New DFG Project SynDiPET advances Protonic Ceramics for Hydrogen technology
2025/12/17
Hydrogen is a key technology for the energy transition, particularly for large-scale storage of renewable energy. Water electrolysis enables climate-friendly hydrogen production without CO₂ emissions. Among electrolysis technologies, protonic ceramic electrolysis cells are especially promising, as they operate at lower temperatures, require less energy, and deliver high-purity hydrogen ready for direct use.
The performance of these cells is governed by a proton-conducting ceramic electrolyte, which determines operating temperature and power density. However, existing materials and process-based optimization strategies have reached their limits, restricting widespread application. The Research Unit FOR5966 Synergistic Design of Proton-Conducting Ceramics for Energy Technology (SynDiPET) addresses this challenge through a novel, data-driven and synergistic design strategy.
The project is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Bai-Xiang Xu, at the Institute of Materials Science, TU Darmstadt and involves Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Philipps University Marburg, and the University of Stuttgart. It comprises 9 subprojects and one coordination project, with more than €4.3 million in funding approved by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the first four-year funding period.
A substantial share of the funding is allocated to TU Darmstadt, where the coordination project and three subprojects are based, corresponding to more than €1.9 million. A key focus of FOR5966 is the generation and use of simulation data. This approach goes well beyond classical, purely data-driven “black-box” machine learning methods, enabling deep physical understanding and targeted optimization of materials. The three subprojects based at TU Darmstadt make major contributions in this area: Projects P3 and P8, led by Prof. Dr. Bai-Xiang Xu, and Project P6, led by Dr. Sabrina Sicolo and Prof. Dr. Karsten Albe, specifically strengthen multiscale simulations and data-driven materials science approaches within the research consortium.
