Institute of Climate and Energy Systems (ICE)

Troposphere (ICE-3)

Best Poster Awards 2025 at the 28th ETH Nanoparticles Conference: Third place goes to two researchers from ICE-3

Every year Best Poster Awards are presented for the most accomplished poster presentations of the ETH Nanoparticles Conference. Third place this year went to the poster by PhD student Sarah Kirchhoff and Dr. Patrick Weber (both ICE-3) entitled “Insights from over Two Years of DMSO Use as a Working Fluid in Condensation Particle Counters”.

Best Poster Awards 2025 der 28th ETH Nanoparticles Conference: 3. Platz geht an zwei Forschende aus dem ICE-3 — Dr Patrick Weber at the 28th ETH Nanoparticles Conference with the poster on the topic „Insights from over Two Years of DMSO Use as a Working Fluid in Condensation Particle Counters“

Ultrafine particles suspended in the air can pose a risk to human health and industrial processes. Counting ultrafine particles and thus assessing the potential risk is a metrological challenge that is solved, for example, by condensation particle counters. Here, the tiny particles are enlarged and made measurable. Research by PhD student Sarah Kirchhoff and Dr Patrick Weber (both ICE-3) reveals the experiences gained from several years of using a new type of operating material that offers several advantages over previously used materials. These include safer handling and significantly reduced consumption. Dr Weber presented these findings with a poster at the 28th ETH Nanoparticle Conference (NPC) in Zurich end of June.

The NPC is an interdisciplinary and international platform for expert discussions on comprehensive aspects of nanoparticles. Eight members of the organising committee served as jury members of the BPA committee, chaired by O. F. Bischof. The posters were evaluated by the BPA committee in terms of their design, clarity of presentation – both the poster itself and the explanations provided by the presenter – and their scientific content. The committee recognised the work of the researchers from FZJ with one of this year's Best Poster Awards.

The project is supported by, among others, the Innovation Fund of Forschungszentrum Jülich, which also enabled the two researchers to participate in the NPC Conference 2025. The aim was to present the new operating resource for condensation particle counters to an expert audience from industry, legislation and science. The presentation focused on experiences gained during several years of operation and the advantages over conventional operating resources.