Monash University awards three HZB-scientist with adjunct professorships
Prof. Klaus Lips, Prof. Emad Aziz and Dr. Alexander Schnegg (f.l.t.r) have been awarded with adjunct professorships by Monash-University. © HZB
Cooperation between Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, is thriving. Now, Monash University has awarded three HZB-scientists with adjunct professorships: Prof. Klaus Lips, Dr. Alexander Schnegg and Prof. Emad Aziz have been working several years already with Prof. Leone Spiccia, an internationally renowned chemist at Monash University, on energy materials science.
Spiccia is investigating artificial photosynthesis in order to develop solutions to convert solar energy into easily storable hydrogen. In 2011 and 2014 he spend time as a guest scientist at HZB working with teams of Lips, Schnegg and Aziz. Numerous publications in high impact journals have been the result of this fruitful collaboration.
As adjunct professors the HZB-scientists are entitled to organise workshops and seminars at Monash University and to further common research projects. To do so, they are given access to the resources of ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science at Monash University.
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- Key technology for a future without fossil fuelsIn June and July 2025, catalyst researcher Nico Fischer spent some time at HZB. It was his sabbatical, he was relieved of his duties as Director of the Catalysis Institute in Cape Town for several months and was able to focus on research only. His institute is collaborating with HZB on two projects that aim to develop environmentally friendly alternatives using innovative catalyst technologies. The questions were asked by Antonia Rötger, HZB.
- Lithium-sulphur batteries with lean electrolyte: problem areas clarifiedUsing a non-destructive method, a team at HZB investigated practical lithium-sulphur pouch cells with lean electrolyte for the first time. With operando neutron tomography, they could visualise in real-time how the liquid electrolyte distributes and wets the electrodes across multilayers during charging and discharging. These findings offer valuable insights into the cell failure mechanisms and are helpful to design compact Li-S batteries with a high energy density in formats relevant to industrial applications.
- Self assembling monolayer can improve lead-free perovskite solar cells tooTin perovskite solar cells are not only non-toxic, but also potentially more stable than lead-containing perovskite solar cells. However, they are also significantly less efficient. Now, an international team has succeeded in reducing losses in the lower contact layer of tin perovskite solar cells: The scienstists identified chemical compounds that self-assemble into a molecular layer that fits very well with the lattice structure of tin perovskites. On this monolayer, tin perovskite with excellent optoelectronic quality can be grown, which increases the performance of the solar cell.