HZB strengthens its technology transfer
Dr. Paul Harten heads the new "Technology Transfer and Innovation" department
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) wants to bring technologies to market faster together with industrial partners and use its expertise in materials and energy research to investigate questions from industry in joint projects. The newly established "Technology Transfer and Innovation" department will identify cooperation partners and applications that are of industrial interest.
"The HZB has a high level of systems competence that covers the entire innovation chain from basic research to application, making it an important partner for industry and society. We want to further expand this with the new staff department," says Prof. Dr. Bernd Rech, Scientific Director of HZB for the Energy Division.
"HZB conducts research on many topics that are also of interest to industry. In addition, there is an excellent research infrastructure here, with which materials can not only be characterized in a variety of ways, but also synthesized and modified. This gives us enormous potential for cooperation with industry," says Dr. Paul Harten, head of the "Technology Transfer and Innovation" department. "We want to actively approach industry and promote these offers. We also plan to intensify contacts with former employees and guest scientists. The establishment of an ALUMNI network is an opportunity to gain existing contacts for joint new projects.
Short biography:
Dr. Paul Harten studied physics and received his doctorate in optics from the University of Arizona. He has gained a wide range of professional experience in order to advance the usability of technologies. Among other things, Harten worked in the development department of a large German corporation, in the management of a medium-sized company and was involved in the founding of several start-ups. Most recently, he worked at the Helmholtz Innovation Lab HySPRINT on industrial partnerships for the establishment of large-area laser material processing methods in various industries.
- Green hydrogen with PEC electrolysers: New insights into transport processesOne method of storing solar energy is to use PEC electrolysers to produce hydrogen. However, scaling up this technology remains challenging. Now, a team at the HZB Institute for Solar Fuels has used 2D fluorescence imaging and particle velocimetry to observe the movement of ions and dissolved gases within the electrolyte during electrolysis. These new insights may prove useful in the development of larger PEC electrolysers.
- New contact material boosts the efficiency of perovskite solar cellsA newly developed material for the electron contact improves the efficiency of single perovskite solar cells and perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. The new material is based on a carborane molecule. It offers several advantages over the standard material C60, as shown by the study led by Steve Albrecht’s team. The new material has since been patented and is already commercially available.
- Perovskite triple-junction solar cells: Even more efficient with GO/SAM bilayersPerovskite semiconductors efficiently convert sunlight into electrical energy; they are also inexpensive and extremely lightweight. A team at HZB has developed a triple-junction solar cell comprising different perovskite semiconductors, with a novel bilayer of graphene oxide (GO) and a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) as the hole conductor. This bilayer significantly increases both efficiency and long-term stability. The efficiency of the novel perovskite triple-junction solar cell is 27.3% and shows hardly any decline even after more than 770 hours of operation. The study has been published in the renowned journal Joule.