The third issue of the magazine “WIR/VIER”, designed and written by the TU Berlin press team, was published at the beginning of January, highlighting the work of the Berlin University Alliance. The focus is on the three clusters of excellence for which TU Berlin is the applicant university: MATH+, Science of Intelligence (SCIoI) and UniSysCat.
Two articles deal with the pioneering research of UniSysCat on the one hand and the ecosystem for green chemistry that is emerging around the cluster of excellence in Berlin on the other:
Wunderwerk der Natur: ein Enzym, das klimaneutral Energie liefert
“Hydrogenases are almost ideal biocatalysts. They are everywhere: in the soil, in the sea, in our bodies. They can split hydrogen molecules at lightning speed, releasing energy and, conversely, produce hydrogen,” explains Dr. Oliver Lenz from the Max Volmer Laboratory at TU Berlin. “In our bodies alone, billions of chemical-catalytic conversion processes take place every second.”
The article deals with the important research question of UniSysCat, how the enzyme hydrogenase can be used to produce hydrogen in a resource-saving and sustainable way. One focus here is on basic research, as it has not yet been possible to fully understand exactly how the tiny enzyme works. Finding this out is the goal of several working groups in UniSysCat: theorists, spectroscopists, biochemists and geneticists are working together to decipher the properties and behavior of a specific hydrogenase. Other research groups in the cluster are trying to make the hydrogenase usable for laboratory applications. After all, the sensitive enzyme has to be incorporated into laboratory equipment before it can be employed by humans.
Arne Thomas explains that he wants to use COFs, special scaffold materials that his working group produces, to bring the hydrogenase into laboratory apparatus: “We are incorporating the hydrogenase into special cavities inside this scaffold material. It won't fit through the surrounding smaller holes, so it can't get out. However, the individual hydrogen molecules that it produces or uses can pass in both directions.”
The article by Particia Pätzold was published online: https://www.tu.berlin/news/wir-vier-die-tu-berlin-in-der-berlin-university-alliance-bua/magazin-wir-vier-ausgabe-3/wunderwerk-der-natur-ein-enzym-das-klimaneutral-energie-liefert
Einzigartiges Ökosystem für grüne Chemie in Berlin
Berlin wants to become an international hotspot for deep-tech innovations in the field of green chemistry. This ambitious idea can in part be traced back to the research of UniSysCat and its predecessor cluster UniCat and - in particular - their transfer achievements: A unique ecosystem for start-ups in the field of green chemistry has developed around the clusters of excellence.
In order to rethink chemistry and develop profitable business ideas, a kind of ecosystem for innovation has been created in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. In addition to excellent basic research, key elements include the greenCHEM consortium and the necessary infrastructure. Martin Rahmel explains how these three elements feed off each other: “With the help of basic research, money becomes knowledge. In the greenCHEM network, this knowledge is transferred into sustainable, commercially viable applications. This is achieved through technology transfer to established companies or through start-ups and, if successful, leads to profit, which in turn leads to tax revenue that can then be reinvested in research. The Chemical Invention Factory is the building where start-ups can find the infrastructure they need to turn a brilliant research result into a sustainable, market-ready product.”
The article by Sybille Nitsche was also published online: https://www.tu.berlin/news/wir-vier-die-tu-berlin-in-der-berlin-university-alliance-bua/magazin-wir-vier-ausgabe-3/einzigartiges-oekosystem