Functional materials for catalysis are focused on the 7^th RUHR Symposium. In tandem talks, experts from industrial and academic partnerships will discuss concepts, synergies and scientific results.

More information is available here

Venue: tba

The Soft Skills Summer is an initiative by the CRC 1242, CRC/TRR 270 Hommage und CRC/TRR 247 and the team for Equal Opportunities of the Faculty of Physics at the University of Duisburg-Essen. We would like to invite you to be a part of it and to improve your soft skills.

Further information is available here.

The first Summer School, which was supposed to take place in July 2020, has to be postponed to July 2021 because of Covid-19. The Summer School will take place online.

Further information is available here.

Our Joint CataLysis Online Colloquium Series will start with the lecture of Prof. Yang Shao-Horn, MIT, on 29^th of June.
Further information is available here. More information about the CataLysis network is available here.

If you're interested in participating, please send a mail to F. Günther to get the login information.

Our workshop on "Spray Flame Synthesis" will take place online between 9:30 am and 2 pm.
More information is available here.

The workshop is organised by CRC/TRR 247 and the DFG Priority Program SPP1980 (Nanoparticle Synthesis in Spray Flames).

His work benefits battery research as well as medicine: Dr. Kai S. Exner will become junior professor for Theoretical Inorganic Chemistry at the UDE starting in June.

Exner studies electrochemical reactions on solid-state catalysts. He has developed his own theory that can be used to predict the performance of such catalyst materials. But it can also be used to make statements about how to optimize existing materials.

The research group that Exner is currently setting up will focus in particular on inorganic materials and their use for electrochemical reactions. In addition, he will strengthen cutting-edge research at the UDE as well as within the University Alliance Ruhr: Exner has been accepted into the Center for Nanointegration (CENIDE). He also collaborates in the Collaborative Research Center 247 "Heterogeneous Oxidation Catalysis in the Liquid Phase" and in the Cluster of Excellence RESOLV (Ruhr Explores Solvation).

> more about: Press release University of Duisburg-Essen, 01.06.2021

Our UnOCat Electron Microscopy Workshop will take place online.
The lecturers are: 

• Dr. Thomas Götsch, FHI
• Dr. Franz Schmidt, FHI
• Dr. Thomas Lunkenbein, FHI

We use our weekly lunch meetings on Monday from 12 to 1 pm to discuss specific research topics with all interested members of the CRC/TRR 247. On 26^th of April, we start on the topic "Materials Chemistry".
Members of the CRC/TRR 247 can find further information in our CRC database.

The follow-up meeting of the PIs and Postdocs will also take place online.

It is one of the softest white pigments used by the industry. However, zinc sulfide turns gray over time if it is not appropriately pretreated. Members of the CRC/TRR 247 discovered a way to retain its brilliant color and also enable its use as a catalyst; for example, to convert sunlight into usable energy. The scientific journal "Advanced Functional Materials" covers the topic in its latest issue.

Original publication:
Lange, T., Reichenberger, S., Rohe, M., Bartsch, M., Kampermann, L., Klein, J., Strunk, J., Bacher, G., Schlögl, R., Barcikowski, S: Alumina-Protected, Durable and Photostable Zinc Sulfide Particles from Scalable Atomic Layer Deposition. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 2009323. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202009323.

> more about: Press release CENIDE, University of Duisburg-Essen, 24.03.2021

The second UnOCat retreat will take place online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the second day of the retreat, there will be a workshop on "Good Scientific Practice".

Green electricity should be available as soon as possible, at best from all power outlets: electrochemical processes are the basis for a sustainable energy, but they need new, high-performance catalyst materials. Theoretical calculations help to avoid dead ends and to focus on the most promising candidates. Dr. Kai Exner, associated member of the CRC/TRR 247, has decisively improved this performance prediction and has now received an award for his achievements. He published his work in the trade journal Electrochimica Acta.

Original publication:
Exner, K.S.: Why approximating electrocatalytic activity by a single free-energy change is insufficient. Electrochim. Acta 2021, 375, 137975. DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2021.137975.

> more about: Press release CENIDE, University of Duisburg-Essen, 11.03.2021

Our UnOCat Lecture Series on "Electrocatalysis" will take place online.
The lecturers are: 

• Prof. Martin Muhler, Ruhr-University Bochum
• Prof. Lilac Amirav, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
• Prof. Gerd Bacher, University of Duisburg-Essen
• Prof. Guido Mul, University of Twente

If you're interested in participating, please send a mail to F. Günther to get the login information.

PD Dr. Harun Tüysüz (Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung) and colleagues have discovered a new type of OER electrocatalyst. A variety of Co₂YZ type Heusler compounds with tunable physicochemical properties and well-defined topological surfaces were designed and demonstrated to effectively split water into oxygen and hydrogen.
This work demonstrates proof of concept implementation of Heusler compounds as a new class of OER electrocatalysts, and the effect of orbital occupation on their catalytic performances. The results of this study were published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition as “Hot Paper”.

Original publication:
Yu, M., Li, G., Fu, C., Liu, E., Manna, K., Budiyanto, E., Yang, Q., Felser, C., Tüysüz, H.: Tunable e_g Orbital Occupancy in Heusler Compounds for Oxygen Evolution Reaction, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 1 – 7. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202013610.

> more about: Press release Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, 22.02.2021
> more about: Press release Chemistry Views, 22.02.2021

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our retreat will take place online.
Participants are all PIs and Postdocs.