CRC 1487 active in the topics of sustainable chemistry, study program and career orientation and gender equality measures at schools

This week, Prof. Markus Prechtl and Yannick L. Legscha (PhD student), members of the public outreach project (“Ö” project) of the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1487, repeatedly visited a school class at the Georg Büchner School in Darmstadt to introduce the pupils to the topic of sustainable chemistry. This time, the visit of the year 9 class was supplemented by impulses and an exchange with C05 project doctoral student Hannah Lamers on the topics of study program and career orientation as well as gender equality.

The first part of the program dealt with the topic of sustainable chemistry. Markus Prechtl and Yannick L. Legscha took an in-depth look at the topic of “substitution”. To this end, the students' prior knowledge was first activated. They are currently working on the representation of metals, including the blast furnace process. In addition, the “Ö” project team presented a “climate-friendly” process (“tKH2Steel”) and critically discussed with the pupils when hydrogen from electrolysis can be classified as “climate-friendly”. The exchange of carbon monoxide (or carbon) for hydrogen was used to approach the concept of “substitution”. To provide an experimental insight, the pupils then carried out the redox reaction as a safe hands-on experiment with the so-called HydroStik.

Various forms of substitution were discussed during the visit: technical, material and ideal. The “Ö” project team then presented the CRC project “Iron, upgraded!”. Following on from this, the substitution of platinum with iron and the following aspects were discussed in this context: Criticality of raw materials, supply risk, import dependencies and environmental protection. The topic was exemplified using a fuel cell and iron-nitrogen-carbon (FeNC) catalysts.

Taking the “International Day of Girls and Women” on February 11 as an opportunity, doctoral student Hannah Lamers accompanied the “Ö” project team on the school visit this week. She took on the topics of study program and career orientation as well as gender equality measures by reporting on her work as a female scientist at TUDa. The students were asked to formulate their questions for Hannah Lamers in writing. These were answered in a structured manner. The focus was on: What does everyday life in research/laboratory look like? What does it take to study chemistry/technology? What career prospects do you have?

The pupils reacted very positively and with great interest to the school visit and the Collaborative Research Center was also able to gain new insights into the treatment of the topic of sustainable chemistry in school lessons and the pupils' topics with regard to studying and research.