New charging points for electric cars installed in Adlershof
© HZB/C. Hanke (alle Fotos)
On 14 May 2020, two charging points for electric cars were installed near the BESSY II main building. But not only the hybrid company car fleet is to be charged here. Soon, employees will also have the opportunity to charge their private cars at one of the charging points.
"I am very pleased that we were able to remove the legal obstacles and that the first pillars are now in place at HZB. Two charging points will also be installed at the Wannsee location in a few weeks," says energy manager Carina Hanke from the FM-T department. This should also promote the electromobility of employees* who commute to work by car - a trend that will certainly continue in the coming years. One charging point with two charging points each is reserved for the HZB company car fleet, the other charging point will be available to employees.
The "fuel" will come from the green electricity that HZB obtains from its electricity supplier. Billing and payment are conveniently carried out with your own smartphone via an app. The amount of the fee due for this is currently being determined. We will inform you as soon as the charging points are also available for private vehicles.
- Catalysis research at HZB gets new facilityAs part of the CatLab project, HZB has acquired a unique facility for measuring the catalytic performance of thin-film catalysts. Built by ILS in Adlershof, it has now been delivered. The facility consists of a total of eight chemical reactors in which catalytic systems can be tested. At over €2.5 million, this is the largest single investment in the CatLab project.
- Humboldt-Fellow at HZB-Institute for Solar Fuels: Alexander R. UhlAlexander R. Uhl, UBC Okanagan School of Engineering in Kelowna, Canada, aims to develop with Roel van de Krol from the HZB Institute for Solar Fuels an efficient and inexpensive photoelectrolyser for producing hydrogen using sunlight. His stay is being funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
- MXene for energy storage: More versatile than expectedMXene materials are promising candidates for a new energy storage technology. However, the processes by which the charge storage takes place were not yet fully understood. A team at HZB has examined, for the first time, individual MXene flakes to explore these processes in detail. Using the in situ Scanning transmission X-ray microscope 'MYSTIIC' at BESSY II, the scientists mapped the chemical states of Titanium atoms on the MXene flake surfaces. The results revealed two distinct redox reactions, depending on the electrolyte. This lays the groundwork for understanding charge transfer processes at the nanoscale and provides a basis for future research aimed at optimising pseudocapacitive energy storage devices.