Researchers from our Department of Physical Chemistry (Maklar et al.) have investigated how a dynamic transition from insulator to metal affects fundamental interactions such as electron-electron and electron-phonon scattering. The research results have just been published in the Physical Review Letter 128.
 

CO₂ is a critical pollutant of the atmosphere with noticeable climatic consequences. However, routes already exist to convert CO₂ into useful chemicals or fuels. The key is catalysis – a process of accelerating desired chemical reactions, involving special materials (catalysts).

A team of researchers from the Department of Interfacial Sciences has discovered how changes in the structure of copper catalyst particles during electrochemical CO2 reduction affect their catalytic performance. This should lead to the development of new catalysts that convert the greenhouse gas CO2 into useful chemicals.

Especially in a pandemic, scientific expertise is particularly important - as is objective, factual reporting! The FHI therefore supports the call for more objectivity in crisis situations issued by the Alliance of Science Organisations on 6 December. The background to this is the report in the BILD newspaper on 4 December about scientists ("The lockdown makers" / "Trio of experts gives us frustration for the holidays"). In the meantime, the German Press Council has initiated proceedings against the newspaper. On 28 January, a first public discussion between BILD Zeitung and scientists about this issue is planned.