Renske van der Veen heads new department "Atomic Dynamics in Light-Energy Conversion"
Renske van der Veen has a lot of experience with ultrafast x-ray measurements. © Irene Böttcher-Gajweski/MPIBC
From June 2021, Dr. Renske van der Veen is setting up a new research group at HZB. The chemist is an expert in time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy and electron microscopy and studies catalytic processes that enable the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy.
Dr. Renske van der Veen successfully obtained a Helmholtz Funding of first-time professorial appointments of excellent women scientists (W2/W3), whereupon the HZB has already initiated an S-W2 appointment procedure at TU Berlin. She has 14 years of experience in the field of ultrafast X-ray methods. "At BESSY II, I can apply and expand this experience in my research project," says van der Veen, emphasising, "The results could also contribute to the scientific case for BESSY III."
Renske van der Veen studied at ETH Zurich, received her PhD from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and conducted research at the California Institute of Technology, the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, and the University of Illinois, where she held an assistant professorship. Her research was honoured with the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering.
At HZB, Renske van der Veen is now looking forward to exchange with research groups working on related topics, from modelling ultrafast energy transfer, developing ultrafast techniques at BESSY II, to developing photoelectrodes and heterogeneous photocatalysts at the Institute for Solar Fuels.
- Long-term stability for perovskite solar cells: a big step forwardPerovskite solar cells are inexpensive to produce and generate a high amount of electric power per surface area. However, they are not yet stable enough, losing efficiency more rapidly than the silicon market standard. Now, an international team led by Prof. Dr. Antonio Abate has dramatically increased their stability by applying a novel coating to the interface between the surface of the perovskite and the top contact layer. This has even boosted efficiency to almost 27%, which represents the state-of-the-art. After 1,200 hours of continuous operation under standard illumination, no decrease in efficiency was observed. The study involved research teams from China, Italy, Switzerland and Germany and has been published in Nature Photonics.
- Energy of charge carrier pairs in cuprate compoundsHigh-temperature superconductivity is still not fully understood. Now, an international research team at BESSY II has measured the energy of charge carrier pairs in undoped La₂CuO₄. Their findings revealed that the interaction energies within the potentially superconducting copper oxide layers are significantly lower than those in the insulating lanthanum oxide layers. These results contribute to a better understanding of high-temperature superconductivity and could also be relevant for research into other functional materials.
- Electrocatalysis with dual functionality – an overviewHybrid electrocatalysts can produce green hydrogen, for example, and valuable organic compounds simultaneously. This promises economically viable applications. However, the complex catalytic reactions involved in producing organic compounds are not yet fully understood. Modern X-ray methods at synchrotron sources such as BESSY II, enable catalyst materials and the reactions occurring on their surfaces to be analysed in real time, in situ and under real operating conditions. This provides insights that can be used for targeted optimisation. A team has now published an overview of the current state of knowledge in Nature Reviews Chemistry.