Prof. Dr. Maik Eichelbaum
Person
Prof. Eichelbaum's research group focuses on new CO2-neutral ways of producing green hydrogen, i.e. via electrolysis and photo(electro)catalysis, on the electrochemical conversion of CO2 into important chemicals and energy carriers, and on the in-situ and ex-situ analysis of hydrogen polymer electrolyte (PEM) fuel cells in real-world applications.
Since 2024: Spokesperson for the DFG DuraFuelCell research initiative
Since 2022: Academic Co-Director of the Institute for Applied Hydrogen Research, Electrochemical and Thermochemical Energy Systems (H2Ohm)
Since 2018: Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the Faculty of Applied Chemistry, Nuremberg Tech
2015–2018: Adviser at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
2013–2015: Research Group Leader in the ‘Inorganic Chemistry’ Division of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society and Project Leader for ‘In-situ Analysis of Catalysts’ at the BasCat Unicat-BASF JointLab at the Technical University of Berlin
2009–2013: Research Associate in the ‘Inorganic Chemistry’ Division of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
2008–2009: Research Associate at the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University in the City of New York, USA
2005–2008: Research Associate at the Institute of Chemistry, Humboldt University of Berlin
- Chemical and electrochemical characterisation of (electro)catalysts and electrochemical energy converters such as fuel cells, batteries and electrolysers
- Development of accelerated ageing tests, investigation of ageing mechanisms and development of new analytical methods for fuel cell, electrolyser and battery diagnostics
- Application of machine learning methods for lifetime and fault prediction, as well as for virtual sensor technology in electrochemical energy systems
- Photoelectrochemical analysis of photocatalytically active layers
2023: N-ERGIE Aktiengesellschaft Incentive Award for the project “Investigation of corrosion and ageing processes in precious-metal-free anion-exchange membrane water electrolysers for the cost-effective production of green hydrogen”
2016–2017: Mercator Science-Policy Fellow (2016/17 cohort) of the Rhine-Main Universities
2012: Hot Topic Award from the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry
2008–2009: Postdoctoral fellowship from the BASF/Columbia University collaboration programme “Heterogeneous Catalysis for Environmentally Benign Technologies”
2006–2008: PhD scholarship from the Chemical Industry Fund
2006: Participation Award at the 18th Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Chemistry in Lindau
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Selected publications and conference papers since 2021:
S. Thiel, L. Birkner, M. Eichelbaum.* Monitoring, Understanding and Predicting Degradation Processes in Hydrogen PEM Fuel Cells for Heavy-Duty Vehicles. Presentation, 14th European Congress of Chemical Engineering, 19 September 2023, Berlin.
S. Thiel, M. Eichelbaum.* Investigation of Degradation Processes in Polymer Electrolyte Membranes in Fuel Cells for Heavy-Duty Vehicles. Presentation, Bunsen Conference, 7 June 2023, Berlin.
V. Seiß, M. Eichelbaum.* Charge carrier dynamics in undoped and N-doped titania nanolayers under UV and visible light irradiation. Poster, Bunsen Conference, 6 June 2023, Berlin.
L. Birkner, S. Thiel, M. Eichelbaum.* Monitoring, Understanding and Predicting Degradation Processes in Hydrogen PEM Fuel Cells for Heavy-Duty Transportation Applications. Presentation, 3rd Conference of the GDCh Division of Chemistry and Energy, 24 May 2023, Pfinztal.
S. Thiel, V. Seiß, M. Eichelbaum.* Scanning electrochemical microscopy for the characterisation of fuel cell components. Presentation, International Workshop on Impedance Spectroscopy, 29 September 2022, Chemnitz.
S. Thiel, M. Eichelbaum.* Scanning electrochemical microscopy for the characterisation of fuel cell components. Poster presentation, Analytica Conference, 21–23 June 2022, Munich.
M. Eichelbaum,* V. Seiß. Analysis of photoactive titanium dioxide layers: Common features and differences between photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry, Wiley Analytical Science Magazine 2022, 03/2022.
M. Eichelbaum,* V. Seiß. Analysis of photoactive titanium dioxide layers: Common features and differences between photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry, GIT Labor-Fachzeitschrift 2022, 03/2022, 41–43.
S. Thiel, S. Schamber, K. Riedhammer, M. Hornfeck, M. Eichelbaum.* Modelling PEM fuel cell performance using machine learning algorithms and intelligent sensor designs. Presentation, 13th European Congress of Chemical Engineering, 21 September 2021 (online event).
V. Seiß, L. Breun, M. Eichelbaum.* Photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical characterisation of TiO₂ thin films for environmental and energy applications. Poster presentation and poster flash talk, 13th European Congress of Chemical Engineering, 20–23 September 2021 (online event).