
Integrated Energy Conversion and Storage
A DFG Cluster of Excellence
Heading for new biosensors with graphene and DNA
A biosensor´s most important sign of quality is sending a clear color signal when the target molecule binds. The signal strength depends on the distance of the fluorescence molecules involved. Now members of the Cluster of Excellence “e-conversion” are able to define and optimize this distance with nanometer precision.
Activity of fuel cell catalysts doubled
An interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has built platinum nanoparticles for catalysis in fuel cells: The new size-optimized catalysts are twice as good as the best process commercially available today.
About e-conversion
The e-conversion Cluster of Excellence, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), focuses on researching energy conversion processes that take place at interfaces. Wherever light, charges, and matter interact, our Cluster of Excellence explores the fundamentals of future energy technologies.
How can we convert and store energy more efficiently and sustainably? This question lies at the heart of e-conversion. The Cluster of Excellence investigates interfaces – the areas where light, charge, and matter come together. At these junctions, the key processes of energy conversion take place. This is where the joint Cluster of Excellence of the Technical University of Munich and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, together with its partner institutions (see below), concentrates its research efforts. e-conversion brings together more than 40 research groups working to understand the structures, phenomena, and processes at interfaces in detail. The reason: Whether in solar cells, (photo)catalytic reactors, or batteries, the mechanisms of energy conversion at the microscopic and (sub-)atomic level are remarkably similar. Despite different classes of materials, processes such as charge separation and ion transport exhibit comparable characteristics. Read more…
Media
Events
e-conversion Conference 2026
The next cluster conference will take place in Venice from 4 October to 9, 2026.
Recent Publications
A reflection on 'A hydrazone-based covalent organic framework for photocatalytic hydrogen production': teaching sponges new tricks Journal Article
In: Chemical Science, vol. 17, no. 12, pp. 5777-5781, 2026, ISSN: 2041-6520.
In: Angewandte Chemie-International Edition, 2026, ISSN: 1433-7851.
In: Inorganic Chemistry, 2026, ISSN: 0020-1669.






















