Overview: Advanced Materials Science

Whether cars, planes, computers, mobile phones or medical equipment – all these products rely on materials research. Research in the Field of Expertise Advanced Materials Science at TU Graz aims to understand the structure and function of the smallest components through advanced characterization techniques and modeling, to develop new materials and to assemble them in special processes. The focus is on improving existing materials, and designing them to be lighter, more flexible, more responsive, cheaper or more robust. The researchers work primarily with materials for the areas of energy technology, electronics, sensors, lightweight construction and medical technology.

Development of new materials and processes 

• Cathode, anode, electrolyte and separator materials for batteries and accumulators
• Inorganic and organic semiconductors
• Paper and the physical and chemical basics of paper strength
• Metallic materials for energy applications and lightweight construction
• New joining, forming and additive processes
• Polymers and new polymerization techniques
• Thin film technologies
• Porous materials
• Sensor materials
• Biocides, bioresponsive and biodegradable plastics
• Organic, hybrid and perovskite solar cells
• Ceramic semiconductors, sensors and piezoelectric components
• Functional layers and components

Microanalytics and nanoanalytics, structure determination

• Diffraction and scattering methods (light, X-ray and synchrotron radiation)
• Analytical electron microscopy
• Solid-state spectroscopy
• Surface analysis
• Thermomechanical tests
• Micro computed tomography (μ-CT)
• Surface area and porosimetry
• Soft matter application lab

Materials modelling

• Multi-scale materials modelling
• Optimisation of casting, forming and joining processes by numerical simulation
• Materials design via machine learning

around 150 researchers from 6 faculties of TU Graz