Gerhard Ertl

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Gerhard Ertl (2007)
Ertl at a lecture (2008)

Gerhard Ludwig Ertl (born October 10, 1936 in Stuttgart ) is a German physicist and surface chemist who has significantly influenced the development of the field of surface chemistry . From 1986 to 2004 he was director of the physical chemistry department at the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin . In 2007 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry .

Life

Gerhard Ertl was born in Bad Cannstatt , a district of Stuttgart . Shortly before he finished primary school, his family moved to Fellbach, about five kilometers away . From there he attended the Johannes-Kepler-Gymnasium in Bad Cannstatt until he graduated from high school .

In 1955, Gerhard Ertl began studying physics at the University of Stuttgart . During his studies he already gained experience in two short stays at other universities, in 1957/58 at the Sorbonne in Paris and in 1958/59 at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. In 1961 he got his physics diploma; his thesis entitled “A temperature jump method for investigating rapid dissociation reactions using a microwave pulse ” was supervised by Heinz Gerischer , who was then working at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart. In 1962 Gerhard Ertl went to Munich with Heinz Gerischer, who had accepted a professorship there at the Technical University , and worked there until 1965 in the field of physical chemistry on his dissertation "On the kinetics of the catalytic oxidation of hydrogen on germanium - single crystals " .

Gerhard Ertl stayed at the Technical University of Munich and completed his habilitation with the "Investigation of surface structures and reactions by means of diffraction of slow electrons" within only two years. He worked as a private lecturer in Munich until 1968. In the same year he followed a call to the University of Hanover and took over one of the two chairs at the Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry. In 1973 he returned to Munich and succeeded Georg-Maria Schwab as professor at the Institute for Physical Chemistry at the Ludwig Maximilians University.

In the following years he held several visiting professorships in the USA: 1976/77 at Caltech in Pasadena, 1979 at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and 1981/82 at the University of California in Berkeley . In 1986 he succeeded his former teacher Heinz Gerischer as director of the physical chemistry department at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin. He was also appointed honorary professor at the Free University and the Technical University . In 1996 he became an honorary professor at Humboldt University . Ertl is a member of the University Council of the Technical University of Darmstadt .

Gerhard Ertl is co-editor of five journals in the field of physical and especially surface chemistry and a member of the editorial boards (editorial board) of nine international journals, including " Angewandte Chemie " and " Science ". He is involved in the Society of German Natural Scientists and Doctors (GDNÄ) and the Society of German Chemists GDCh . From 1995 to 2001 he was Vice President of the German Research Foundation (DFG) .

Services

For his habilitation project, Gerhard Ertl was granted one of the first commercially available LEED devices in Germany for examining surfaces by means of the diffraction of slow electrons. So he was able to establish the field of surface chemistry in Germany. His first groundbreaking publication appeared in 1966 in the journal Surface Science, of which he was co-editor from 1977 to 1986. She treated surface structures and reactions of copper single crystals .

Gerhard Ertl continued to study the elementary steps of chemical surface reactions and the structure of adsorbates. At first it was about reactions of small molecules with the surfaces of metals and alloys . He worked very intensively on the oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) on single crystal surfaces, in which oscillations occur in the speed of CO 2 production. The aim of his research has always been to understand the mechanisms involved in heterogeneous catalysis . A series of publications on the mechanism of ammonia synthesis in the 1970s formed a culmination of these efforts . Understanding this mechanism had been a sought-after research object since Fritz Haber's discovery of the technically and economically important process in 1905 .

Gerhard Ertl always kept up with the times. Shortly after the description of the scanning tunneling microscope by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer 1982 he procured this technique for his group and thus allowed the visualization of diffusion processes . The use of femtosecond laser technology allowed research into ultrafast surface processes.

In addition to basic research on model catalysts, Gerhard Ertl was always interested in real catalysts. Together with Helmut Knözinger and Jens Weitkamp , he has published a five-volume encyclopedia on the subject of “Heterogeneous Catalysis” (Handbook of Heterogeneous Catalysis) , which has become a standard work in this field.

honors and awards

Works

Articles (selection)

