Marius Michael Engler, winner of the Nasser Kanani Prize 2025 and Master's graduate of TU Ilmenau, Interview: Robert Piterek
Congratulations on the Nasser Kanani Prize. How did you feel about receiving the prize?
I was overwhelmed by the news and happy at the same time. I consider it a great honor to have won the most prestigious prize in electroplating technology. It was also very special to be able to meet Nasser Kanani here in Ulm.
What importance do you attach to Prof. Kanani in electroplating and electrochemistry?
I grew up with the fact that Prof. Nasser Kanani is considered an icon of electroplating and that he has written numerous textbooks.
Can you summarize in a few sentences which innovation won you the prize?
The iron-based redox flow battery is a type of battery that is primarily intended for large storage systems. It is intended for use at grid level and by companies that require stationary storage for electrical energy. This storage system is water-based and contains iron salts, making it a battery technology that is very economical and also offers little cause for concern in terms of safety. The technology is also sustainable.
"Battery combines sustainable energy storage
with electroplating technology"
You wrote your Master's thesis on this topic. Could the iron redox flow battery soon go into series production?
Current research is currently conducting fundamental research into the iron-based redox flow battery. Once the major bottlenecks have been resolved, the next step towards commercial testing is not far away. So far, there are research projects and individual lighthouse projects working with it, but no large-scale serial implementation yet.
Have any of the major developers called to introduce the technology?
No, not yet, but that is probably because the current state of research has not yet been communicated.
Iron is easy to come by. After your presentation at the Ulm talk, Prof. Timo Sörgel from Aalen University mentioned the all-vanadium battery. Is that a similar principle?
The vanadium redox flow battery is a project that was driven forward by NASA in the 1970s. Compared to iron, vanadium is much more expensive. The principle or structure of the redox flow battery is similar; however, the major difference to the iron redox flow battery is that iron is deposited in the cell and then dissolved again. This phase change makes it a hybrid version of this battery.
When iron is deposited, we are also talking about galvanic processes...
Exactly, that's the beauty of this battery technology: because iron is deposited in the cell, the technology combines sustainable energy storage with electroplating.
You are a Master's graduate of the TU Ilmenau under Prof. Bund. What are the next steps in your career?
Since the beginning of the year, I have also been a doctoral student in Prof. Bund's department. So I will continue to work on my research on the redox flow battery. It's an exciting topic that I want to build on. I also appreciate the relatively small class sizes that the TU Ilmenau advertises.
INFO
Marius Michael Englerwas born and grew up in Berlin. After graduating from high school, the 26-year-old began a dual study program in energy technology in Berlin/Riesa. The small study groups in Ilmenau and the relatively short distance to Berlin later motivated him to complete a Master's degree in Regenerative Energy Technology at the TU Ilmenau. His Master's thesis on energy storage and conversion was supervised by Prof. Andreas Bund, who teaches some of the modules on the course.
