Interview with MIT-Expert Harry Tuller
Prof. Dr. Harry Tuller, MIT, was a guest-scientist at the institute for solar fuels.
When can we hope to store solar energy in form of hydrogen with an efficient and cheap solution? What is motivating young people to get involved into science these days? And how does is come that many scientists really love to work, even after the official retirement age? Prof. Dr. Harry Tuller ist answering these questions in an interview, which you can listen here. And if you prefer to read his answers, you could download the transcript.
In summer 2013, Professor Harry Tuller was visiting the HZB for several weeks. His visit was sponsored by a Helmholtz International Fellowship Award. Tuller is an expert in the field of fuel cells, batteries and new solutions for energy transformation at the world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
The Interview:
- AI agents deliver results – but do they reason scientifically?A research team co-led by Kevin Maik Jablonka from the Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications Jena (HIPOLE Jena) and N. M. Anoop Krishnan from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi has developed Corral, a new benchmark for AI agents in science. The preprint “AI scientists produce results without reasoning scientifically” has been published on arXiv (https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.18805). The analysis shows that current systems can execute scientific workflows and deliver results; however, they often do not follow the basic principles of scientific testing and reasoning.
- Magnetic field during catalyst synthesis triples ammonia yieldApplying an external magnetic field during the synthesis of CoFe₂O₄ electrocatalysts triples the ammonia yield during electrocatalytic conversion. The magnetic field alters the surface states of the spinel oxide thin films, making catalytically active sites more accessible. In the journal 'Advanced Functional Materials', a team led by Marcel Risch at HZB and Sanjay Mathur at University of Cologne demonstrates a scalable strategy for developing next-generation electrocatalysts for efficient and sustainable chemical production.
- Materials chemistry shapes the future of catalysisThe synthesis of materials can serve as a tool for developing smart, adaptive electrocatalysts. This rapidly evolving field of research involves in-situ analytics, data-driven discoveries and autonomous robotics. These new approaches could accelerate the discovery of long-lasting and efficient catalysts for future energy conversion and the decarbonisation of the chemical industry. A recent article by Dr Prashanth Menezes and his team in the renowned journal Angewandte Chemie provides an overview of this research.