PCCP author wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

11 October 2007

In what he described as "the best birthday present you can give to somebody", German scientist Gerhard Ertl was yesterday awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - on his 71st birthday.

 

The award acknowledges 'his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces'. Ertl's groundbreaking research showed chemists it was possible to understand the fine details of what gas molecules do at the solid surfaces of metals. He worked out the role of metal catalysts in industrial reactions such as the making of artificial fertilizer. But he also pioneered the study of surfaces in many chemical processes: from ozone destruction in the atmosphere and cars' exhaust-cleaning catalytic converters, to the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, and materials for the electronics industry. 

 

Professor Ertl has a long history of involvement with PCCP and served on the Advisory Board from 1999 to 2002. Prior to that he was a member of the Faraday Transactions  Editorial Board  and has been a regular contributor to  Faraday Discussions. This included delivering the Spiers Memorial Lecture at Faraday Discussion 121 in 2002 when he was the RSC Spiers lecture and prize winner. 

 

Professor Ertl is also the current winner of the Faraday lectureship, the RSC Faraday Division's oldest award. Professor David Clary, President of the RSC Faraday Division, welcomed the Nobel announcement, "The Faraday Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry is delighted that Professor Gerhard Ertl has been awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Professor Ertl's pioneering research on surface chemistry has been an inspiration for many physical chemists in the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, the Society heard Professor Ertl give the Faraday Lectureship, our oldest award. Professor Ertl has also been a regular contributor to our international conference series, the Faraday Discussions, and he recently gave our Spiers Memorial Lecture at one of these meetings."