Gerhard Ertl Lecture & Award

Gerhard Ertl Lecture & Award

The Ertl Lecture Award was established in 2008 by the three Berlin universities (Humboldt University, Technical University and Free University) and the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society and is awarded once a year. It commemorates former FHI Director Gerhard Ertl's Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he received in 2007. The prize honours outstanding personalities and researchers in the field of catalysis where Ertl carried out exceptional research for many decades. The prize, sponsored by BASF, includes a one-week research stay at the participating Berlin institutions and a keynote lecture. The winner is typically announced in Spring, the lecture takes place around the December 10th, the anniversary of Ertl's Nobel Prize reception.

Host: Dr. Hendrik Bluhm

Bridging scales from surface science to atmospheric chemistry and climate

Joint Seminar of AC and Theory
The development of ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has from the beginning been motivated and justified by the context of atmospheric sciences, apart from other areas of fundamental and applied surface science. This has come in parallel with the recognition of important surface catalyzed processes in the stratosphere that are essential in ozone destruction. [more]

Multiphase chemistry in cold parts of the atmosphere:Supporting field and modeling scientists with results from X-ray excited photoelectron spectroscopy

AC Seminar
Snow may hold impurity deposits, such as sea salt aerosol, which show vivid chemistry. Snow's porosity guarantees the efficient gas exchange of reaction products with the overlaying air. That snow thus acts as a chemical reactor on Earth with impacts on air quality, climate, and geochemical cycles has long been recognized. X-ray excited electron spectroscopy at near ambient pressure offers the possibility to investigate the underlying processes at surfaces of atmospheric relevance with high sensitivity and chemical specificity. This approach thus fills a unique gap in atmospheric science.Here, I will present the results of our work at the Swiss Light Source tackling 2 seemingly simple questions: 1) At which temperature do aqueous solutions freeze, and 2) How do acidic trace gases dissociate at ice surfaces? [more]
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