Speakers
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Bio
Klaus Kümmerer is professor of Sustainable Chemistry and Material Resources at the public Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany) He was also Director of the Research and Education Hub of the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3) in Bonn. He studied chemistry at Universities of Würzburg and Tübingen, where he too earned his PhD, was then head of the chemistry department of the Institute of Applied Ecology in Freiburg (Germany), and joined 2 years later University Hospital of Freiburg as a senior researcher becoming later on associate professor and started his work on pharmaceuticals in the environment.
His research and teaching are focused on Green Chemistry, Sustainable Chemistry, Green Pharmacy, Sustainable Pharmacy and Material Resources. He demonstrated successfully that chemicals and even active pharmaceutical ingredients can be designed from the very beginning fulfilling needed pharmaceutical properties and at the same time environmentally degrading after excretion by patients (“benign by design”). In the next step he expanded the already existing approach of sustainable chemistry to allow chemistry and its product to contribute in a sustainable manner to sustainable development goals.
Klaus is founding editor (2016) and editor-in-chief of several journals and he organized and chaired many national and international conferences. Klaus Kümmerer serves and served in national and international committees. Recently, he was appointed by the European Commission as member of the European Commission’s High-Level Roundtable on the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.
In 2022 he was ranked 13th out of a total of 104,983 scientists worldwide in the field of environmental sciences according to the Stanford University Ranking, 1st place in Germany. He received several national and international awards for his interdisciplinary work, for example the prestigious Wöhler Award for Sustainable Chemistry by Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) in 2023. In 2024 he has been decorated with the Verdienstkreuz am Bande der Bundesrepublik Deutschland („Bundesverdienstkreuz“, Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Feral Republic of Germany), the highest recognition in Germany for service to society awarded by the President of Germany.
Abstract
From Green Chemistry to Sustainable Chemistry
Chemistry is indispensable for a high standard of living and health but has historically caused environmental pollution. Early industrial efforts for pollution prevention emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. By the 1990s, various approaches led to legislation and were summarized in the 12 principles of Green Chemistry (GC) in 1998. Circular economy was introduced in the 1980s, and circular chemistry followed in 2019 to address pollution and resource scarcity. However, limitations of these concepts have been noted, and many products—such as personal care products, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and detergents—cannot be recycled. Instead, they must be designed for complete and fast mineralization (GC Principle #10, “benign by design”) to align with sustainability goals. Chemical products must therefore be designed for circularity before synthesis. Additionally, reducing substance, material, and product flows in size, dynamics, and complexity is crucial. This has led to Sustainable Chemistry (SC), which prioritizes service and function, considers non-material alternatives, and integrates systems thinking, ethics, and social aspects throughout product life cycles. In essence, “benign by design” must be applied across SC, CE, and GC in research, education, and industry to ensure chemistry’s sustainable contribution to global challenges.
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.
Abstract
From Lithium Batteries to Perovskite Solar Cells: Atomic-Scale Insights into Energy Materials
Further breakthroughs in lithium-ion batteries and perovskite solar cells require advances in new materials and underpinning science. Indeed, greater understanding and insights into these energy-related materials require atomic-scale characterization of their structural, transport and redox behaviour. In this context, combined modelling-experimental work is now a powerful approach for investigating these properties at the atomistic level. This presentation will describe such studies in two principal areas of energy materials: (i) ion conduction and redox mechanisms in lithium battery materials; (ii) transport and passivation effects in halide perovskites for solar cells.
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.
Abstract
Advancing Redox Flow Batteries for Stationary Energy Storage
Electrochemical energy storage has emerged as a critical technology to enable sustainable electricity generation by alleviating intermittency from renewable sources, reducing transmission congestion, enhancing grid resiliency, and decoupling generation from demand. Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are rechargeable electrochemical devices that store energy via the reduction and oxidation of soluble active species, which are housed in external tanks and pumped through a power-generating reactor. As compared to enclosed batteries (e.g., lithium-ion), RFBs offer a potentially attractive alternative due to separate power and energy scaling, long service life, and simplified manufacturing, but have not yet achieved broad adoption because of high system prices.
Recent research has focused on the discovery and development of new chemistries and device components with an overarching goal of improving battery performance and reducing cost. While many of these emerging concepts are exciting, at present new materials are typically considered in isolation rather than as part of a battery system. Understanding the critical relationships between material properties and overall battery price is key to enabling systematic improvements in RFBs. In this presentation, I will discuss general design principles for economically-viable RFBs realized through a combination of techno-economic modeling, reactor optimization, and materials analysis. This approach emphasizes the fundamental differences in cost reduction strategies for distinct RFBs, specifies design criteria for future materials, and highlights new opportunities for the energy storage community.
