Collaboration between HZB and the University of Freiburg
The theory group with Joe Dzubiella. © HZB
Through a Joint Research Group entitled “Simulation of Energy Materials“ Prof. Joachim Dzubiella of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg will be able to continue his collaboration with the HZB. The theoretical physicist headed the “Theory and Simulation“ group at the HZB until recently and worked closely together with colleagues conducting experimental research. The new research group will concentrate on electrochemical energy storage and solar fuels.
From 2010 until spring 2018, Joachim Dzubiella was a scientist at HZB carrying on research and building up his theory group. He appreciated the short paths to experimentalists and worked closely with them. In 2015 he received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council that enabled him to further expand his group.
The physicist accepted a W3 professorship in Applied Theoretical Physics at the University of Freiburg In April 2018. But the collaboration with the HZB will continue. This has been made possible now through a Joint Research Group entitled "Simulation of Energy Materials" funded by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the University of Freiburg.
“In the field of solar fuels, there is great interest in more clearly understanding the processes taking place at the catalyst layers that facilitate the splitting of water“, explains Dzubiella. There are also numerous aspects of electrochemical energy storage that can be analysed significantly better through modelling. The Joint Research Group currently consists of seven researchers. The focus is on what happens at the interfaces between liquid and solid phases, which are simulated by theorists with computer models in order to track down the driving forces.
The group members from Freiburg and Berlin will exchange ideas with Skype meetings, visits, and retreats in the countryside. Initial funding has been secured for five years.
More Information: http://helmholtz-berlin.de/forschung/oe/ee/simulation/
- Cool vaccines in rural Kenya: solar solution has been awarded by UNIn May 2026, Tabitha Awuor Amollo is spending some weeks as a guest scientist at HZB, analysing perovskite thin films at BESSY II. The Kenyan physicist from Egerton University, Nairobi, was recently recognised for her achievements in research and teaching. For the development of a solar-powered refrigeration system for use in rural health centres, she has been awarded the 2026 Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD)-Elsevier Foundation Award. An interview on exceptional projects and daily struggles of a scientist. Questions were asked by Antonia Rötger.
- BESSY II: How intrinsic oxygen shortens the lifespan of solid-state batteriesAlthough solid-state batteries (SSBs) demonstrate high performance and are intrinsically safe, their capacity currently declines rapidly. A team from the TU Wien, Humboldt-University Berlin and HZB has now analysed a TiS₂|Li₃YCl₆ solid-state half-cell in operando at BESSY II using a special sample environment that allows for non-destructive investigation under real operating conditions. Data obtained by combination of soft and hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS and HAXPES) revealed a new degradation mechanism that had not previously been identified in solid-state batteries. They have gained some surprising insights, particularly regarding the harmful role played by intrinsic oxygen. This study provides valuable information for improving design and handling of such batteries.
- Spintronics at BESSY II: Real-time analysis of magnetic bilayer systemsSpintronic devices enable data processing with significantly lower energy consumption. They are based on the interaction between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers. Now, a team from Freie Universität Berlin, HZB and Uppsala University has succeeded in tracking, for each layer separately, how the magnetic order changes after a short laser pulse has excited the system. They were also able to identify the main cause of the loss of antiferromagnetic order in the oxide layer: the excitation is transported from the hot electrons in the ferromagnetic metal to the spins in the antiferromagnet.