Small molecules, big effects - trace gases in the atmosphere

online lecture by Hartwig Müller on October 19, 2021, 2 pm-3pm

Moderation: Klaus-Peter Jäckel

When he started his career in 1977, the author first came into contact with the products of human activities in the form of the small molecule CF ₄. After extensive processing of huge amounts of air in cryogenic rectification apparatus to produce krypton and xenon, trace contamination was found in the krypton, which endangered its industrial use as lamp gas. Based on this incident at the beginning of his professional life, in his further professional life he was repeatedly confronted with the legacies of industrial activities in the atmosphere, culminating with the ozone hole discovered in the 1980s and the harmful effects of ground-level ozone. Step by step, these experimental findings are used to demonstrate the research on the atmosphere and the modern threats to earthly life from the burning of fossil materials for energy production.