Marcel Risch to form research group at the HZB with an ERC Starting Grant
Dr. Marcel Risch has been awarded with an ERC Starting Grant and will continue his research at HZB.
Marcel Risch's research group at Georg August Universität, Göttingen, Germany. © M.Risch
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) will be further strengthened in its research on solar fuels. Dr. Marcel Risch, who recently obtained an ERC Starting Grants, is moving from Georg August Universität, Göttingen to the HZB. Starting in March 2019, the materials physicist will set up his own research group to analyse and improve catalytic materials for water splitting.
Marcel Risch already knows the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin as a user, and now he will come permanently. The opportunity to combine materials synthesis, electrochemistry, and X-ray spectroscopy offered at the Energy Materials In Situ Laboratory (EMIL) at the BESSY II synchrotron source for example, are particularly attractive for him. Risch is researching catalytically active materials for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. This makes it feasible to produce hydrogen, which is a climate-neutral alternative to fossil fuels.
Risch received his doctorate from Freie Universität Berlin in 2011. The physicist then spent four years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA. Since 2016 he has been conducting research at the Institut für Materialphysik at Georg August Universität in Göttingen, Germany, most recently as head of a Young Investigator Group.
His research project for which he recently received the ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council deals with the mechanism of oxygen development during the catalytic decomposition of water. The project is entitled “ME4OER - Mechanism Engineering of the Oxygen Evolution Reaction” and is funded by the ERC Starting Grant of 1.5 million euros for five years.
Risch and his team will study selected synthetic materials with specific crystal structures (spinel or perovskite-type). He is concentrating on the class of transition metal oxides that are very inexpensive but exhibit low efficiency in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) which limits the production of hydrogen. Risch wants to increase the efficiency of such catalysts by several orders of magnitude through detailed knowledge of the reaction processes. To do this, the catalytic reactions on the surfaces must be analysed in detail. At EMIL he can fabricate these surfaces and analyse them in situ or in operando using X-ray spectroscopic methods.
- 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.
- 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.