Source: BAM
Jens Riedel of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) has been appointed university professor in the field of spectrochemical analysis at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU). The joint appointment underscores the close strategic collaboration between BAM and BTU. A key focus of the new chair will be battery recycling.
In addition to his professorship, which is based at the Institute of Materials Chemistry at BTU, Prof. Jens Riedel will play a central role in the new structural change project HERES – BTU Centre of Excellence for High-Tech and Energy Materials and Their Recycling in Senftenberg. The center will be established by February 2030. Within the framework of HERES, Prof. Riedel is responsible for the development and integration of an autonomous chemical process analytics system, the development of which is largely being carried out at BAM.
In the future this will enable battery components to be fully automatically analyzed for their constituents and the valuable raw materials they contain. Online monitoring allows for the targeted optimization of individual process steps.
As one of the three project leaders of HERES, he is responsible for establishing a research platform for the sustainable recycling of modern battery materials. This will create a real-world laboratory in Lusatia that develops new technologies along the entire value chain of lithium-ion batteries—from raw material extraction and processing through separation and recycling methods to digital self-driving lab concepts.
At BAM, Prof. Riedel will continue to head the Instrumental Analysis division, which is dedicated to the development of innovative spectrometric and spectroscopic instruments, automated laboratory processes, robotic sample handling, and modern data-driven analytics. Here, too, the focus is on the rapid and automated chemical characterization of relevant material streams, ranging from recycled products such as steel to battery cathode materials.
The joint appointment of Prof. Riedel and the deepened collaboration on battery recycling are part of the strategic partnership between BAM and BTU. The collaboration generally focuses on pooling and expanding shared expertise in the fields of analytics, hydrogen technologies, and materials science.
For example, in 2023, BAM and BTU jointly launched Trustworthy Hydrogen, a graduate research training program that is unique in Germany. It trains outstanding young scientists who will help shape the future hydrogen economy in Germany and Europe.
Similarly, the HERES project plans for an intensive exchange of doctoral candidates and researchers from BAM and BTU.