Dr. Stefan Schwarzmüller

Stefan Schwarzmüller

Department of General, Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry
      University of Innsbruck
      Center for Chemistry and Biomedicine
      Innrain 80-82
      A-6020 Innsbruck
      AUSTRIA, Europe

     Room: L.01.063

+43 (0) 512 507 57034

Stefan.Schwarzmueller@uibk.ac.at

About me

My main research interest focusses on the structure-property relationship of solid-state materials. How do features related to the crystal structure like the size and arrangement of atom groups, channels, cages and distinct atomic positions influence the materials’ properties? How does the micro- and nanostructure (so called “real structure”) like grain size, pores, inclusions and precipitates help to optimize a material? In order to understand this structure-property relationship it is often crucial to investigate the materials’ structure or properties (thermal, ionic, electrical conductivity and so on) while an external stimulus like temperature or pressure is applied (so called in-situ measurements). This is somehow like being a detective chasing the next case; sometimes tedious, mostly exciting and in the end always satisfying the thirst for knowledge.

Education

since 05/2025                       

Innsbruck University, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy
Habilitation candidate in the group of Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hubert Huppertz

01/2022-12/2023     

Innsbruck University, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy
Post-doctoral fellow in the group of Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hubert Huppertz     

07/2014 – 11/2019           

Leipzig University, Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy
PhD thesis (Doktor rerum naturalium) in the group of Prof. Dr. Oliver Oeckler with the research
topic: “The influence of substitutions with Li, Na, Ag, Cu, Sn and In in germanium antimony
tellurides on phase formation, atom mobility and thermoelectric properties”                                   

08/2017 – 10/2017    

McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Chicago/USA
research project in the group of Prof. Dr. Jeffrey G. Snyder: “high temperature (20-400 °C)
hall measurements on thermoelectric materials”

10/2011 – 05/2014        

LMU Munich, Masterstudies Chemistry
Master of Science Chemistry

08/2012 – 01/2013       

Uppsala Universitet, Uppsala/Sweden
Semester abroad (ERASMUS-program), research internship in the group of
Prof. Dr. Anders Hagfeldt: „Perovskite Sensitized Solid-State Solar Cells based
on ZnO nanorods“

10/2008 – 09/2011         

LMU Munich, Bachelorstudies Chemistry and Biochemistry
Bachelor of Science Chemistry and Biochemistry

09/1999 – 08/2008   

Karolinen-Gymnasium (college preparatory high school), Rosenheim
Abitur (general qualification for university entrance)

Professional Experience

Since 05/2025       

Research associate at Innsbruck University

01/2024 - 04/2025     

Sales manager Austria for electron microscopy at Schaefer Technologie GmbH

01/2022 - 12/2023         

Application engineer for electron microscopy at IB-FT GmbH (part time)

04/2019 – 12/2021

Product specialist industrial EM (electron microscopy) products at Thermo Fisher Scientific

11/2013 – 03/2019 

Research associate at Leipzig University

ORCiDGoogle scholar

Peer-reviewed publications

[26] High-pressure synthesis and crystal structure of Ga5Na1–xB12O26–x(OH)x (x = 0.12)
I. Widmann, K. Wurst, S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz
Z. Naturfosch. B 2025, accepted manuscript.
https://doi.org/10.1515/znb-2025-0005

[25] 4P-Pavonite-type Cu1.8Sb5.4Se9: A Potential One-Dimensional Copper Ion Conductor
S. Schwarzmüller, M. Amsler, S. Goedecker, H. Huppertz
J. Alloys Compd. 2025, 1014, 178542.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2025.178542

[24] High-pressure/high-temperature synthesis of ErCd2B7O13(BO(OH)3): A non-centrosymmetric erbium cadmium borate
T. A. Teichtmeister, S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz
Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2024, 27, e202400211.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ejic.202400211

[23] Pressure-Induced Dislocations and Their Influence on Ionic Transport in Li+ Conducting Argyrodites
V. Faka, M. T. Agne, M. Lange, D. Daisenberger, B. Wankmiller, S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz, O. Maus, B. Helm, T. Boeger, J. Hartel, J. Gerdes, J. Molaison, G. Kieslich, M. R. Hansen, W. Zeier
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 1710-1721.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c12323
Press Release / Pressemitteilung

[22] High-pressure/high-temperature synthesis of the first walstromite-analogue borate Tm2CrB3O9
T. A. Teichtmeister, S. Schwarzmüller, K. Wurst, G. Heymann, H. Huppertz
Z. Kristallogr. 2024, 239, 27-33.
https://doi.org/10.1515/zkri-2023-0046

