Thorsten Bartels-Rausch studied chemistry in Würzburg, Trondheim, and ETH Zürich and holds a PhD from the Universtiy of Berne. Curiosity drives his research toward fundamental understanding of ice and snow chemistry in laboratory studies, employing and advancing state-of-the-art surface spectroscopy techniques at PSI’s synchrotron facility (SLS), alongside modelling work. This topic is timely, as it addresses key environmental issues, such as winter haze in densely populated regions of Asia and the Arctic. The focus lies on the interfacial physical chemistry of ice and on the fate and chemistry of nanometer-sized aerosol deposits in snow. Beyond its environmental relevance, the understudied chemistry in the cold shows fascinating deviations from textbook knowledge that address fundamental chemistry topics of general interest, such as interfacial acid-base chemistry, chemical systems with low liquid water content, and the hydrogen bonding network at the air-ice and air-water interface.
