Two Humboldt-Fellows join HZB
Humboldt-Fellow Kazuki Morita (left) joined the team of Antonio Abate to advance solar energy research. Qingping Wu (right) works on battery stability with Prof. Yan Lu within his Humboldt-Fellowship. Both will stay until mid 2026. © privat
In 2024, two young scientists joined HZB as Humboldt Fellows. Kazuki Morita joined Prof. Antonio Abate's group and brings his expertise in modelling and data analysis to solar energy research. Qingping Wu is an expert in battery research and works with Prof. Yan Lu on high energy density lithium metal batteries.
“I chose to come to HZB because of its outstanding reputation in materials and energy research and the opportunity to work with Prof. Yan Lu and her team on cutting-edge electrochemical storage technologies,” says Qingping Wu. A chemist by training, Wu completed his PhD in chemical engineering in 2021 and worked as an assistant professor at the Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology in China. He joined HZB in August 2024 and will stay until the end of July 2026. His research focuses on aging mechanisms and optimisation of electrode/electrolyte interfaces for high energy density lithium metal batteries.
Kazuki Morita earned his PhD from the Department of Materials, Imperial College London, UK, in 2022. He was a postdoctoral scientist at the Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, USA before joining the team of Prof. Antonio Abate with a Humboldt-Fellowship in May 2024 for the next two years. “I have been reading papers from HZB including ones from Antonio's since I was a PhD student. HZB is an ideal environment to pursue my research,” he says. He will study the stability of tin halide perovskites. “In particular, I will investigate the tin oxidation process using theory and simulations, which is my area of expertise. Prof. Antonio Abate primarily focuses mainly on experiments, so our expertise is complementary,” he says.
- Humboldt-Fellow at HZB Institute for Solar Fuels: Kayode Adesina AdegokeKayode Adesina Adegoke is a renowned chemist, affiliated with LAUTECH SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities Research Group), Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria. He is collaborating with Matthew Mayer to investigate the degradation of electrocatalysts during electrochemical CO₂ reduction. The Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship enables him to stay at Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin up to 24 months.
- 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.