[21] Pressure Assisted Synthesis of Highly Crystalline 1T’’-LixMoS2
S. Schwarzmüller, K. Wurst, G. Heymann, H. Huppertz
Chem. Eur. J. 2024, 30, e202302565.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202302565
Cover Picture

[20] High-pressure/high-temperature synthesis of Nd3B5O11(OH)2
T. A. Teichtmeister, A. H. Bernhardt, S. Schwarzmüller, K. Wurst, H. Huppertz
Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2023, 649, e202300210.
https://doi.org/10.1002/zaac.202300210

[19] An Unexpected New Member of the Family of Lithium Oxonitridosilicates – Li7Si2NO6
K. M. Rießbeck, M. Seibald, S. Schwarzmüller, D. Baumann, H. Huppertz
Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2023, 26, e202300304.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ejic.202300304

[18] Endotaxial Intergrowth of Copper Telluride in GeTe-Rich Germanium Antimony Tellurides Leads to High Thermoelectric Performance
S. Schwarzmüller, D. Souchay, G. Wagner, P. Kemmesies, D. Günther, M. Bittner, G. Zhang, Z. Ren, A. Feldhoff, G. J. Snyder, O. Oeckler
Chem. Mater. 2022, 34, 10025-10039.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.2c02477

[17] Hall-effect Measurements and Transport Properties of Heterostructures in the Model System NiTe2-Sn12Sb2Te15
C. Fraunhofer, S. Schwarzmüller, J. L. Gardiner, G. J. Snyder, O. Oeckler
Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2020, 646, 1345-1351.
https://doi.org/10.1002/zaac.202000224

[16] Lithium atom mobility in lithium germanium antimony tellurides elucidated by neutron diffraction and quasielastic neutron scattering
S. Schwarzmüller, M. Hoelzel, K. Fritsch, Z. Evenson, K. Habicht, O. Oeckler
J. Alloys Compd. 2020, 827, 154346.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.154346

[15] Structures and transport properties of metastable solid solutions (NaSbTe2)1-x(GeTe)x
S. Schwarzmüller, F. Yang, O. Oeckler
J. Alloys Compd. 2019, 806, 774-779.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2019.07.247

[14] The Sodium Antimony Telluridogermanate(III) Na9Sb[Ge2Te6]2
S. Schwarzmüller, V. H.-T. Tran, F. Yang, O. Oeckler
Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2019, 645, 1037-1042.
https://doi.org/10.1002/zaac.201900158

[13] Cobalt germanide precipitates indirectly improve the properties of thermoelectric germanium antimony tellurides
D. Souchay, S. Schwarzmüller, H. Becker, S. Kante, G. J. Snyder, A. Leineweber, O. Oeckler
J. Mater. Chem. C 2019, 7, 11419-11430.
https://doi.org/10.1039/C9TC03410B

[12] Argyrodite-Type Cu8GeSe6–xTex (0 ≤ x ≤ 2): Temperature-Dependent Crystal Structure and Thermoelectric Properties
S. Schwarzmüller, D. Souchay, D. Günther, A. Gocke, I. Dovgaliuk, S. A. Miller, G. J. Snyder, O. Oeckler
Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2018, 644, 1915-1922.
https://doi.org/10.1002/zaac.201800453

[11] Tuning the Vacancy Concentration in Lithium Germanium Antimony Tellurides—Influence on Phase Transitions, Lithium Mobility, and Thermoelectric Properties
S. Schwarzmüller, M. Jakob, M. Nentwig, T. Schröder, A. Kuhn, A. Düvel, P. Heitjans, O. Oeckler
Chem. Mater. 2018, 30, 7970-7978.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b03609

[10] The Effect of Scandium Ternary Intergrain Precipitates in Al-Containing High-Entropy Alloys
S. Riva, S. Mehraban, N. P. Lavery, S. Schwarzmüller, O. Oeckler, S. G. R. Brown, K. V. Yusenko
Entropy 2018, 20, 488.
https://doi.org/10.3390/e20070488

[9] Cornucopia of Structures in the Pseudobinary System (SnSe)xBi2Se3: A Crystal-Chemical Copycat
F. Heinke, P. Urban, A. Werwein, C. Fraunhofer, T. Rosenthal, S. Schwarzmüller, D. Souchay, F. Fahrnbauer, V. Dyadkin, G. Wagner, O. Oeckler
Inorg. Chem. 2018, 57, 4427-4440.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.8b00105

