On 8 February 2016, a chemistry workshop for scholarship holders of the Hans Riegel Foundation took place at the Institute of Chemistry. A total of 26 students and STEM enthusiasts who had been awarded a scholarship took part.
After a brief welcome by the Dean and Professor of Technical Chemistry, Prof Michael Wark, the students were introduced to some of the laboratories and the latest research work of the Technical Chemistry department at the Institute of Chemistry. The offers were prepared and carried out by professors, junior research group leaders and doctoral candidates from the individual working groups:
- Prof. Michael Wark's working group was in charge of the "Production of a dye-sensitised solar cell" workshop. In this workshop, the students were also actively involved in the laboratory and investigated the electrochemical activity. First, they had to cut and clean conductive pieces of glass. A titanium dioxide-based paste was then applied and the dried layers were impregnated with tea solutions. The coated glass substrates and graphite-coated counter electrodes were placed in a circuit and finally the electrochemical activity was analysed.
- Prof Dmitry Momotenko's working group presented the basic principles of 3D printing of materials such as conductors and semiconductors on a nanoscale. The working group uses two different methods for this, meniscus-limited galvanic deposition and pressure-driven ion deposition. Possible applications and previous work were presented and questions relating to these methods, processes and their application were answered and discussed.
- Another station took place in the junior research group of Dr Melanie Walther . This group is working on a sustainable project to produce completely biodegradable plastic from green waste, hay and algae. On Sunday, sugar was fermented in the laboratory together with the scholarship holders.
- The junior research group led by Dr Lars Mohrhusen is investigating hybrid material combinations of elements that are readily available in the long term for thermal and photochemical catalysts. The students were introduced to the topic of nanomaterials and surface-sensitive methods under ultra-high vacuum and discussed the requirements and possible reasons for studying the subject of chemistry.
The MINT TANK is a scholarship holder programme that accepts Dr Hans Riegel Prize winners from a total of 21 universities in Germany and Austria. The aim of the programme is to provide scholarship holders with study and career guidance in the STEM field through various seminars and to promote understanding of different subject areas through networking. The "MINT TANK introductory seminar" is the first seminar programme, which is therefore particularly broad-based and focuses on interdisciplinary insights into current STEM research areas. The participants are at the end of their school years or at the beginning of their studies at the time, i.e. they are usually between 17 and 20 years old. You can find out more about the MINT TANK and the Hans Riegel Foundation here: https: //www.hans-riegel-stiftung.com/projekte/mint-tank
More on and about the offers for prospective students at the Institute of Chemistry: Offers for prospective students, Overview of degree programmes