By:
On:
In: Summerstudents

by summerstudent Oscar Moreno As a master’s student in chemistry, experiments are the basis of my research. The excitement of running an experiment for the first time and the challenge of trying to explain the results keeps me motivated. Nonetheless, in order to pursue things further, my investigation forced me to work during weekends and many times I found myself preparing reports in my room at midnight. I was not aware my acacemic life had come out of the laboratory and was encroaching on other aspects of my life until one of my advisors stopped me. After seeing me working on Saturdays without pausing, heRead More →

By:
On:
In: Energymaterials, Summerstudents

Far-sighted hydrogen economy During one of the winter nights, while talking in the interior of Granite House, “well lighted with candles, well warmed with coal, after a good dinner”, the settlers of Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island were discussing about the fact that the coal will be entirely consumed. After a roughly estimation, Cyrus Harding, an engineer of great capabilities, concluded that it would happen “for at least two hundred and fifty or three hundred years.” To everyone’s surprise, when he was asked what they will burn instead of coal, he said: “Water”. “Water” cried Pencroft, “water as a fuel for steamers and engines! water toRead More →

By:
On:
In: Energymaterials, Lightsources

Nanoparticles are tiny, really tiny. Only a fraction of a micrometer or some nanometers in size. And only some thousands of molecules strong,  their properties can differ dramatically from those of their larger cousins. Titaniumdioxide, a whitish powder, can form such nanoparticles. In water, these nanoparticles can act as catalysts, when excited with light. and facilitate water splitting or water remediation. However, what happens exactly when TiO2 and water get into contact and which impact this is having on the electronic structure of TiO2 remained in the dark: it is very tricky to probe nanoparticle–water interface experimentally and to observe changes. Soft X-rays at BESSYRead More →