[8] Structural variations in indium tin tellurides and their thermoelectric properties
L. Neudert, S. Schwarzmüller, S. Schmitzer, W. Schnick, O. Oeckler
J. Solid State Chem. 2018, 258, 289-297.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssc.2017.10.021

[7] A cubic room temperature polymorph of thermoelectric TAGS-85
A. Kumar, P. A. Vermeulen, B. J. Kooi, J. Rao, S. Schwarzmüller, O. Oeckler, G. R. Blake
RSC Adv. 2018, 8, 42322-42328.
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8RA05768K

[6] Phase Transitions of Thermoelectric TAGS-85
A. Kumar, P. A. Vermeulen, B. J. Kooi, J. Rao, L. van Eijck, S. Schwarzmüller, O. Oeckler, G. R. Blake
Inorg. Chem. 2017, 56, 15091-15100.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b02433

[5] Structural Complexity and Thermoelectric Properties of Quaternary and Quinary Tellurides
(GexSnx)0.8(InySb1–y)0.13Te with 0 ≤ x,y ≤ 1
L. Neudert, S. Schwarzmüller, M. Scheel, S. Welzmiller, O. Oeckler
Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2017, 643, 1962-1970.
https://doi.org/10.1002/zaac.201700337

[4] The Influence of Nanoscale Heterostructures on the Thermoelectric Properties of Bi-substituted Tl5Te3
F. Heinke, L. Eisenburger, R. Schlegel, S. Schwarzmüller, O. Oeckler
Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2017, 643, 447-454.
https://doi.org/10.1002/zaac.201600449

[3] Copper Selenidophosphates Cu4P2Se6, Cu4P3Se4, Cu4P4Se3, and CuP2Se, Featuring Zero-, One-, and Two-Dimensional Anions
A. Kuhn, L. M. Schoop, R. Eger, I. Moudrakovski, S. Schwarzmüller, V. Duppel, R. K. Kremer, O. Oeckler, B. V. Lotsch
Inorg. Chem. 2016, 55, 8031-8040.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.6b01161

[2] The Solid Solution Series (GeTe)x(LiSbTe2)2 (1 ≤ x ≤ 11) and the Thermoelectric Properties of (GeTe)11(LiSbTe2)2
T. Schröder, S. Schwarzmüller, C. Stiewe, J. de Boor, M. Hölzel, O. Oeckler
Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 11288-11294.
https://doi.org/10.1021/ic401516m

[1] Efficient and stable CH3NH3PbI3-sensitized ZnO nanorod array solid-state solar cells
D. Bi, G. Boschloo, S. Schwarzmüller, L. Yang, E. M. J. Johansson, A. Hagfeldt
Nanoscale 2013, 5, 11686-11691.
https://doi.org/10.1039/C3NR01542D

Teaching

Funding & Honours

Funding:

2022-2023                           DFG-Project SCHW 2168/1-1: PostDoc Scholarship (Walter-Benjamin Programme)

2015-2018                           PhD scholarship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes

Honours:

2019                                      Friedrich Rinne Award of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (PhD thesis)

2014                                      Römer Award of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the LMU Munich (Master thesis)

Presentations

[37] Curioses, Sbannendes und Seltsames
S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz
8th Obergurgl-Seminar Solid-State Chemistry, Obergurgl (Austria) 2025.

[36] Pressure assisted synthesis of highly crystalline LixMoS2
S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz
32nd Annual Meeting of the German Crystallographic Society (DGK), Bayreuth (Germany) 2024.

[35] Neues von und mit LiMoS2
S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz
57. Hemdsärmelkolloquium,HÄKO, Stuttgart (Germany) 2024.

[34] Lithium-Ion conductors forged by giant forces
S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz
7th Obergurgl-Seminar Solid-State Chemistry, Obergurgl (Austria) 2024.

[33] Anisotrope Ionenleiter
S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz
50. Hirschegg-Seminar Festkörperchemie, Hirschegg (Austria) 2023.

[32] Schichtsalat - Hochdrucksynthese von LiMoS2
S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz
56. Hemdsärmelkolloquium, HÄKO, Dresden (Germany) 2023.

[31] About messy and properly-layered Sandwiches
S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz
6th Obergurgl-Seminar Solid-State Chemistry, Obergurgl (Austria) 2023.

[30] CuSbSe2 unter Hochdruck
S. Schwarzmüller, H. Huppertz
49. Hirschegg-Seminar Festkörperchemie, Hirschegg (Austria) 2022.

[29] Multinary Chalcogenides with Li, Na and Cu: Thermoelectric properties and ionic conductivity - Ambient-pressure and High-pressure
S. Schwarzmüller
Universität Münster, Münster (Germany) 2022.

