Unique X-ray experiments for school classes: The X-ray mobile will arrive at the HZB
© Deutsches Röntgen-Museum
There are also experiments on ultrasound. © Deutsches Röntgen-Museum
The HZB is part of the X-ray year 2020! It celebrates the discovery of X-rays 125 years ago with many interesting events and activities. © Röntgen-Kuratorium Würzburg e.V.
What is ultraviolet radiation? What are X-rays used for? And what is radioactivity again? These questions are on the curriculum in physics lessons, but vivid experiments on these topics are rare. From 5 to 13 March 2020, pupils can conduct experiments on these topics in the HZB's school laboratory in Berlin-Adlershof. The public is invited to attend on 12 March.
The year 2020 is the focus of a double anniversary on the topic of X-rays. Nationwide, the 125th Discovery Day of X-rays and the 175th birthday of their discoverer and first Nobel Prize winner in physics, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, will be celebrated. To mark this occasion, the German Röntgen Museum in Remscheid (DRM) and the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums in Mannheim (rem) have developed the project "X-perimente - Making the Invisible Visible". The project is made possible by the Klaus Tschira Foundation in Heidelberg.
In the next few months, the X-ray mobile will be touring all over Germany. "It offers interactive experiments that are not offered at schools or in student laboratories in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. That's why the workshops on offer really are a unique opportunity," says Dr. Ulrike Witte, a member of the HZB school laboratory staff. Based on the fascination of the X-ray process, the experiments provide an overview of various techniques that can be used to make the inside of things visible: from infrared light to short-wave gamma rays and ultrasound.
Venue: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, school laboratory, Magnusstraße 2, 12489 Berlin
Book workshops on the topics of X-rays and radiation
The campaign will take place from 5 to 13 March 2020 in the HZB school laboratory. Three workshops are offered per day (9 am, 11 am and 1 pm). They last 90 minutes and are free of charge. Booking is done by the teacher (max. 2 dates per school). The principle is: first come, first serve. Further information (GER) on the topics of the workshops can be found here.
Open for all: on 12 March from 3.30 to 5.30 pm
On 12 March 2020 the doors will be open to the public. You can experiment from 3.30 to 5.30 pm around the topics of X-rays, radioactivity and ultrasound.
The X-ray year 2020
The world of X-ray is full of surprising phenomena and fascinating images: This is what the X-ray year 2020 wants to draw attention to. On November 8, 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered a new type of radiation. Since then they have enabled revolutionary advances in medicine, technology and society worldwide. X-rays penetrate substances and make layers visible that are otherwise invisible to the human eye: They are indispensable tools for studying solar cells, catalysts, viruses, genomes, tumors, old writings, machine parts, objects of art, celestial bodies and much more. The electron storage ring BESSY II, which is operated by HZB in Adlershof, provides highly brilliant X-ray light. Every year, it enables more than 1500 materials researchers, chemists, physicians, biologists and art historians from all over the world to gain unique insights into their samples.
- 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.
- Long-term test shows: Efficiency of perovskite cells varies with the seasonScientists at HZB run a long-term experiment on the roof of a building at the Adlershof campus. They expose a wide variety of solar cells to the weather conditions, recording their performance over a period of years. These include perovskite solar cells, a new photovoltaic material offering high efficiency and low manufacturing costs. Dr Carolin Ulbrich and Dr Mark Khenkin evaluated four years of data and presented their findings in Advanced Energy Materials. This is the longest series of measurements on perovskite cells in outdoor use to date. The scientists found that standard perovskite solar cells perform very well during the summer months, even over several years, but decline in efficiency during the darker months.
- Sodium-ion batteries: New storage mechanism for cathode materialsLi-ion and Na-ion batteries operate through a process called intercalation, where ions are stored and exchanged between two chemically different electrodes. In contrast, co-intercalation, a process in which both ions and solvent molecules are stored simultaneously, has traditionally been considered undesirable due to its tendency to cause rapid battery failure. Against this traditional view, an international research team led by Philipp Adelhelm has now demonstrated that co-intercalation can be a reversible and fast process for cathode materials in Na-ion batteries. The approach of jointly storing ions and solvents in cathode materials provides a new handle for designing batteries with high efficiency and fast charging capabilities. The results are published in Nature Materials.