HZB
About
At HZB, we focus on materials for a reliable and sustainable energy supply, for example new types of solar cells, innovative battery solutions and catalytically active materials to produce green hydrogen as an energy storage medium. We are also researching highly efficient quantum materials for future information technologies.
In order to optimise materials for present and future applications and to give them targeted functions, we need to understand them at the fundamental level. At HZB, we are fascinated by the following questions:
- How does the functionality of a material emerge and how can we control it?
- How are chemical reactions controlled at the atomic level?
- What decides the efficiency of phase transitions and switching processes in components?
- How can we identify the limiting steps in the conversion of light into energy?
- How can we improve biochemical processes and optimise them for industrial applications?
In answering these and similar questions, the arrangement of atoms and, above all, the electronic structure in molecules and materials play a decisive role, given that it is the electrons that are responsible for almost all properties of matter.
For our research, we primarily use soft X-ray radiation in the necessary quality and intensity that only synchrotron radiation sources like BESSY II can generate. Based on the interaction between matter and X-rays, we are continually developing suitable experiments, instruments and new methodological approaches.
Role in Upcycle
HZB operates thae BESSY II electron storage ring that will be employed for macromolecular
protein crystallography and that harbours all IT-infrastructure required for structural bioinformatics and AI-based protein design within the project. With biomolecular structures of PET hydrolases ideally bound to their substrates, HZB will significantly contribute to UPCYCLE’s goal to fundamentally improve the core biocatalytic processes of plastic degradation. The emerging of AI-based technologies for enzyme design and improvement are extensively used by HZB and will contribute to the development of superior hydrolases for UPCYCLE. A joint effort with UPCYCLE partner HKI will lead to an unpreceded HT screening for superior PET hydrolases that also benefits from HZB’s IT/AI expertise.
The laboratory space of the HZB allows medium scale protein expressions in various expression hosts, and harbours all required equipment for protein production and biochemical characterization. This infrastructure and the unique expertise of HZB will contribute to UPCYCLES goal to improve the PET hydrolase production in order to lower the process cost, jointly with UPCYCLE coordinator AAU.
All in all, HZB will leverage a combination of structural biology, AI-sourced protein technologies and protein production and characterization to fundamentally improve the enzymatic PET hydrolysis process.