Speakers
Bio
Saiful is Professor of Materials Modelling at the University of Oxford. He grew up in London and obtained his Chemistry degree and PhD from University College London. He then worked at the Eastman Kodak Labs in New York, and the Universities of Surrey and Bath. His research focuses on understanding and developing new materials for lithium and sodium batteries, solid-state batteries and perovskite solar cells. Saiful has received several awards including the 2022 Royal Society Hughes Medal for energy research, 2020 ACS Award in Energy Chemistry and 2017 RSC Award in Materials Chemistry. He presented the 2016 BBC Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on the theme of energy which included a lemon battery world record. He is a Patron of Humanists UK, and when not exploring energy materials, he enjoys family breaks (as a dad of two), films and indie music.
Bio
Sebastian Hasenstab-Riedel is a professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Freie Universität Berlin. Since 2019, he has been the spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center 1349 "Fluorine-Specific Interactions." In 2020, he received an ERC Consolidator Grant. In 2021, he was appointed Einstein Professor by the Einstein Foundation Berlin. In addition to several previous awards, he recently received the prestigious Christel and Herbert W. Roesky Prize from the German Chemical Society (GDCh). He is a member of the board of the Wöhler Association for Inorganic Chemistry and speaker of the Working Group of German Fluorine Chemists. In the broadest sense, his research focuses on halogen chemistry.
Abstract
From lab oddities to technical applications: The chemistry of halogensand their compounds
Novel super acids offer the possibility of synthesizing hitherto unknown compounds. Based on such Lewis and Brønsted acids, we have succeeded in synthesizing and characterizing so far unknown halonium ions, which are ideal alkylation reagents due to their high reactivity. Furthermore it was shown, that e.g. chloronium ions can be stabilized by polychloride monoanions such as [Cl3]–.
Especially such polychloride anions offer new possibilities which are not only of academic interest. The value of trichlorides for chlorine storage and chlorination reactions is only one aspect in this context. Particularly, the inexpensive ionic liquid [NEt3Me][Cl3] shows a similar and sometimes even advantageous reactivity compared to chlorine gas, while offering a superior safety profile. In addition, this chemistry not only opens up the possibility of new applications such as hydrochlorination or urban mining, but also offers new possibilities for electricity storage or for regulating the stability of the electricity grid.
Bio
Fikile is a full professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he holds the Chevron Chair. Before joining the Institute, he obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and performed postdoctoral work at Argonne National Laboratory. His research group seeks to advance the science and engineering of electrochemical systems that enable a sustainable global economy. He is especially interested in the fundamental processes that define the performance, cost, and lifetime of present-day and future electrochemical technologies. His group currently works on topics related to sustainable power delivery, resource management, and environmental stewardship.
Fikile has received several recognitions for his research, teaching, and service including the AIChE Allan P. Colburn Award, the ECS Charles W. Tobias Young Investigator Award, the NOBCChE Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Investigator Award, and the MIT ChemE C. Michael Mohr Outstanding Faculty Award. He also recently completed a sabbatical stay at the Technical University of Munich working with Professor Jennifer Rupp. Outside of work, Fikile enjoys spending time with family, exploring the great outdoors, and playing soccer.
Bio
Lena J. Daumann, born 1983 in Emmendingen, Germany, studied chemistry at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and received her Ph.D. in bioinorganic chemistry from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, in 2013. After postdoctoral positions at Berkeley, USA, and Heidelberg, she accepted a professorship in Bioinorganic and Coordination Chemistry at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU), Munich, Germany, in 2016. Since October 2023, she has been Professor of Bioinorganic Chemistry at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (HHU), Germany.
Lena’s research focuses on the role of lanthanide elements in bacteria. In addition, she develops sustainable, bio-inspired separation and recycling methods for this group of elements. She is involved in several collaborative research projects funded by the German Research Foundation.
Among other awards, Lena has received the Ars Legendi Prize for Chemistry and the Bavarian Prize for Excellence in Teaching. In 2020, she received a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).