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
Joost Reek is full professor (chair supramolecular catalysis) since 2006, and distinguished faculty professor since 2017 at the University of Amsterdam. He is co-founder (and currently scientific director) of InCatT (innovative catalyst technologies), a spin-off company that was launched in 2009, and since 2016 he is the scientific director of NIOK. In 2013 he was elected as a new member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW), and in 2015 he was elected member of the KNAW (Royal Dutch academy of sciences). With more then 400 scientific papers published on different topics, mostly related to catalysis, he has reached a H-index of 80. He has given many invited lectures including the Troisième cycle (Switserland, 2007), the DSM-lecture at the ICOMC (Rennes, 2008) the Erdtman Lecture in 2009, the molecular science frontier lecture of ICCAS (Chinese academy of science) in 2018, the IFOC lectureship award (Japan 2018), JSPS lecture fellowship (Japan 2018) and the Earl Muetterties Lecturer at Berkeley (USA, 2019). He received multiple personal grants including the ERC Advanced grant and an ERC synergy grant.
The research performed in the past 25 years is broadly centered around homogenous catalysis and supramolecular chemistry. We develop new catalytic processes based on 1) rational ligand design in transition metal catalysis 2) Supramolecular catalysis 3) Bio-inspired catalysis. We study crucial aspects of catalysis, including activity, selectivity, stability and recycle-ability of the catalyst. In the past 15 years, part of the research has been focused on solar to fuel devices based on molecular components. In this context, we developed new catalyst for water oxidation and proton reduction, and we can drive these uphill reactions using light as the energy source by combining them with the proper chromophores. More recently, we are also exploring the use of some of our supramolecular concepts, including cages, for catalysis in and gene delivery to living cells.
Abstract
“Connecting the wheels in catalysis”
Supramolecular approaches in transition metal catalysis
The interface between supramolecular chemistry and transition metal catalysis has received surprisingly little attention in contrast to the individual disciplines. It provides, however, novel and elegant strategies that lead to new tools for the search of effective catalysts, and as such this has been an important research theme in our laboratories. In this context we have intensively explored the use of well defined nanospheres that form by self-assembly in transition metal catalysis. These nanospheres create catalysts (and substrates) at high local concentration, just like in enzymes, higher reaction rates are observed for several reactions that operate via binuclear mechanism. Also, they provide new tools to control catalytic events in complex media, showing substrate selective catalysis, effector controlled catalysis and catalysis with feed back loops. More recently we have translated the chemistry from the typical organic solvents to aqueous media and biorelevant conditions. This allows to use these nanostructure for new functions as gene delivery and nonnatural catalytic conversions in living cells. In this presentation I will give an overview of these concepts and zoom into some of the systems.
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.
Abstract
Ylides in Catalyst Design and the Transformation of Sustainable Building Blocks
Since their discovery over 100 years ago, ylides have evolved into versatile reagents in organic synthesis. Their α-metalated counterparts, known as yldiides, also quickly garnered research interest due to their strong nucleophilicity and potential as powerful building blocks. However, their high reactivity posed significant challenges, limiting their selective applications for a long time.
In recent years, our group has successfully isolated a series of α-metalated ylides and demonstrated their wide-ranging utility in synthetic chemistry. This presentation will highlight their use in the synthesis of the ligands platform of ylide-functionalized phosphines (YPhos), which exhibit exceptional donor properties ideal for applications in homogeneous catalysis. Their facile synthesis and structural modularity enable efficient transformations, particularly in palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. Additionally, we will discuss the unique ability of α-metalated ylides to undergo ligand exchange reactions at the carbon center via phosphine displacement. This unprecedented behavior has opened new avenues for developing versatile reagents such as ketenyl anions, diazomethanides or keteniminyl anions by leveraging small molecules such as carbon monoxide or nitrous oxide as building blocks.
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.
Abstract
The Role of Energy Storage in the War on Climate Change
Energy storage is needed to completely replace fossil fuels with renewables like solar and wind, since these sources are variable. There are “good” and “bad” ways to store energy, as I will discuss, and these can be weeded out using the principles of simple undergraduate physics and chemistry. One of the good ways is electrical energy storage using batteries, It is estimated that a fleet of about 250 Terawatt hours of batteries will ultimately need to be deployed and to minimize manufacturing and recycling, the lifetime of these batteries needs to be “as long as possible”. How long is “as long as possible” anyway? That is what I will discuss in the latter part of the lecture.
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.
Bio
As an engineer for renewable energies, Maike Lambarth is passionate about developing technology to drive our future. As a second-time founder, she knows both the challenges and potentials of a startup and the beauty of working for passion. As CEO and co-founder of Cyclize she enables the circular economy of carbon by replacing natural gas for the chemical industry, using mixed plastic waste and CO2.
Abstract
What if plastic waste could replace natural gas?
Cyclize utilizes existing carbon sources, such as plastic waste and CO2, to produce drop-in syngas - a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen - with the aid of a novel plasma reactor. This novel technology replaces natural gas.
As feedstock Cyclize can recycle carbon atoms from mixed plastic waste, that’s disqualified for other recycling technologies. Their innovative technology mitigates plastic pollution and reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with conventional syngas production methods.
Cyclize paves the way for a cleaner and more resource-efficient chemical industry, contributing to a circular economy model of carbon that prioritizes sustainability and resilience.
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