Chair of Analytical Chemistry - Electrochemistry & Nanoscale Materials
10 Years NanoEC
Ten years ago, Kristina Tschulik started her research group NanoEC as a junior professor. In a small symposium with alumni (partly online) and a visit to the botanical garden, we celebrated this birthday
Summer School on Electrocatalysis – ELCATS 2025
In the first week of September, two doctoral candidates Luca and Sumukh attended the Summer School on Electrocatalysis – ELCATS 2025 in Trento, Italy, where Kristina presented her lecture on “Advanced Electrochemical Tools to Characterize Electrocatalysis”. The event was topped off by an excursion to the Buonconsiglio Castle and an ELCATS2025 cake shared by the lecturers and the participants.
From 12th to 19th of August, we had the great pleasure to attend the 20th International Symposium on Electroanalytical Chemistry (20th ISEAC) and the 40th Topical Meeting of the ISE held at Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, China.
Between many engaging talks and fruitful discussions, we could also enjoy some of Changchuns beautiful city, nature, and culture. A visit to the University of the Chinese Academy of Science and, of course, the great wall allowed for a fitting conclusion to our trip.
The Crucial Role of Rotation Speed on the Determination of Tafel Slopes of Electrocatalysts in Rotating Disk Electrode Experiments
Felix Hiege, Luca Marie Sicking, Kannasoot Kanokkanchana, Paolo Cignoni, Victor Dudarev, Alfred Ludwig, Kristina Tschulik
Felix Hiege, Chun-Wai Chang, Oliver Trost, Charlotte E. R. van Halteren, Pouya Hosseini, Georg Bendt, Stephan Schulz, Zhenxing Feng, Julia Linnemann, Kristina Tschulik
In our new study, we were able to successfully use ultramicroelectrodes (UME) to achieve current densities in the range of industrial relevance (> 1 A cm-2) for alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER) without having to use the complex setup of an electrolyzer. Using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the UME before and after electrochemical OER, we were also able to detect morphological changes in the nanoparticulate nickel selenide catalyst. In addition to the well-known transformation into nickel oxides/oxyhydroxides, we observed the “merging” of the granular starting particles into flat aggregates at current densities above > 1 A cm-2, which has not yet been observed in OER catalysts studied at lower current densities..
4. Juli 2025
Doktorandin Thais Schroeder Rossi zum 74. Treffen der Nobelpreisträger in Lindau eingeladen
We are proud to announce that our PhD candidate Thais Schroeder Rossi has been selected through a highly competitive, multi-stage global selection process to participate in the 74th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, which took place from June 29th to July 4th 2025 in Lindau, Germany.
The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings are prestigious annual events where Nobel Laureates and outstanding early-career scientists from around the world come together to exchange ideas across generations, disciplines, and cultures. The meetings are renowned for their emphasis on mentorship, collaboration, and scientific excellence, offering a unique environment for scientific dialogue and personal inspiration. More info about the event: https://www.lindau-nobel.org/
This was a remarkable opportunity for Thais to engage with some of the most distinguished minds in science, build international networks, share her research with a global community, gain insight into both the scientific and personal journeys of Nobel Prize winners, and further develop her academic and professional path.
Thais was also featured in the “Women in Research” blog series by the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, where she shared insights about her academic path, motivations, and aspirations. You can read the interview here: https://www.lindau-nobel.org/blog-women-in-research-lino25-thais-schroeder-rossi/
Congratulations, Thais!
30. Juni 2025
Bimetallic Ag–Au nanoparticles from nanoconfinement: adjusting properties by electrochemical synthesis
Thais Schroeder Rossi, Athanasios A. Papaderakis, Maximilian Jaugstetter, Zaher Jlailati, Miriam Knoke, Pouya Hosseini, Paolo Cignoni, Fengli Yang, Maximilian Gerwin, Oliver Trost, Marius Spallek, Eduardo Ortega, Beatriz Roldan Cuenya, Debbie C. Crans, Nancy E. Levinger and Kristina Tschulik J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, Advance Article
19. Juni 2025
Posterpreise beim 16. Internationalen Fischer-Symposium
In June, our group had the pleasure of attending the 16th International Fischer Symposium at Kloster Seeon. The event featured a dynamic program filled with plenty of interesting talks and scientific exchange. We also enjoyed the beautiful natural surroundings of Bavaria and Austria during a memorable group excursion.
We were proud to have Kristina opening the conference with her tutorial on “Advanced Electrochemical Tools to Characterise Electrocatalysts”. Additionally, Mahnaz Azimzadeh Sani, Marius Spallek, Yannick Weidemann, Luca Sicking, and Hanxin Zhang presented posters showcasing their latest research, sparking insightful discussions with fellow participants.
A special congratulations goes to Yannick and Luca, who were each awarded poster prizes for their work on spectro-electrochemical investigations of electrocatalysis in COF films and hydrogen transport in AAO nanochannels, respectively!
14. April 2025
EDNANO-16
Four team members presented at the 16th edition of the International Workshop on Electrodeposited Nanostructures – EDNANO – from 10 to 12 April 2025 at the University of Florence, Italy
9. April 2025
Alexander von Humboldt Fellow Naimeh Naser
We are welcoming as new guest researcher the Alexander von Humboldt Fellow Associate Professor Naimeh Naseri
from Sharif University of Technology and Monash University.