Abstract
Lanthanide-dependent Bacteria and their Biomolecules for Recycling Applications
In the past decade, the role of Ln for many bacteria has been firmly established, and bacterial strains that take up Ln and use them in the active sites of quinone-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases have been extensively studied. Our studies with the strictly lanthanide-dependent extremophile Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum SolV demonstrate, that the trivalent actinides americium and curium can also support growth in the absence of the essential lanthanides. The interchangeability of f-block elements is supported by very similar enzymatic activities of recombinant methanol dehydrogenase reconstituted with different metal ions. Our combined in vivo and in vitro results establish that actinides support growth of methylotrophic bacteria.
This talk will further cover possibilities for lanthanide and actinide separation methods using bacteria and their biomolecules. Specifically, we present SolV as a platform for the recovery of lanthanides from different sources. Strain SolV can efficiently extract the early Ln such as La and Nd from artificial industrial waste sources, natural Ln-containing and post-mining waters.
Bio
Viktoria Däschlein-Gessner's research group focuses on the development of new reagents and homogeneous catalysts. The connecting element in her research are functionalized carbanionic compounds. Through clever molecular design, these are to be used to achieve properties and reactivities that are not accessible using conventional methods. The focus is often on fundamental, curiosity-driven questions and the isolation of compounds with unusual binding characteristics. However, the overarching goal is to transfer the knowledge gained into practical applications, such as the creation of new reagents, particularly using small molecules such as CO, H₂ or CO₂ as sustainable building blocks or the development of efficient and sustainable catalysts. One area of specialization is the development of phosphanes for transition metal catalysts, including the platform of the YPhos ligands, some of which are commercially available.
In addition to its broad expertise in synthetic chemistry, including the handling and isolation of highly reactive compounds, the Gessner group applies quantum chemical studies and machine learning methods to elucidate reaction mechanisms and structure-activity relationships and to optimize catalysts in a targeted manner.
Bio
Jeff Dahn received his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1982. Dahn worked at Moli Energy (85-90) where he did pioneering work on lithium-ion batteries. He has worked on lithium and lithium-ion batteries for 45 years.
Dahn was appointed as the NSERC/3M Canada Industrial Research Chair in Materials for Advanced Batteries at Dalhousie University in 1996, a position he held until 2016. In 2016, Dahn began a research partnership with Tesla as the NSERC/Tesla Canada Industrial Research Chair which will continue until 2026.
Dahn has been recognized by numerous awards, including a Governor General’s Innovation Award (2016) and the Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal in Science and Engineering (2017), Canada’s top science prize. He is the only person to have been awarded both awards thus far. Dahn is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Bio
Dr. Guido Schroer holds a PhD in polymer chemistry and currently works at the Chair of Technical Chemistry and Petrochemistry at RWTH Aachen University. In addition to his academic career, he is co-founder and future CEO of Power2Polymers, a spin-off of RWTH Aachen University, specializing in the development of sustainable polymer products. The venture offers environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional lubricants, adhesives and sealants. In April 2024, Power2Polymers won third place in the Rice Business Plan Competition in Texas, first place in the From-Lab-To-Market Challenge of chemstars.NRW in summer 2024 and first place in the Hightech.NRW Accelerator Program in November 2024. Dr. Schroer combines his scientific expertise with practical experience from his work as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group.
Abstract
The talk will focus on the development of Power2Polymers, an innovative start-up project specializing in sustainable polymer products. In addition to the path to the start-up project, the focus will also be on the differences between research at RWTH Aachen University and practical application in industry. A central aspect of the lecture is overcoming the challenges in the transition from scientific research to the start-up project. It will emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration between academia and industry and the importance of the right team and network. It will also show how entrepreneurial experience - for example through work in consulting - can help to make sustainable solutions marketable. Finally, successes such as winning the From-Lab-To-Market Challenge and the project's future plans are presented.