Green solutions with diamond materials:
Sunlight activates the catalytic behavior of diamond materials, thus helping to convert carbon dioxide into fine chemicals and fuels. © T.Petit/H.Cords/HZB
Horizon 2020 invests 3.9 million Euro in research project to convert CO2 into fuels using sunlight and diamond materials
A great new idea is now being investigated by scientists of Germany, France, England, and Sweden, among them HZB’s Prof. Emad Aziz. They propose exploring diamond materials for photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into fine chemicals and fuels using visible light (DIACAT).
Their proposal was ranked top in a tough selection process within the Future Emerging Technologies (FET) Section of the European Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. It will be funded with a total budget of 3.9 million Euro, 526,000 Euro of which will be allocated to the HZB. The scientists propose to develop a novel technique for direct photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into fine chemicals and fuels using visible light. Their ultimate goal is to build a functioning lab-scale device.
Diamonds and light can speed up chemical reactions
Their approach is based on a unique property of man-made diamond materials: these materials can act as a catalyst when illuminated by light. The project will be coordinated by Prof. Anke Krüger, at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, and includes science teams from CEA (France), University of Oxford (UK), Uppsala University (Sweden), Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics, Ionic Liquid Technologies GmbH, and HZB in Germany.
Unique equipment at BESSY II, HZB
HZB scientist Emad Aziz has built up a research team following a Starting Grant awarded by the European Research Council in 2011. He has set up a unique instrument at HZB’s BESSY II synchrotron to analyze liquids and materials in solution and is also leading a Joint Lab at Freie Universität Berlin equipped with high-performance lasers with ultrashort pulses. “We have direct access to a multitude of experimental instruments that will enable us to investigate the physical and chemical properties of diamond materials”, he says. Postdoc Tristan Petit has brought his expertise on nanodiamonds to the HZB team: “My postdoc work was focused on nanodiamonds in solution. Now we will extend this work to bulk diamond-liquid interfaces and nanostructured diamond surfaces and see how well we can tune these materials to turn sunlight into fuel”, he explains.
Storing solar energy in chemicals
The research project will not only enhance the experimental and theoretical understanding of catalytic behavior of diamond materials, but might also result in a first device using diamond materials that demonstrates the feasibility of direct CO2 reduction using visible light. If the scientists can achieve their ambitious goals, their project might pave the way for a novel technique to store solar energy via sustainable production of fine chemicals and fuels.
- A New Era in Catalysis: ASCEND Launch in Berlin, €30 Million in FundingOn 11 June 2026, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) in Adlershof hosted the launch of ASCEND (Accelerated Solutions for Catalysis using Emerging Nanotechnology and Digital Innovation). The event took place in the presence of the Minister of Research, Dorothee Bär, President of the Helmholtz Association, Prof. Dr. Martin Keller, and President of the Max Planck Society, Prof. Dr. Patrick Cramer. Bringing together leading partners from industry and research, ASCEND is supported by BMFTR with €30 million in funding and officially started on 1 April 2026. The initiative aims to accelerate the discovery of next-generation catalysts and enable more sustainable chemical processes.
- Magnon momentum microscopy: A new window into nanoscale spin-wavesAn international team lead by the Max Born Institute has developed a new type of momentum microscopy to image magnons — the quanta of collectively excited spins — directly in two-dimensional reciprocal space using soft X-rays. Measurements have taken place at BESSY II and PETRA III, first author ist the HZB physicist Steffen Wittrock. Owing to its remarkable sensitivity, simplicity, and access to nanometer-scale wavelengths, this novel technique establishes a powerful and versatile platform for exploring nonlinear magnon interactions, which are promising for future computing schemes.
- X-ray analysis reveals overpainted fascist symbolsErich Mercker was a successful painter during the Nazi era and in the years that followed. After 1945, he covered up Nazi symbols in at least one of his paintings. With an interdisciplinary team, physicist Dr Ioanna Mantouvalou reports on this study in the Nature Journal Heritage Science.