The group investigates many different material coatings with various functions as there are scratch resistance, hydrophobicity, anti-icing, self-cleaning and catalytical active surfaces.

Using various material synthesis techniques like CVD, PECVD and ALD electrochemically interesting layers are produced. These layers are used for example in the creation of photoelectrochemical cells (PEC) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER).

The group is very active in the area of perovskite solar cells. From the basic chemical synthesis of the perovskite to full device building and testing, all steps can be done in the group. Recently two light soaking benches have been set up to investigate the solar cell long-term stability under constant illumination.

Semiconducting metal oxides in different forms such as thin films, nanowire, nanotubes and nanoparticles are of interest in the field of gas sensing due to their electrical and chemical properties. The work group of Prof. Mathur targets to achieve high efficient gas sensors by considering the 3S (Stability, Sensitivity and Selectivity) as reference. The sensor group is capable of measuring different analyts (NO₂, NO, CO, CO₂, CH₄, NH₃, H₂) starting from room temperature up to 700°C in a dynamic system. Moreover, the gas sensing system in the work group allows to tune the measurement conditions (humidity, under visible or UV light) depending on application area.

The choice of materials plays an important role for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. In this context, nanostructured materials such as nanoparticles (0D), nanowires (1D) and nanofilms (2D) are of huge interest in the field of energy storage. In the working group of Prof. Dr. S. Mathur the electrochemical performances of different materials (intercalation-, conversion- and alloying materials) can be studied by galvanostatic (MTI BST8-MA battery analyzer, USA) and potentiostatic (Metrohm, Switzerland) measurements at room temperature by using lithium-foil as counter electrode in lithium half-cells to evaluate the cycle stability, rate capability and cycle life of synthesized new cathode and anode materials.