Doctoral students from various German universities met at the end of September for the first international summer school on electrosynthesis. The organizer, Prof. Waldvogel, had put together an international team of lecturers. Next to Daniel R. Little (Santa Barbara) and Kevin D. Moeller (St. Louis), Bernardo Frontana-Uribe (Mexico City), Katrin F. Domke and Waldvogel himself (both Mainz) gave lectures for the participants. The three-day program also offered the participants plenty of time to discuss individual questions on electrosynthesis with the experts. In a practical part, all participants were able to gain their first hands-on experience. Thanks to all participants and lecturers for a great time!
On September 14-15, the international elite of electrosynthesis convened in Mainz. About 120 specialists from this emerging branch of chemical research from Japan, USA, Italy, Holland, Switzerland and Germany met for the symposium at the JGU Mainz. Prof. Siegfried R. Waldvogel from the Johannes Gutenberg University has organized this meeting again. The strong participation of representatives of the chemical industry was particularly remarkable. Prof. Waldvogel is pleased:"Until now, electrosynthesis has always been smiled at as a niche topic. Now the users are gradually jumping up to this seminal topic."
In many chemical syntheses, only electrons are added to or removed from molecules. In classical processes, this is done by means of chemicals and reagents, which must be produced for this purpose, but also first of all and often generate toxic waste. In electrosynthesis, this task is directly performed by the electrical current. This makes sustainable, forward-looking and more efficient production methods possible for many chemical products. Prof. Waldvogel notes:"One speaks of the 'electrification' of chemical synthesis and considers the progress to be a disruptive technology development".
Sebastian Beil has achieved the third price at the "Holsteiner Studienpreis" 2015/16. This prize is awarded to students with excellent grades, broad knowledge and activities in sports, cultural or other non-profit organizations. The selection committee comprises professors from Christian-Albrechts University at Kiel and a member of Iuventus Academiae Holsatorum e.V
Sebastian quite recently joined the Waldvogel group coming from Kiel and we are convinced that he definitely derserves this award!
Für das Forschungsprojekt "ELEKTRA" wurde Prof. Waldvogel am 19. Oktober 2013 mit dem Zukunftspreis Pfalz ausgezeichnet. Im Rahmen einer Gala wurde der Preis des Bezirksverbands Pfalz in den Kategorien Literatur, Geschichte und Zukunft verliehen und soll Talente der Region fördern. Der Preis ist mit jeweils 10.000 Euro dotiert.
Die Preisträger 2013 (von links): Sebastian Wille, Torsten Jensen, Bezirkstagsvorsitzender Theo Wieder, Elena Müller, Prof. Dr. Jörg Peltzer, Katharina Buhl, Joachim Geil, Eva Bobe, Prof. Dr. Siegfried R. Waldvogel. Foto: Bezirksverband Pfalz
Gefördert vom Bundesministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz wurde in einem Kooperationsprojekt mit der BASF SE und Condias die Verwertung eines Abfallproduktes der Zellstoffindustrie untersucht. Von Holz als nachwachsendem Rohstoff wird nämlich vor allem der Zellstoff für die Papierherstellung genutzt. Doch was Buche, Eiche und andere Hölzer besonders witterungsbeständig und stabil macht, das sogenannte Lignin, muss abgetrennt und anderweitig verwendet werden. Bislang werden Lignin und die Lignin-Lösung – die Schwarzlauge – einer thermischen Nutzung zugeführt. Jährlich fallen weltweit ca. 70 bis 100 Millionen Tonnen Lignin und Lignin-Lösung an. Dies stellt die größte nachwachsende Aromatenquelle dar und ist folglich zum Verbrennen viel zu wertvoll.
Der Abfall aus diesen Papiermühlen würde von unserem Verfahren teilweise genutzt, um ein attraktives Wertprodukt zu generieren. Des Weiteren könnte die Elektrolyse von Lignin auch zu Zeiten betrieben werden, in denen ein Überhang aus Windenergie besteht, der nicht mehr in die Netze eingespeist werden kann. Dies würde zusätzlich eine effizientere Nutzung von elektrischem Strom ermöglichen.
Über diese Auszeichnung wurde zwischenzeitlich auch von der Zeitschrift Angewandte Chemie berichtet (English Version: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2014, 53, 1739. [DOI: 10.1002/anie.201310885]).
The presentation of recent developments in our electrochemistry projects was our contribution to this years Hannover Messe. Especially our federally co-funded research on green lignin chemistry towards valuable intermediates was again an eye-catcher. Weiterlesen "Waldvogel group at Hannover Messe"
For his diploma thesis “Vanillin by extraction of black liquor and electrochemical degradation of lignin” Dominik Schmitt was awarded with the Fritz Henkel-Award for Chemistry. The Johannes Gutenberg University donates this award in cooperation with the Fritz Henkel foundation to excellent students who achieved over-average results during their studies in combination with an outstanding diploma thesis.
Congratulations to Dominik Schmitt - he was awarded a fellowship by the Deutsche Telekom Stiftung. Last year he was able to pass the two step election process and since January 2013 he is part of the scholarship program. The foundation is one of the big company foundations in Germany focusing on improving the educational level in the natural sciences as well as mathematics, IT- and technical sciences. The support includes besides the financial aspect a very extraordinary mentoring program. Weiterlesen "Support by Deutsche Telekom Stiftung"
Congratulations to Dominik Schmitt, who was awarded with the Metrohm best poster award at the “Electrochemistry 2012” in Munich. The topic of this conference was “Fundamental and Engineering Needs for Sustainable Development”. The poster presentation of his research project “Electrochemical transformation of lignin at different electrode materials” was chosen and awarded out of more than 160 presentations. Weiterlesen "Best poster award at Electrochemistry 2012 in Munich"
