Germany:German Gerhard Ertl won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry on his 71st birthday yesterday for inventing ways to watch chemicals react on a surface, helping in the development of cleaner cars and better fertilizers.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, awarding the €1.1 million prize, said Dr Ertl's work laid the foundations for a field of research called surface chemistry, which explains processes from simple rusting to the destruction of the ozone layer.
"Knowledge about chemical reactions on surfaces will also help us produce renewable fuels more efficiently and create new materials for electronics," the academy said. Dr Ertl, former director of the Fritz Haber Institute at Berlin's Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, described the prize as "the highest honour the heavens of science can bestow".
Surface chemistry is not glamorous, but Catherine Hunt, president of the American Chemical Society, said it had "transformed lives in so many ways".
"Research in surface chemistry already has underpinned innovations ranging from air pollution control technology to modern electronics products," she said.
One secret to Dr Ertl's work was meticulous use of vacuum chambers, which prevent odd atoms and molecules from joining whatever chemical reaction is happening when an atom touches a surface.
Dr Ertl's work helped researchers design better catalytic converters, the Nobel committee said. Catalytic converters pull toxic carbon monoxide out of vehicle exhaust gases and turn it into carbon dioxide.
- (Reuters)