Gerhard Ertl
Physicist, Academic
1936 –
Who is Gerhard Ertl?
Gerhard Ertl is a German physicist and a Professor emeritus at the Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin, Germany. Ertl’s research laid the foundation of modern surface chemistry, which has helped explain how fuel cells produce energy without pollution, how catalytic converters clean up car exhausts and even why iron rusts, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
His work has paved the way for development of cleaner energy sources and will guide the development of fuel cells, said Astrid Graslund, secretary of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
He was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces. The Nobel academy said Ertl provided a detailed description of how chemical reactions take place on surfaces. His findings applied in both academic studies and industrial development, the academy said. “Surface chemistry can even explain the destruction of the ozone layer, as vital steps in the reaction actually take place on the surfaces of small crystals of ice in the stratosphere,” the award citation reads.
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- Born
- Oct 10, 1936
Stuttgart - Spouses
- Religion
- Christianity
- Ethnicity
- Germans
- Nationality
- Germany
- Profession
- Education
- University of Stuttgart
Physics
(1955 - 1957) - University of Paris
(1957 - 1958) - Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
(1958 - 1959) - Diplom, University of Stuttgart
Physics
( - 1961) - Doctorate, Technical University of Munich
( - 1965) - Max Planck Institute for Metals Research
- University of Stuttgart
- Employment
- Titles in academia, Fritz Haber Institute of the MPG
(1986 - 2004) - Technical University of Munich
(1965 - 1968) - Visiting Professor, California Institute of Technology
- Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
(1973 - 1986) - Technical University of Hanover
(1968 - 1973) - Free University of Berlin
(1986 - ) - Visiting Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley
- Humboldt University of Berlin
(1996 - ) - Technical University of Berlin
(1986 - )
- Titles in academia, Fritz Haber Institute of the MPG
- Lived in
- Germany
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Gerhard Ertl." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/gerhard_ertl>.
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