  • G. Ertl: Kinetics of the decay of N 2 O at germanium cleavage surfaces . Z. Phys. Chem. NF (Frankfurt) 50 (1966), pp. 46-59.
  • G. Ertl: Investigation of surface reactions on copper by means of slow electron diffraction (LEED) . Part I: Surf. Sci. 6, pp. 208-232 (1967); Part II: Surf. Sci. 7, pp. 309-331 (1967).
  • G. Ertl: Elementary processes at gas / metal interfaces . Angew. Chem. 88: 423-433 (1976).
  • M. Grunze, F. Bozso, G. Ertl, M. Weiss: Interaction of ammonia with Fe (111) and Fe (100) surfaces . Appl. Surf. Sci. 2 (1978), pp. 241-265.
  • M. Weiss, G. Ertl, F. Nitschké: Adsorption and decomposition of ammonia on Fe (110) . Appl. Surf. Sci. 2, pp. 614-635 (1979).
  • G. Ertl: Kinetics of chemical processes on well-defined surfaces . In: JR Anderson, M. Boudart (Eds.): Catalysis: Science and Technology . Vol. 4, Springer, Heidelberg 1983, pp. 209-282.
  • G. Ertl: Metal clusters and metal surfaces . In: L. Guczi, H. Knözinger, BC Gates (Eds.): Metal Clusters in Catalysis . Elsevier, Amsterdam 1986, pp. 577-604.
  • G. Ertl: Phase change and self-organization in chemical systems . In: K. Hierholzer, H.-G. Wittmann (ed.): Phase jumps and continuity in the natural and cultural world . Knowledge Verlagsges., Stuttgart 1988, pp. 237-255.
  • G. Ertl: The oscillatory catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide on platinum surfaces . In: P. Gray, G. Nicolis, F. Baras, P. Borckmans, SK Scott (Eds.): Spatial Inhomogeneities and Transient BehaVior in Chemical Kinetics . Manchester University Press, Manchester 1990, pp. 6565-6579.
  • G. Ertl: Elementary steps in ammonia synthesis: The surface science approach . In: JR Jennings (Ed.): Catalytic Ammonia Synthesis: Fundamentals and Practice . Plenum Press, New York 1991, pp. 109-132.
  • G. Ertl: Heterogeneous Catalysis: From Goethe to “Cold” Fusion . In: General Administration of the Max Planck Society (Ed.): Max Planck Society Yearbook 1990 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1990, pp. 36-49.
  • G. Ertl: Oscillatory kinetics and spatio-temporal selforganization in reactions at solid surfaces . Science 254: 1750-1755 (1991).
  • G. Ertl: Limits of Scientific Predictability . In: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (Ed.): Recognize limits - set limits? General studies summer semester 1994 . University Press C. Winter - “Heidelberger Verlagsanstalt” program, 1995, pp. 63–68.
  • G. Ertl: What holds the world together at its core - 50 years of research into inanimate, earthly nature in the Max Planck Society . In: Research at the Frontiers of Knowledge. 50 years of the Max Planck Society. 1948-1998 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, pp. 93-109.
  • G. Ertl: Heterogeneous catalysis: from "black art" to atomic understanding . In: E. Keinan, I. Schechter (Ed.): Chemistry for the 21st Century . Wiley-VCH, Weinheim-New York 2001, pp. 54-69.
  • G. Ertl: Ammonia Synthesis - Heterogeneous . In: IT Horváth (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Catalysis . Vol. 1, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken / NJ 2003, pp. 329-352, ISBN 0-471-24183-0 .

Monographs

  • G. Ertl, J. Soentgen (Ed.): N. Nitrogen - an element writes world history. Oekom Verlag, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-86581-736-5
  • G. Ertl, J. Küppers: Low Energy Electrons and Surface Chemistry . 2. completely revised Edition. Verlag Chemie, Weinheim 1985 (1st edition 1974), ISBN 3-527-26056-0 .
  • TN Rhodin, G. Ertl (Ed.): The Nature of the Surface Chemical Bond . North Holland, Amsterdam 1979.
  • HP Bonzel, AM Bradshaw, G. Ertl (Ed.): Physics and Chemistry of Alkali Metal Adsorption . Elsevier, Amsterdam 1989.
  • G. Ertl, H. Knözinger, J. Weitkamp (Eds.): Handbook of Heterogeneous Catalysis . Vol. 1-5. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 1997, ISBN 3-527-29212-8 .
  • G. Ertl, H. Knözinger, J. Weitkamp (eds.): EnVironmental Catalysis . Wiley-VCH, New York-Weinheim 1999, ISBN 3-527-29827-4 .
  • G. Ertl, H. Knözinger, J. Weitkamp (Eds.): Preparation of Solid Catalysts . Wiley-VCH, New York-Weinheim 1999, ISBN 3-527-29826-6 .

literature

  • Foreword for the Gerhard Ertl Festschrift. In: The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 108, 2004, p. 14183, doi : 10.1021 / jp049239i . (Preface to the Festschrift for Gerhard Ertl on the occasion of his retirement, English)
  • G. Ertl, Angewandte Chemie 120/19, pp. 3579-3590, 2008, Nobel lecture.

Web links

Commons : Gerhard Ertl  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Member entry by Prof. Dr. Gerhard Ertl (with picture and CV) at the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina , accessed on July 5, 2016.
  2. ↑ Information from the Nobel Foundation on the 2007 award ceremony to Gerhard Ertl (English)
  3. ↑ Integrated comprehensive school Gerhard Ertl
  4. ↑ LMU names building after Nobel laureate in chemistry, Gerhard Ertl. Press release from the LMU Munich
  5. ↑ TU Berlin honors Nobel laureate in chemistry, Gerhard Ertl . idw-online.de. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
  6. ↑ Program winter semester 2008/2009. Retrieved September 11, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Press release of the TU Berlin from October 12, 2012, accessed December 7, 2012 ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pressestelle.tu-berlin.de
  8. ↑ DPG honorary members
personal data
SURNAME Ertl, Gerhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ertl, Gerhard Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physicist and surface chemist
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart