Fanny Hiebel

Postdoctoral Researcher
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Friend Research Group Harvard University Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences 12 Oxford Street, M018 Cambridge, MA 02138
617 495 3331
fhiebel@fas.harvard.edu

Fanny obtained a French-German double degree in physics from Grenoble INP and KIT and earned her doctorate in physics at the Néel Institute (CNRS)/Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France.
In the Friend group, she is conducting model system studies on Au(110) in order to gain fundamental knowledge on the mechanisms behind the catalytic oxidation activity of working catalysts such as nanoporous gold. In a single crystal, the structural complexity is reduced and scanning tunnelling microscopy can be used. This technique yields atomically-resolved images of the reactants, products and intermediates on the surface for a specific reaction. Importantly, it can reveal interactions between adsorbates and their ordering, which then affects their reactivity and stability on the surface. Moreover, elucidating the adsorption geometry and eventual adsorbate-induced reconstruction of the surface is essential information for first-principle studies.