Prof. Dr. Birgit Esser
Ulm University
Prof. Dr. Birgit Esser
Image: Prof. Dr. Birgit Esser
About the Speaker
Birgit Esser studied Chemistry at the Universities of Heidelberg, Germany, and Bristol, UK, and obtained her PhD from the University of Heidelberg under the supervision of Prof. Rolf Gleiter in 2008. After a postdoctoral stay in the group of Timothy M. Swager at MIT she started her independent career in 2012 at the University of Bonn. Since 2015, she is professor for Molecular/Organic Functional Materials at the University of Freiburg. Her scientific interests include the design and synthesis of electrode materials for organic batteries, conjugated small molecules and polymers for optoelectronics, supramolecular donor-acceptor interactions as well as the synthesis and investigation of cyclic conjugated molecules.
Abstract
Electrode Materials
in Next-Generation BatteriesBirgit Esser
Ulm University
Institute of Organic Chemistry II and Advanced Materials, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081 Ulm, Germany
CELEST Green Energy Lab Ulm, Lise-Meitner-Str. 16, 89081 Ulm, Germany
birgit.esser@uni-ulm.de
Organic electrode materials have attracted great interest for next-generation batteries, in particular so-called post-lithium batteries,[1] including multivalent metal and anionic batteries. They can be classified into p- and n-type organic materials and can therefore furnish different types of battery cell configurations: cation-rocking chair, anion-rocking chair and dual-ion,[2,3] which include metal- and all-organic batteries. In this talk the design,[4] synthesis[5] and operational principles of selected p- and n-type organic electrode materials will be discussed as well as their application in all-organic[6,7] and “post-lithium”-metal full cells.[8–10]
Selected References:
[1] B. Esser, H. Ehrenberg, M. Fichtner, A. Groß, J. Janek, Adv. Energy Mater. 2025, 15, 2402824.
[2] R. Wessling, P. Penert, B. Esser, Adv. Energy Mater. 2025, 15, 2500150.
[3] B. Esser, F. Dolhem, M. Becuwe, P. Poizot, A. Vlad, D. Brandell, J. Power Sources 2021, 482, 228814.
[4] P. Penert, B. Schulz, A. Florent, P. Poizot, B. Esser, ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2026, 8, 5929–5939.
[5] F. Adler, S. Pinto‐Bautista, C. Lorenz, L. Hinrichs, M. Weil, B. Esser, Adv. Sci. 2025, 06251, 1–6.
[6] R. Wessling, H. Koger, F. Otteny, M. Schmidt, A. Semmelmaier, B. Esser, ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2024, 6, 7956–7968.
[7] P. Penert, L. S. Neige, C. Lorenz, W. Stawski, B. Esser, Adv. Energy Sustain. Res. 2026, 7, e202500496.
[8] G. Studer, A. Schmidt, J. Büttner, M. Schmidt, A. Fischer, I. Krossing, B. Esser, Energy Environ. Sci. 2023, 16, 3760–3769.
[9] S. M. Pallasch, M. Bhosale, G. J. Smales, C. Schmidt, S. Riedel, Z. Zhao-Karger, B. Esser, O. Dumele, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 17318–17324.
[10] M. Adil, R. Wessling, N. Kokott, E. Mena‐Osteritz, B. Prifling, M. Osenberg, T. Diemant, V. Schmidt, I. Manke, B. Esser, Adv. Energy Mater. 2026, DOI 10.1002/aenm.71098.