Lattice structures are ubiquitous in nature, which determine diverse physical and chemical properties of materials. Exploring and controlling crystal structures is a central task of material engineering. Lattice phase transition is considered as a significant approach to manipulate and control functionalities, and thus, understanding the underlying mechanism of phase transition is a basic premise and guarantee for technological applications. A fundamental understanding of the cooperative interplay between charge, spin, orbital and lattice is required to manipulate this process. The emergence of magnetic Van der Waals (vdW) crystals opened up new horizons for engineering phase transition with magnetic orders together beyond the reach of existing materials. Traditional investigation of magnetic phase transition requires neutron diffraction, which requires nuclear reactor to generate neutrons. In this project, I propose to use three-dimensional electron diffraction (3DED) to study the 3D magnetic orderings, which will serve as a complimentary method to neutron diffraction. I will also study the dynamical behaviour of magnetic ordering in vdW crystals under different electric bias conditions. In addition, I will study the 3D magnetic field distribution at the interface of heterostructures constructed by vdW crystals. I will develop continuous fast holographic tomography (CFHT) with much lower dose and higher speed compared to traditional step-wise tomography. I will also apply a special 3D reconstruction algorithm to reveal and visualize the 3D magnetic field at the heterostructure interface. The outputs of this project will provide insight into the synergy effects of charge, spin and lattice in magnetic materials and greatly facilitate the discovery of novel magnetic materials.

With the European Green Deal and its goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions in Europe by 2050, the increased use of the subsurface is inevitable. The large-scale exploitation of the subsurface for storage (e.g., gases) and extraction activities (e.g., geothermal energy) will create large scale perturbations which can destabilize the rock and allow leakage of contaminants into groundwater. Therefore, we need a sound understanding of coupled hydro-geochemical processes arising from such activities, as well as tools to predict these impacts reliably. Reactive Transport Modeling (RTM) has so far proven to be the most powerful tool to track the fate of subsurface contaminants from laboratory up to geological timescales. However, the simplistic approaches to describe the gas-water-mineral interactions in RTM do not accurately capture the complex processes in geological environments, as they do not consider relevant processes that take place at the microscopic scale. These processes need to be upscaled (integrated) into RTM. This requires detailed insights into mineral crystallization processes involving gas in confined porous media, particularly (i) coupled mineral dissolution and precipitation with gas generation and (ii) mineral nucleation at the water-gas interface, since both affect the transport properties and mineralogical reactivity of the rock matrix. Genies will integrate cutting-edge lab-on-a-chip, i.e., miniaturized (microfluidic) experiments with advanced, in operando, micro-analytical techniques and an interdisciplinary environment to provide the insights needed for upscaling. This project will provide high-fidelity experimental datasets that will bring new theoretical insights into hydro-geochemical processes involving gases. The resulting extended RTM will allow reliable modeling of the fate of contaminants and consequently reduce uncertainty when assessing the integrity of subsurface storage and extraction systems.

Replacement of fossil chemicals with biological counterparts has been widely accepted as a vital pursuit to increase the sustainability of our chemical and material industries. Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering enable us to produce a plethora of chemicals with microbes, but the majority of these never make it past the proof-of-principle stage. This is especially the case for drop-in bulk aromatics like styrene or benzene. The main reason for this is that such products are too toxic to ordinary production microbes. In PROSPER I aim to overcome this hurdle and demonstrate the efficient microbial production of hydrophobic aromatic chemicals using solvent-tolerant Pseudomonas. I will engineer this unique extremophile to break the solubility barrier of these chemicals, forming a second phase of product. This second phase provides a virtually endless product sink and it enables extremely simple downstream recovery. The bio-based production of a second phase of such chemicals has thus far never been shown. I believe that this relates to a fundamental problem in biotechnology: production tolerance, i.e., tolerance of the producing organism to the produced product, rather than to an externally added chemical (as it is usually studied). In PROSPER I intend to generate deep mechanistic insights into the processes governing both types of tolerance and to leverage these insights to open up a new field of biotechnological production of hydrophobic compounds. To achieve this, I will develop new methods to analyze intracellular solvent concentrations, build a Pseudomonas chassis with enhanced production tolerance to hydrophobic solvents, and enable production of solvents like styrene, ethylbenzene, and even benzene. I am in a unique position to achieve this goal, with over 15 years of experience in the engineering of Pseudomonas as a workhorse in biotechnology, the study of solvent-tolerance, and the development and application of synthetic biology tools and metho

All-solid-state batteries(ASSB) enabled by electrochemically stable solid electrolytes represent a promising alternative to the conventional lithium batteries with liquid electrolytes which jeopardize battery safety. However, the complex charge transfer at solid-solid interfaces greatly limits the electrochemical performance of ASSB. Therefore, a detailed understanding of how the morphology, structure and chemical composition changes at the electrode-electrolyte interfaces and within the solid electrolyte particles and/or across grain boundaries on battery cycling is urgently needed. In this project, I will utilize operando transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM), to visualize the morphological, structural and chemical changes across electrode-electrolyte and electrolyte-electrolyte interfaces during battery cycling to develop new insights into ion transfer mechanisms at the atomic scale. For this, utilizing one of the best TEM facilities in the world including the expertise of TEM specialists and availability of sophisticated TEM specimen holders at the Ernst Ruska-Centre in Forschungszentrum Jülich, with state-of-the-art battery materials and battery engineering at Imperial College London and my expertise in designing and performing operando TEM battery studies, I will construct all-solid-state micro-batteries inside TEM and visualize morphological, structural and chemical changes at battery interfaces during (de)lithiation and compare these with that of liquid electrolytes to determine the best battery architecture. To evaluate how such nanoscale processes impact the performance of lab-scale ASSB batteries, SEM-based cells will be employed. The understanding of interfacial processes that dictate the potential of ASSB and new strategies to improve the battery performance developed from this project will be disseminated to a wide range of audience including battery industries, to advance ASSB technology for sustainable future.