Binding energy

Marie Wintzer

It’s a timid attraction
at the volcano’s left foot
I swear we had valid chemistry though
But adsorption remains vanilla, tastes alkaline.
Why don’t we just rest in one of those voids
they say only fits a couple of electrons
   if they just dared

Sure, I’d follow the coinage metals uphill
   But will you…

Touch and part
Meet and apart
we never really encounter
As I tie the d-band more soundly
your spell sets it loose
   braid unfasten
   plait unknot

On the other side of the Zenith,
Affinity hunter ridden descent 
to the Thermodynamic Landscape
   I hear energy is free over there

Let go…
savor this sinking nausea, this breath we share
as unsustainable as noble gas crystals
This fervent coalescence (some would call codependence)
So lavish it turns redundant
  Enough away

I know,
We were meant to rest at the top
like Platinum does
Harvesting stray stars and teaching them to fly
Our fingers probing orbitals 
   in perfect equilibrium

not too frail, not too firm
not too feeble
maybe fragile
   Still

The Science

My poem is inspired by Sabatier’s principle, first published in 1913, a year after he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Sabatier principle is still highly relevant today in work which aims at understanding what makes a good electrocatalyst, in the field of sustainable energy in particular. It states that the binding energy between a catalyst and a reactant should neither be too strong, nor too weak. If the interaction is too weak, no reaction will take place. If it is too strong, it will fail to dissociate. Plotting the reaction rate constant versus the binding energy results in a ‘volcano plot’, with the top of the volcano being the sweet spot. The poem explores both sides of the volcano, ascending and descending, and the search for perfect balance, longing for the summit.

This piece is linked by the underlying theme of energy flow to the artwork ‘Volcano’, which is part of the same issue.

The Poet

Marie Wintzer is French and living in Wakoshi, Japan, where she works as a laboratory technician at the Center for Sustainable Resource Center, Riken. Besides writing poems she enjoys painting, playing the recorder, exploring natural dyes and taking care of her fish tanks.

Next poem: Breathing and Burning by Jessamyn Fairfield