Research

Ulrike Krewer is a full professor and head of the Institute for Applied Materials – Electrochemical Technologies at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Her more than 20 years of research expertise in electrochemical technologies cover established technologies, such as Li-ion batteries and PEM electrolysis, as well as a number of exploratory cells such as Li-(sulfur)-, Na-ion-, or solid-state batteries, and CO2 electrolysis.

Ulrike Krewer has developed an elaborate method repertoire for model-based and dynamic analysis of processes in electrodes and electrochemical cells. Using experimentally validated models on surface-to-cell level and dynamic analysis, her group reveals performance-limiting steps and the (degradation) state of cells and electrodes, and uses the models to optimize cell/electrode design and operation.

Her group is one of only a few groups that does in-depth kinetic modelling of processes at electrodes and in cells, including complex networks of electrochemical and chemical reactions and degradation/surface changes. Parameter, process, and model identification are conducted by reproducing experimental electrochemical measurements (e.g., polarization/discharge curves, electrochemical impedance spectra, cyclic voltammograms, …) and (surface) concentration measurements. Highlights in method development include the establishment of nonlinear frequency response analysis for the analysis of battery state and electrode kinetics, the first differential electrochemical mass spectrometry for technical electrodes, and coupled kinetic Monte Carlo/continuum models for the build-up of degradation layers.

For her research, she has received several awards, such as the Award for Fundamental Research of the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt, the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society, and the Gold Medal in the Samsung SDI Paper Award. She is co-speaker of the Cluster4Future “Electrifying technical Organic Synthesis” (ETOS) and PI and board member of the Cluster of Excellence “Post Lithium Storage” (POLiS). Furthermore, she is active in the board of several conferences (Advanced Battery Power, ISE conferences…) and the DECHEMA/VDI Chemical Reaction Engineering Section, as co-chair of the ISE Annual Meeting in Mainz in 2025, and as member of several advisory boards such as for Battery Research of the German Ministry of Education and Research, Bavarian Center for Battery Technology , and the Energy Research Center Lower Saxony.

Curriculum Vitae

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrike Krewer

Since 2021	Co-optation at the KIT Department of Chemical and Process Engineering
since 2020	Full Professor and head of the Institute for Applied Materials – Electrochemical Technologies, KIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, DE
2017	Visiting Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering (Prof. Richard Braatz), MA, USA
2012 – 2020	Full professor at and head of the Institute for Energy and Process Systems Engineering, Braunschweig University of Technology, DE
2008 – 2013	Head of Otto Hahn research group Portable Energy Systems at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Magdeburg, DE
2009 – 2011	Junior-Professor for Portable Energy Systems at the Chair for Process Systems Engineering, University of Magdeburg, DE
2006 – 2007	Senior Researcher/Senior Engineer at the Energy Research Center of Samsung SDI Ltd., South Korea
in 2005	Ph.D. degree (Dr.-Ing., summa cum laude) in Process and Systems Engineering at the University of Magdeburg, DE, title: System-oriented analysis of the dynamic behavior of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells
2001 - 2005	Research Assistant, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems (Supervisor: Prof. Kai Sundmacher)
1995 – 2001	Studies of Chemical Engineering, Diploma degree (with distinction) in Process Engineering at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, DE

Publications

Statistics (as of 05/2024): >180 journal articles, 3 patents, h-Index: 42, > 6200 citations

For a complete overview see GoogleScholar or Orcid

Selected Publications:

Microkinetic Analysis of the Oxygen Evolution Performance at Different Stages of Iridium Oxide Degradation
Geppert, J.; Röse, P.; Czioska, S.; Escalera-López, D.; Boubnov, A.; Saraçi, E.; Cherevko, S.; Grunwaldt, J.-D.; Krewer, U.
2022. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 144 (29), 13205–13217. doi:10.1021/jacs.2c03561
The passivity of lithium electrodes in liquid electrolytes for secondary batteries
He, X.; Bresser, D.; Passerini, S.; Baakes, F.; Krewer, U.; Lopez, J.; Mallia, C. T.; Shao-Horn, Y.; Cekic-Laskovic, I.; Wiemers-Meyer, S.; Soto, F. A.; Ponce, V.; Seminario, J. M.; Balbuena, P. B.; Jia, H.; Xu, W.; Xu, Y.; Wang, C.; Horstmann, B.; Amine, R.; Su, C.-C.; Shi, J.; Amine, K.; Winter, M.; Latz, A.; Kostecki, R.
2021. Nature Reviews Materials, 6, 1036–1052. doi:10.1038/s41578-021-00345-5
Impact of electrolyte impurities and SEI composition on battery safety
Baakes, F.; Witt, D.; Krewer, U.
2023. Chemical Science, 14 (47), 13783–13798. doi:10.1039/d3sc04186g
Knowledge-driven design of solid-electrolyte interphases on lithium metal via multiscale modelling
Wagner-Henke, J.; Kuai, D.; Gerasimov, M.; Röder, F.; Balbuena, P. B.; Krewer, U.
2023. Nature Communications, 14 (1), Art.Nr.: 6823. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-42212-7
Multi-Scale Simulation of Heterogeneous Surface Film Growth Mechanisms in Lithium-Ion Batteries
Röder, F.; Braatz, R. D.; Krewer, U.
2017. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 164 (11), E3335–E3344. doi:10.1149/2.0241711jes
Processes and Their Limitations in Oxygen Depolarized Cathodes: A Dynamic Model‐Based Analysis
Röhe, M.; Kubannek, F.; Krewer, U.
2019. ChemSusChem, 12 (11), 2373–2384. doi:10.1002/cssc.201900312
Impact of carbonation processes in anion exchange membrane fuel cells
Krewer, U.; Weinzierl, C.; Ziv, N.; Dekel, D. R.
2018. Electrochimica Acta, 263, 433–446. doi:10.1016/j.electacta.2017.12.093
Modeling the Impact of Manufacturing Uncertainties on Lithium-Ion Batteries
Schmidt, O.; Thomitzek, M.; Röder, F.; Thiede, S.; Herrmann, C.; Krewer, U.
2020. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 167 (6), 060501. doi:10.1149/1945-7111/ab798a
Identification of Lithium Plating in Lithium-Ion Batteries using Nonlinear Frequency Response Analysis (NFRA)
Harting, N.; Wolff, N.; Krewer, U.
2018. Electrochimica Acta, 281, 378–385. doi:10.1016/j.electacta.2018.05.139
Impedance spectroscopic analysis of the electrochemical methanol oxidation kinetics
Krewer, U.; Christov, M.; Vidakovic, T.; Sundmacher, K.
2006. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 589 (1), 148–159. doi:10.1016/j.jelechem.2006.01.027