New HZB magazine lichtblick is out
The new HZB magazine lichtblick is out! Topics are: green hydrogen, construction projects and green construction for Ukraine, ... We invite you to browse through the online edition.
> Link to the English online edition
> Link to the German online edition
Excellent job: Michelle Browne was recently honoured with two awards: the Curios Mind Award from Manager Magazine and 3rd place in the Academic Young Talent Award. The lively Irishwoman is working hard towards her dream of producing inexpensive green hydrogen. Michael O. R. Kröher from Manager Magazin portrays the HZB researcher in the cover story of lichtblick.
The green reconstruction of Ukraine: As a candidate for EU accession, Ukraine must initiate a series of reforms and develop a reconstruction plan, all in the midst of the Russian war of aggression. A German-Ukrainian-Polish project aims to help make Ukraine's climate and energy policy fit for EU accession.
There is a lot to do: HZB's first detailed greenhouse gas balance sheet is now available. Climate and Energy Manager Carina Hanke explains in an interview which are the biggest CO2 emitters and what we need to do now to achieve our goal of becoming greenhouse gas neutral by 2035.
Many construction sites: a lot of building work will start in 2024, especially at the Adlershof site. The construction department provides a brief insight into new building projects.
Here’s to good collaboration: How can we work well together at HZB and advance our work culture? The Diversity Officers invited people to discuss these questions. Many employees contributed great ideas.
"We still have to keep banging away at it" This is what our new Equal Opportunities Officer says in an interview. " A lot of people shut their eyes and act as though everything’s just fine. Equality has not been achieved yet, despite all our efforts."
We hope you enjoy reading the latest lichtblick issue!
As always, we are very happy to receive topics, suggestions, and feedback!
- 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.
- Precision interface chemistry pushes perovskite solar cells beyond 26% efficiencyAn international research collaboration has developed a new molecular strategy for controlling one of the most critical interfaces in perovskite solar cells. The resulting solar cells reached a power conversion efficiency of 26.19% in the n i p architecture, together with strong operational stability under prolonged illumination and elevated temperature. The results have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.