Gerhard Ertl

Gerhard Ertl is a German physical chemist whose experimental and theoretical studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces earned him the 2007 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

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Surface chemistry: The study of chemical processes at interfaces, especially reactions and adsorption at solid surfaces. This is the field Ertl transformed through precise experiments on reactions at solid surfaces.
Low-energy electron diffraction: A method that uses low-energy electrons to determine the periodic structure of crystalline surfaces. Ertl used it to establish how adsorbed particles arrange themselves on surfaces.
Ammonia synthesis: The industrial production of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen, chiefly by the Haber–Bosch process. Ertl examined how nitrogen dissociates and reacts on iron catalyst surfaces.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry: An annual international award recognizing major contributions to chemistry, established by Alfred Nobel’s will. Ertl received the 2007 prize for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces.
Adsorption: The accumulation of atoms, ions, or molecules on a surface. Adsorption is the first step in many surface reactions Ertl investigated.
Auger electron spectroscopy: A surface-sensitive technique that identifies elements by measuring electrons emitted in Auger processes. It helped detect surface composition while reactions proceeded.
Haber–Bosch process: An industrial process that synthesizes ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen over an iron-based catalyst. Its iron catalyst provided a central system for Ertl’s studies of surface reaction mechanisms.
Kaiser Wilhelm Society: A German research organization founded in 1911 and reorganized as the Max Planck Society after World War II. Ertl conducted much of his later research at institutes belonging to its successor organization.
Heterogeneous catalysis: Catalysis in which the catalyst and reactants occupy different phases, commonly a solid catalyst and gaseous or liquid reactants. Ertl clarified how solid catalysts bind reactants and promote chemical change.
Molecular beam epitaxy: A method for growing crystalline films by directing beams of atoms or molecules onto a substrate in vacuum. Its controlled surfaces supported the model experiments characteristic of Ertl’s approach.