For the 30th time, the Center for Chemistry (ZFC) invited 16 high school students from Hesse to learn about scientific practice and specific corporate structures through dialogue with professionals. In the “digital lab,” the young talents explored high-performance materials that also play a central role in the context of the energy transition. Topics included efficient storage media for renewable energy, as well as surface analyses and high-performance magnets, such as those used in the field of electric mobility and in wind turbines.

Veit Gemmer, a student in Class 13 at Steinmühle, had qualified for the week-long Inventors’ Lab. His group focused on sodium solid-state batteries, which contain so-called Nasicon electrolytes and may one day offer alternatives to the problematic materials currently used in lithium-ion batteries.

The Inventors’ Lab was actually supposed to take place in October 2020 but was then postponed to early 2021 due to the pandemic. This event, too, could only be held online, but it still provided interesting insights, as Veit reports:

The Inventors’ Lab, themed “High-Performance Materials for the Future,” which normally takes place at the Technical University (TU) of Darmstadt, was at least able tobe heldonline via the Microsoft Teams platform. During the week-long workshop, we had the opportunity to gain exciting insights into the field of materials science and the Merck Group through various discussions with experts from TU Darmstadt and Merck KGaA. Using this knowledge, combined with our own additional research, our group was tasked with creating an educational video about sodium solid-state batteries. Even though creating a high-quality video took a great deal of time, the week was still very interesting.

Veit Gemmer

Created in the Inventor’s Lab created Video about sodium solid-state batteries

Closing Ceremony (below: Veit with his group)

Computer simulations of the Transport mechanisms and Conductivityen of sodium–ions in the solid-state electrolyte Nasicon (Na+–Super-ion conductor).

Improvement of Conductivityby Nasicoelectrolytes via Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD)

Once again this year, our teams performed very well at the regional “Jugend Forscht” competition, which unfortunately could only be held online this time.
Given the difficult conditions caused by the pandemic, only two groups competed this year, both of which were supervised by Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf.

Qualification for the State Competition

Just like last year, the team consisting of Joshua Wieder, Morten Köhler, and Benjamin Schul (10th grade) took first place in chemistry. They were able to successfully expand their project on heating pads for ski boots. With the project
With their project “The Ski Boot Problem, Part 2—New Metals, Catalysts, and Oxidizing Agents,” they qualified for the state competition in Darmstadt.
The team received two certificates, as they also won a special prize from Heise Medien: a one-year subscription to “Make,” a magazine popular in the maker scene.

Our photo shows (from left) Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, Morten Köhler, Joshua Wieder, Benjamin Schul, and Principal Björn Gemmer.

“A high level of expertise for someone so young”

In the junior division of “Schüler experimentieren,” Leontin Schmidt, Leonard Berger, and Mats Egbring from 7th grade also took first place in the chemistry category with their project “Nitrate—Is It a Problem in the Lahn, Too? Measurements and Experiments for Removal.” They have thus qualified for the state competition in Kassel.

In addition, Steinmühle won the Hessian School Prize from the “Jugend Forscht” sponsor pool, which is funded by the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation.
In the laudatory speech, special recognition was given to the fact that, as in previous years, the students at Steinmühle possess a remarkable level of expertise on their project topics, especially given their young age.

Our photo shows (from left) Leontin Schmidt, Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, Leonard Berger, and Principal Björn Gemmer. Mats Egbring is not in the photo.

Our photo shows the certificate that Steinmühle received as the winner of the Hessian School Award from the “Jugend Forscht” sponsor pool.

For the second time, Hanna Schmidt-Dege (7a), Sabrina Ben Amor, Julius Henkel, Thorben Heß, David Immel, Luca Krantz, Max Posingies, Marvin Preis, and Joel Rucker (all 7c) took part in the International Junior Science Olympiad, which this year had the theme “All About Ink.” In this competition, children and teenagers up to age 15, under the supervision of a teacher, can work on various competition tasks either alone or in small groups. The most important part of each task is an experiment that must be conducted, documented, and evaluated. This year, for example, the students investigated what happens to ink when it is “erased” with an ink eraser, and they made their own ink using various recipes. In two additional experiments, they used ink to examine water transport in flowers more closely and to visualize particle movement in liquids of varying concentrations and temperatures.

The students were able to conduct the experiments during their regular physics classes and thus also make use of the school’s resources (e.g., the student lab, physics equipment collection). The results show that everyone learned from last year’s experiences and acquired a high level of experimental competence.

Marvin Preis (7c), who not only participated in this year’s Olympiad but also successfully competed in the “Jugend experimentiert” contest last year, advanced to the next round of the competition. There, he had to answer a total of 24 quiz questions on various topics in the natural sciences that went far beyond the school curriculum for his age group. Marvin rose to this challenge as well and qualified for the next round—a written exam—which will take place in June, and we wish him the best of luck.