of tunable pore size and hydrophilicity on fluid transport? How can we tailor the flow and permeability rates by adjusting multiscale porosity (“Murray vascularization”) and response to stimuli? How can we fabricate structured 3D (nano)porous materials with locally and reversibly tunable permeability and hydrophilicity?
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    EXC 3120 BlueMat - Research Topic C2: Tunable MIR and NIR Permittivity by Electrochemical Oxidation and Hydrogen Insertion
    In this RT, we will electrochemically modify the optical properties of materials interacting with water. Specifically, the reversible partial oxidation of Cu photonic structures in aqueous electrolytes will be studied. Cu has IR reflectivity comparable to gold and can be reversibly oxidized. In this case, the complex effective permittivity of porous Cu will be tuned via changes in the metal filling fraction and metal electron collision frequency, known as chemical interface damping (CID). Furthermore, we will investigate the reversible and controlled hydrogen insertion from water into porous photonic hybrid structures. We will induce the formation of hydrogen bronzes within vanadium dioxide, changing it from a dielectric to metallic state. Later, hydrogen-induced reduction will be also explored to tune the optical properties of titanium dioxide. The hydrogen insertion will be driven by water-based electrochemistry and by thermal treatments in water-containing vapor. The structures considered will be much smaller than the wavelength and, thus, will work in an effective medium regime. The change of the effective permittivity from a metallic to dielectric state in both cases will allow the control of NIR and MIR absorption. The key scientific questions are: How can we strongly and reversibly tune IR absorption of porous Cu via electrochemical oxidation? How can we induce a reversible phase transition in VO2 and TiO2 via hydrogen insertion? How can we utilize nanoscale structures to increase the tuning rate and amplitude?
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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 D4: Photo- and Electrocatalysis in Hierarchical Matter
    Nature often performs complex catalytic reactions in confined spaces and hierarchical structures with the use of enzymes and membranes. In RT D4, we will develop Blue Materials that emulate the confined, hierarchical environments of biological systems to achieve unprecedented levels of catalytic performance. By combining material synthesis, characterization, and catalytic testing, we will leverage multiscale structures for optimized catalysis. We will unravel the complex behavior of reactants, including water, in confined spaces and their interactions with nanostructured materials. The key questions are: How do properties of water in confined spaces affect water- and proton-dependent reactions? How does confined space affect the EDL, the reaction activity and selectivity, and the properties of catalytic materials, reactants, and products? And how can we harness these properties to achieve more selective and durable catalysts?
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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 D2: All-Water Redox Batteries
    D2 focuses on pioneering new battery solutions using water-based electrolytes and elucidating the critical interactions between water and aqueous electrolyte components at electrified interfaces. We will investigate the interactions between novel electrode materials and water within the context of battery technology. Our approach integrates advanced in-situ and in-operando characterization of material interfaces with modeling to bridge theoretical predictions and experimental observations. Such batteries use zinc metal anodes and cathodes with materials capable of intercalating anions. Dual ion batteries (DIBs) have a high energy density and relatively low cost, making them promising for use in various devices. By understanding the dynamic interactions of water within the pores of hierarchically structured cathode materials combined with layered double hydroxides (LDH), we aim to gain insights into the electrochemical performance and stability of these materials. On the anode side, we will explore the dynamic interactions of water during charge/discharge cycles and the effects of electrolyte additives on Zn dendrite formation. Key scientific questions include: What are new efficient electrolyte additives capable of controling charge/discharge processes on metallic Zn anodes? What is the mechanism at the atomistic scale? How can we develop the effective anion intercalation cathode assembled on hierarchically designed current collectors and open a pathway for the implementation of DIBs? What is the role of water in the ion-exchange processes and in the charge transfer within double hydroxide layers and in the interlayer spaces?
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