[28] Nanostructures in GeTe-rich materials: substitution, defects, thermoelectricity
O. Oeckler, F. Nietschke, S. Schwarzmüller, D. Souchay
XXIV IUCr Congress, Hyderabad (India) 2017.
Acta Cryst.2017, A73, C1353.
https://doi.org/10.1107/S2053273317082213

[27] Germaniumantimontelluride mit Alkalimetallen und Leerstellen - Thermoelektrik und Atommobilität
S. Schwarzmüller, M. Jakob, V. H.-T. Tran, P. Heitjans, M Hoelzel, O. Oeckler
Hirschegg-Seminar für Festkörperchemie, Hirschegg (Austria) 2017.

[26] Thermoelectric properties and atom mobility of argyrodite-type Cu8GeSe4Te2
S. Schwarzmüller, D. Souchay, D. Günther, A. Gocke, I. Dovgaliuk, O. Oeckler
25th Annual Meeting of the German Crystallographic Society (DGK), Karlsruhe (Germany) 2017.

[25] The influence of mobile monovalent ions on structures and properties of multinary thermoelectric tellurides
O. Oeckler, P. Heitjans, S. Schwarzmüller, A. Düvel, L. Schmohl, M. Jakob, A. Kuhn, M. Nentwig, T. Schröder
30th European Crystallographic Meeting, ECM 30, Basel (Switzerland) 2016.
Acta Cryst. 2016, A72, s79-s80.
https://doi.org/10.1107/S205327331609882X

[24] Enhancing the Performance of Chalcogenide Thermoelectric Materials
G. R. Blake, A. Kumar, L. Shaabani, P. A. Vermeulen, B. J. Kooi, J. Rao, J.-W. Bos, S. Schwarzmüller, O. Oeckler
4th International Conference on Advanced Materials Science and Technology (ICAMST), Malang (Indonesia) 2016.

[23] Structure and thermoelectric properties of composite materials in the systems Cu/Ge/Sb/Se/Te
D. Souchay, S. Schwarzmüller, D. Günther, A. Gocke, G. Wagner, O. Oeckler
20th International Conference on Ternary and Multinary Compounds, Halle (Germany) 2016.

[22] Ge/Sb/Te compounds with preciptiates as thermoelectric heterostructures
C. Fraunhofer, F. Fahrnbauer, D. Souchay, S. Schwarzmüller, G. Wagner, O. Oeckler
26th Conference of the Condensed Matter Division (CMD26) of the European Physical Society (EPS),
Groningen (The Netherlands) 2016.

[21] Heterostructured thermoelectric materials
S. Schwarzmüller, O. Oeckler
SUNY Binghamton Science Tour, Leipzig (Germany) 2016.

[20] Phase relations and thermoelectric properties of TAGS materials
G. R. Blake, A. Kumar, P. A. Vermeulen, B. J. Kooi, J.-W. Bos, S. Popuri, S. Schwarzmüller, O. Oeckler
35th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, Wuhan (P.R. China) 2016.

[19] Heterostructures of transition metal tellurides and Sn/Sb/Te or Ge/Sb/Te thermoelectric materials
S. Schwarzmüller, C. Fraunhofer, F. Nietschke, D. Souchay, O. Oeckler
35th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, Wuhan (P.R. China) 2016.

[18] Structures and thermoelectric properties of heterostructured multinary antimony tellurides
S. Schwarzmüller, O. Oeckler
4th German-Korean joint workshop on thermoelectric materials, Daejeon (South Korea) 2016.

[17] Thermoelektrische Eigenschaften von Zinnantimonchalcogeniden
F. Nietschke, S. Schwarzmüller, C. Fraunhofer, L. Schmohl, O. Oeckler
Hirschegg-Seminar für Festkörperchemie, Hirschegg (Austria) 2016.

[16] Heterostructured multinary thallium tellurides
F. Heinke, L. Eisenburger, S. Schwarzmüller, F. Nietschke, O. Oeckler
Hirschegg-Seminar für Festkörperchemie, Hirschegg (Austria) 2016.

[15] Structure analysis and thermoelectric properties of Ge/Sb/Te materials with CoSb3 precipitates
F. Nietschke, F. Fahrnbauer, S. Schwarzmüller, G. Wagner, O. Oeckler
612. Wilhelm- und Else-Heraeus-Seminar: Phonons and electrons: Inferfaces and Interactions, Bad Honnef (Germany) 2016.