Naimeh Naseri will be working on Single-entity electrochemistry for probing nanomaterials’ functionality in energy production and storage systems
1. April 2025
The Role of Chloride in Raman Signal Enhancement by Electrochemical Silver Oxidation Revealed by Dark Field Microscopy
Sheila Hernandez, Kevin Wonner, Pouya Hosseini, Paolo Cignoni, Aranzazu Heras, Alvaro Colina and Kristina Tschulik
Anal. Chem., 2025, 0003-2700
12. Februar 2025
Au-Ni Rotating Ring–Disk Electrode (RRDE) study: A new and rapid screening technique for quantitatively detecting aldehyde during electrochemical alcohol oxidation reaction
Esma Khatun, Gaétan Ramona, Lennart Sobota, Christoph J. Bondue, Kristina Tschulik
Electrochimica Acta, 2025, 145803
28. Januar 2025
Does Pb Underpotential Deposition Rearrange Surface-near Atoms in AgAu Films and Nanoparticles?
Dean-Robin Nettler, Jan Clausmeyer, Alan Savan, Paolo Cignoni, Christian Rurainsky, Ralf Drautz, Alfred Ludwig, Kristina Tschulik
Electrochimica Acta, 2025, 145776
Bimetallic surfaces consisting of Ag and Au in various ratios, as sputtered thin films as well as wet-chemically synthesised nanoparticles were modified by underpotential deposition of Pb (Pb-UPD). On the basis of characteristic voltametric peaks along with supporting DFT calculations we conclude that depositing Pb on the Ag-rich surfaces induces a swap of Ag atoms with underlying Au atoms to form a Au-rich layer in the presence of the Pb monolayer. Our experiments showed that Pb-UPD is a powerful tool not only to probe the surface composition and structure but to change the arrangement of surface atoms in binary alloys.
In this paper, we demonstrate how electrochemically driven hydrogen adsorption/absorption induces, irreversibly, a superhydrophilic state in an amorphous CrFeNi-based multi-principal element alloy thin film with close to equimolar composition, i.e., in the class of medium/high entropy alloys. The absorption of hydrogen into the matrix of the amorphous film results in compositional changes at the outermost surface layers that strongly influence surface energetics leading to the transition from a mildly hydrophilic state to an ultra-high substrate surface energy regime.
On December 6th, 2024 we celebrated the successful PhD defences of Lennart Sobota and Maximilian Gerwin.
26. November 2024
How catalysts secretly lose their stability
Covalent organic framework compounds are more active than one would expect as catalysts. Researchers from the Ruhr University Bochum and the Max Planck Institutes for Solid State Research (MPI-FKF) and Sustainable Materials (MPI-NM) recently decoded what can be the reason.
Dr. Jan Clausmeyer, Science Manager of the NanoEC group gave his insights into potential non-university career paths at a panel discussion for students of Natural and Life Sciences during the business college 2024 on Nov 11, held at the RUB
Congratulations to Andriana for winning the poster prize at the SAS 2024 conference in Taipei for her work on ns laser treated reverse micelles!
Lars J.C. Jeuken, Dennis G.H. Hetterscheid, Marc T.M. Koper, Carla Casadevall, Christophe Léger, Antoni Llobet, Ross D. Milton, Ryuhei Nakamura, Kristina Tschulik
Chem Catalysis, 2024, 101098
We took the chance to barbecue on a sunny day. Nice food prepared by ourselves, drinks and games gave a perfect after-lab event…
On the panel “Erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit – Wissens- und Technologietransfer in der Praxis” Kristina Tschulik, spokesperson for the SFB/Transregio 247 and director of the Start4Chem incubator, reported on successes and hurdles in the transfer from research to industry.
The NRW 2024 Innovation Congress was organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of NRW. Further information can be found here.
The first ChemInnovation Summit organised by Start4Chem took place in the Worldfactory Start-up Centre (WSC).
An engaging Gallery Walk featuring experts and partners from the chemistry ecosystem, 10 innovative start-up teams pitching for micro-subsidies, and plenty of networking formed a fantastic atmosphere.
22. Mai 2024
DESY 2024
Once again this year, our group members Andriana Loukovitou, Paolo Cignoni, Gabriel Boitel-Aullen, Johanna Angona and Luca Sicking traveled to the DESY in Hamburg to carry out SAXS measurements.
Anyone who feels unsafe or uncomfortable on the way to the parking garage, bicycle rack or bus stop on the campus of Ruhr University Bochum can request accompaniment from the accompanying service. more....
18. März 2024
Paolo’s Verteidigung
Paolo Cignoni has completed his doctorate with distinction and defended his thesis with flying colors. Congratulations to him!
22. Februar 2024
Start4Chem Chem Slam @RUB WORLDFACTORY
Two members of our group, Anas Akhtar and Christoph Kaiser, participated in the “Chem Slam – Science Slam for Chemists”, organized by Start4Chem in the RUB Makerspace @WORLDFACTORY. They presented their “sophisticated” work on electrochemical atomic force microscopy (AFM) and nanoparticle synthesis to a broad audience in an entertaining (and simplified) way. The science slam was followed by a networking event for natural scientists, which offered insights into various career paths from basic research to industrial research and entrepreneurship.
Sobota, L., Bondue, C. J., Hosseini, P., Kaiser, C., Spallek, M., Tschulik, K., ChemElectroChem 2023, e202300151
7. Oktober 2023
244th ECS Meeting
Some of our group members at the 244th ECS Meeting. It was a week full of science exchange and fruitful electrochemical discussions. Our group contributed to the conference with poster and oral presentations
21. September 2023
Experimente am DESY
Our group members Thais Schroeder Rossi, Paolo Cignoni, Andriana Loukovitou, Gabriel Boitel-Aullen and Luca Sicking went to the German Electron Synchrotron DESY in Hamburg to perform SAXS measurements
12. Mai 2023
Poster award for Annika Just at ElecNano 2023
During the 10th ElecNano in Paris, the poster presented by Annika Just was awarded
The team enjoyed 2 hours intensive beachvolleyball…
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Last update: Dec 03, 2025
