Gerhard Ertl Lecture 2024

Water electrolysis is pivotal for sustainable energy systems, enabling hydrogen fuel production, which can be used in chemical industry, steel production, and electricity generation. The development of efficient catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) is crucial for advancing Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) water electrolysis, with iridium-based OER catalysts showing promise despite the challenges related to their dissolution. Collaborative research by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH and the Fritz-Haber-Institut has provided insights into the mechanisms of OER performance and iridium dissolution for amorphous hydrous iridium oxides, advancing the understanding of this critical process.

A study published in Physical Review Letters by the Interface Science Department at the Fritz Haber Institute has unveiled new insights into the electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ using nickel-based catalysts. The research, led by Dr. Janis Timoshenko and Prof. Dr. Beatriz Roldán Cuenya, marks a significant advancement in the quest for sustainable and efficient CO₂ conversion technologies aimed to close the artificial carbon cycle.
 

A team of researchers at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute/Hamad Bin Khalifa University, the synchrotrons PETRA III in Hamburg and SOLEIL in Gif-sur-Yvette (France), the Sorbonne University in Paris, the ETH Zurich, and the PSI Center for Energy and Environmental Science (Switzerland) have made a groundbreaking discovery in understanding how air pollution forms at the molecular level. Their investigation, published in the journal Nature Communications, sheds light on the complex chemical processes occurring at the boundary between liquid, in particular aqueous solutions, and vapor in our atmosphere.

Sustainable Chemistry Through Tailored Catalytic Interfaces