[14] Thermoelectric properties and HRTEM of Cu-substituted germanium antimony telluride heterostructures
D. Souchay, S. Schwarzmüller, G. Wagner, O. Oeckler
Mitteldeutsches Anorganiker-Nachwuchs-Symposium, MANS, Chemnitz (Germany) 2015.

[13] Thermoelectric properties of Cu-doped germanium antimony tellurides
S. Schwarzmüller, D. Souchay, G. Wagner, O. Oeckler
29th European Crystallographic Meeting, ECM 29, Rovinj (Croatia) 2015.
Acta Cryst.2015, A71, s72.
https://doi.org/10.1107/S2053273315098939

[12] The interplay of doping and heterostructures in thermoelectric materials based on Ge/Sb/Te compounds
O. Oeckler, S. Schwarzmüller, G. J. Snyder, G. Wagner, F. Fahrnbauer
34th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, ICT, Dresden (Germany) 2015.

[11] Von amorphen Phasen zu Hochtemperaturphasen in den Systemen Ge/Sb/Se und Ge/Bi/Se
R. Schlegel, G. Wagner, S. Schwarzmül, S. Welzmiller, C. Wöckel, R. Denecke, O. Oeckler
Hirschegg-Seminar für Festkörperchemie, Hirschegg (Austria) 2015.

[10] Kupferhaltige Germaniumantimontelluride als thermoelektrische Materialien
S. Schwarzmüller, D. Souchay, G. Wagner, O. Oeckler
Hirschegg-Seminar für Festkörperchemie, Hirschegg (Austria) 2015.

[9] Thermoelectric materials: Nanostructuring and substitution in homogenous and heterogenous tellurides
S. Schwarzmüller, R. Schlegel, O. Oeckler
Workshop Enerergierelevante Forschung, Leipzig (Germany) 2015.

[8] Nanostructured thermoelectric materials in the system Ge/Sb/Te with skutterudite-tpye and copper telluride precipitates
O. Oeckler, F. Fahrnbauer, S. Schwarzmüller, T. Rosenthal, G. Wagner
5th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress, Istanbul (Turkey) 2014.

[7] Multinary chalcogenides with tetrahedral and octahedral coordination containing main group and d-block elements
S. Welzmiller, H. Hennersdorf, F. Fahrnbauer, D. Souchay, S. Schwarzmüller, O. Oeckler
12th European Conference on Thermoelectrics, ECT, Madrid (Spain) 2014.

[6] Precipitates in Ge-Sb-Te and Sn-Bi-Se materials as nanostructured thermoelectrics
F. Fahrnbauer, S. Schwarzmüller, P. Urban, N. Giesbrecht, C. Fraunhofer, G. Wagner, G. J. Snyder, O. Oeckler
33th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, ICT, Nashville (USA) 2014.

[5] Tuning real-structure effects and physical properties of germanium antimony tellurides by substitution
S. Welzmiller, T. Rosenthal, T. Schröder, F. Schleife, S. Schwarzmüller, L. Neudert, P. Ganter, P. Huth, B. Kersting, O. Oeckler
14th European Conference on Solid State Chemistry, Bordeaux (France) 2013.

[4] Optimizing thermoelectric properties of germanium antimony tellurides in different temperature ranges by substitution
S. Welzmiller, T. Rosenthal, T. Schröder, F. Schleife, S. Schwarzmüller, L. Neudert, K. Nimmrich, P. Ganter, P. Huth, B. Kersting, O. Oeckler
11th European Conference on Thermoelectrics, ECT, Noordwijk (Netherlands) 2013.

[3] Ternary metastable rocksalt-type tellurides
O. Oeckler, T. Schröder, T. Rosenthal, S. Schwarzmüller, C. Petermayer, D. Souchay, S. Grott
27th European Crystallographic Meeting, ECM 27, Bergen (Norway) 2012.
Acta Cryst.2012, A68, s93.
https://doi.org/10.1107/S0108767312098182

[2] Influence of Sn, In and Li substitution on the structure and the thermoelectric properties of (GeTe)n(Sb2Te3) (1<n<20)
T. Schröder, T. Rosenthal, S. Welzmiller, S. Schwarzmüller, C. Stiewe, O. Oeckler
31st International & 10th European Conference on Thermoelectrics, ICT/ECT, Aalborg (Denmark) 2012.

[1] Kubische Telluride von Antimon und Indium mit Silber oder Lithium
S. Schwarzmüller, T. Schröder, S. Welzmiller, D. Souchay, O. Oeckler
Hirschegg-Seminar für Festkörperchemie, Hirschegg (Austria) 2011.

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