Unique X-ray experiments for school classes: The X-ray mobile will arrive at the HZB
© Deutsches Röntgen-Museum
There are also experiments on ultrasound. © Deutsches Röntgen-Museum
The HZB is part of the X-ray year 2020! It celebrates the discovery of X-rays 125 years ago with many interesting events and activities. © Röntgen-Kuratorium Würzburg e.V.
What is ultraviolet radiation? What are X-rays used for? And what is radioactivity again? These questions are on the curriculum in physics lessons, but vivid experiments on these topics are rare. From 5 to 13 March 2020, pupils can conduct experiments on these topics in the HZB's school laboratory in Berlin-Adlershof. The public is invited to attend on 12 March.
The year 2020 is the focus of a double anniversary on the topic of X-rays. Nationwide, the 125th Discovery Day of X-rays and the 175th birthday of their discoverer and first Nobel Prize winner in physics, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, will be celebrated. To mark this occasion, the German Röntgen Museum in Remscheid (DRM) and the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums in Mannheim (rem) have developed the project "X-perimente - Making the Invisible Visible". The project is made possible by the Klaus Tschira Foundation in Heidelberg.
In the next few months, the X-ray mobile will be touring all over Germany. "It offers interactive experiments that are not offered at schools or in student laboratories in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. That's why the workshops on offer really are a unique opportunity," says Dr. Ulrike Witte, a member of the HZB school laboratory staff. Based on the fascination of the X-ray process, the experiments provide an overview of various techniques that can be used to make the inside of things visible: from infrared light to short-wave gamma rays and ultrasound.
Venue: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, school laboratory, Magnusstraße 2, 12489 Berlin
Book workshops on the topics of X-rays and radiation
The campaign will take place from 5 to 13 March 2020 in the HZB school laboratory. Three workshops are offered per day (9 am, 11 am and 1 pm). They last 90 minutes and are free of charge. Booking is done by the teacher (max. 2 dates per school). The principle is: first come, first serve. Further information (GER) on the topics of the workshops can be found here.
Open for all: on 12 March from 3.30 to 5.30 pm
On 12 March 2020 the doors will be open to the public. You can experiment from 3.30 to 5.30 pm around the topics of X-rays, radioactivity and ultrasound.
The X-ray year 2020
The world of X-ray is full of surprising phenomena and fascinating images: This is what the X-ray year 2020 wants to draw attention to. On November 8, 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered a new type of radiation. Since then they have enabled revolutionary advances in medicine, technology and society worldwide. X-rays penetrate substances and make layers visible that are otherwise invisible to the human eye: They are indispensable tools for studying solar cells, catalysts, viruses, genomes, tumors, old writings, machine parts, objects of art, celestial bodies and much more. The electron storage ring BESSY II, which is operated by HZB in Adlershof, provides highly brilliant X-ray light. Every year, it enables more than 1500 materials researchers, chemists, physicians, biologists and art historians from all over the world to gain unique insights into their samples.
- Battery research with the HZB X-ray microscopeNew cathode materials are being developed to further increase the capacity of lithium batteries. Multilayer lithium-rich transition metal oxides (LRTMOs) offer particularly high energy density. However, their capacity decreases with each charging cycle due to structural and chemical changes. Using X-ray methods at BESSY II, teams from several Chinese research institutions have now investigated these changes for the first time with highest precision: at the unique X-ray microscope, they were able to observe morphological and structural developments on the nanometre scale and also clarify chemical changes.
- BESSY II: New procedure for better thermoplasticsBio-based thermoplastics are produced from renewable organic materials and can be recycled after use. Their resilience can be improved by blending bio-based thermoplastics with other thermoplastics. However, the interface between the materials in these blends sometimes requires enhancement to achieve optimal properties. A team from the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands has now investigated at BESSY II how a new process enables thermoplastic blends with a high interfacial strength to be made from two base materials: Images taken at the new nano station of the IRIS beamline showed that nanocrystalline layers form during the process, which increase material performance.
- Hydrogen: Breakthrough in alkaline membrane electrolysersA team from the Technical University of Berlin, HZB, IMTEK (University of Freiburg) and Siemens Energy has developed a highly efficient alkaline membrane electrolyser that approaches the performance of established PEM electrolysers. What makes this achievement remarkable is the use of inexpensive nickel compounds for the anode catalyst, replacing costly and rare iridium. At BESSY II, the team was able to elucidate the catalytic processes in detail using operando measurements, and a theory team (USA, Singapore) provided a consistent molecular description. In Freiburg, prototype cells were built using a new coating process and tested in operation. The results have been published in the prestigious journal Nature Catalysis.