News
HZB team investigates lithium-sulphur batteries in real-time
Findings are helpful to design compact Li-S batteries with a high energy density:
Using a non-destructive method, a team at HZB investigated practical lithium-sulphur pouch cells with lean electrolyte for the first time. With operando neutron tomography, they could visualise in real-time how the…
MXene as a frame for 2D water films shows new properties
Research team investigates phase changes of confined water at BESSY II:
An international team led by Dr. Tristan Petit and Prof. Yury Gogotsi has investigated MXene with confined water and ions at BESSY II. In the MXene samples, a transition between localised ice clusters to…
BAM researches more sustainable titanium production from industrial residues in EU project
LTB Lasertechnik Berlin in Adlershof provides support with real-time analysis method:
Titanium metal is a critical raw material that the EU imports largely from Kazakhstan, Russia, and China. The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) is part of a large EU consortium that aims to…
Self assembling monolayer can improve lead-free perovskite solar cells too
At HZB, the performance of non-toxic tin perovskite photovoltaics was increased through targeted molecular design:
Tin perovskite solar cells are not only non-toxic, but also potentially more stable than lead-containing perovskite solar cells. However, they are also significantly less efficient. Now, an international team has…
IKZ successfully attracts increasing research funding from the DFG
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) funds more than 20 projects at IKZ in 2025:
In June 2025, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) published its latest Grant Approval Report for the Leibniz-Association. The report highlights also the success of the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung…
Ten thousand molecules in time
Experiments at Max Born Institute on generating and controling collective vibrations in a liquid:
The ultrafast placement of an electron in a polar liquid generates collective molecular vibrations in a spherical nano-volume. The vibrations change the diameter of this sphere periodically for more than 100…
New method for the mechanical formation of three-dimensional molecular structures
HU researchers develop light-powered nano-motor and use it to create ring-shaped, intertwined molecules:
Threads or ropes can easily be used for braiding, knotting, and weaving. In chemistry, however, processing molecular strands in this way is an almost impossible task. This is because molecules are not only tiny, they…
Perfectly Imperfect: Disorder in Materials Enables Ultra-Fast Charging
Researchers at Humboldt-Universität develop unusual strategy to increase battery performance:
Led by Prof. Dr. Nicola Pinna and Dr. Patrícia Russo from the Department of Chemistry at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), scientists have succeeded in disrupting the atomic order of batteries in a targeted manner.…
Research team succeeds in controlled formation of skyrmion bags
The complex structures in thin ferromagnetic materials are important for future spintronic devices:
A team of researchers at the Max Born Institute and collaborating institutions has developed a reliable method to create complex magnetic textures, known as skyrmion bags, in thin ferromagnetic films. Skyrmion bags…
Scrolls from Buddhist shrine virtually unrolled at BESSY II
HZB team used 3D X-ray tomography and AI for non-destructive investigation:
The Mongolian collection of the Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin contains a unique Gungervaa shrine. Among the objects found inside were three tiny scrolls, wrapped in silk. Using 3D X-ray…
Berlin Science Award goes to Philipp Adelhelm
The materials scientist and electrochemist researches and develops sodium-ion batteries at HU and HZB:
Battery researcher Prof. Dr. Philipp Adelhelm has been awarded the 2024 Berlin Science Award. He is a professor at the Institute of Chemistry at Humboldt University in Berlin (HU) and heads a joint research group at…
Study shows urgent need for reference materials for nanoparticles
BAM and Metrology Research Centre have developed two new nano reference materials:
Whether in electronic components, innovative medicines, or modern environmental analysis, nanomaterials are found in many technologies of the future. Precise reference standards are needed to ensure that they can be…
Advancing time-resolved X-ray science
Novel method gives researchers insight into ultrafast processes and dynamics of materials:
An international team of researchers around IKZ scientist Dr. Peter Gaal has demonstrated a novel approach to time-resolved X-ray diffraction, combining advanced Hadamard timing schemes with a novel device called the…
New department at HZB: ‘AI and Biomolecular Structures’
Andrea Thorn, head of the department, brings many years of experience in AI-based tools for structural biology:
Since 1 July 2025, Dr. Andrea Thorn has been setting up the new AI and Biomolecular Structures department at HZB. A biophysicist with many years of experience in AI-based tools for structural biology, she is looking…
FBH and HU strengthen cooperation in quantum technologies
Another Joint Lab launched / New professorship for Integrated Quantum Sensors:
With the new Joint Lab Integrated Nonlinear Quantum Optics, the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin are strengthening their strategic partnership in the emerging field of quantum…
New Helmholtz Young Investigator Group at HZB on perovskite solar cells
Silvia Mariotti aims to advance the development of multi-junction solar cells made from different perovskite layers:
Silvia Mariotti starts building up the new Helmholtz Young Investigator Group ‘Perovskite-based multi-junction solar cells’. The perovskite expert, who was previously based at Okinawa University in Japan, aims to…
Diffusion of hydrogen in MXene investigated at HZB
Modelling offers a solid foundation for further research with MXene as hydrogen storage systems:
Two-dimensional (2D) materials such as MXene are of great interest for hydrogen storage. An expert from HZB has investigated the diffusion of hydrogen in MXene using density functional theory. This modelling provides…
4-Inch Aluminum Nitride Crystals for Future Markets in Power Electronics and UV Photonics
Innovation project launched by IKZ, PVA TePla AG and Siltronic AG:
Three leading players in semiconductor research and development – the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ), the PVA TePla AG, and the Siltronic AG – are combining their expertise in a pioneering project to…
ERC Advanced Grants for two HU research projects
Gökce Yurdakul from the Institute of Social Sciences and Hans Börner from the Institute of Chemistry each receive funding of almost 2.5 million euros:
For her project ‘MENBELONG – Belonging for Single Migrant Men: A Cross-Country Comparative Perspective’, Prof Dr Gökce Yurdakul will receive almost EUR 2.5 million as part of an ERC Advanced Grant, of which around…
Marco Stucki wins Berlin University Alliance ideas competition
His quantum research project ‘Sawfish Cavity’ is now being used for a poster campaign in Berlin:
Marco Stucki has won the Berlin University Alliance's open knowledge lab competition with a novel process for manufacturing tiny diamond structures for quantum technologies. “Art meets Science” was the motto under…