Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the CAS (HIPC), a public research institution, develops the scientific legacy of the Nobel Prize winner, Professor Jaroslav Heyrovský, in the fields related to physical chemistry. Over 200 scientists, ranging from promising young researchers to world-renowned top experts, are engaged in systematic basic and applied research. The theoretical knowledge and experimentally acquired knowledge of the physical chemical processes occurring in molecules and atoms are of importance for industrial catalysis, energy production and storage, health care and the environment. The Institute operates the Heyrovský Technology Transfer Centre, which promotes cooperation between the Institute and the commercial sector to link the research and technological potential of the Institute with the needs of the commercial sphere.

The Department of Electrochemical Materials focuses on the preparation and characterization of electrochemically active materials with a special emphasis on nanomaterials based on elemental carbon, semiconducting oxides, and inorganic 2D crystals. The main topics of our research include, in particular, the development of new electrode materials and electrolytes for rechargeable Li-ion, Na-ion, Li-sulfur batteries, or others based on transition metal ions. We also develop new materials for dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells, which can be used, for example, as omnipresent transparent panels soon, and thereby considerably contributing to the balancing of energy production in our society. With the aid of state-of-the-art spectroscopic and microscopic techniques that we simultaneously develop and improve, we also study physico-chemical processes in gaseous nanobubbles at the solid-liquid interface, in nuclear reactors at the surface of cladding tubes, or in two-dimensional materials.