Funding

N-Heterocyclic Olefins as a Novel Class of Organocatalysts for Polymerizations

DFG PostDoc-Stipend for a one-year-stay at the University of Warwick (UK), in the group of Prof. A. P. Dove (now University of Brimingham). 2014-2015.

Advancing Polymerization Catalysis by Cooperativity: Dual Catalysis as a Tool to Achieve High Performance at Maximum Simplicity

Research project targetting the development of dual catalytic setups (Lewis acid + organobase) for the polymerization of O-heterocyclic monomers (lactones, epoxides, carbonates). 2017-2020.

Highly Polarized Olefins: Enabling Polymerization Catalysts for Homo- and Copolymers Based on “Non-Polymerizable” gamme-Butyrolactone (GBL)

Research project aiming for the usage of GBL, as a renewable and cheap resource, for the preparation of tailored polyesters via homo- and copolymerization.2019-2022.

Carbon Materials with Tailored, Selectively Functionalized Mesopores Using Organocatalytically Derived Polyethers

Novel organocatalysts are employed to synthesize triblock copolyethers in a highly controlled manner.  These copolymers are used as tailored structure-directing agents to control the pore size of ordered mesoporous carbons resulting from a self-assembly process. Variations in the degree of surface hydroxylation will then enable the independent assessment of the parameters “pore size” and “pore wall polarity” for catalysis. 2018-2022

Electrocatalysis under Confinement: CO₂-Reduction with Molecular Catalysts Immobilized on Ordered Mesoporous Carbons

Ordered mesoporous carbon films with pore sizes in the range of 3-18 nm and adjusted wall polarity will be synthesized to design thin film electrodes/gas diffusion electrodes for an optimized electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂. The catalysts are selectively immobilized inside the mesopores via a silylation strategy. Confinement effects and the activity/selectivity of the electrocatalysts will be electrochemically characterized, and full cell measurements will be conducted. An adequate continuum-based reaction-diffusion model for the full electrocatalytic cycle is aspired. In cooperation with Prof. E. Klemm and Prof. C. Holm (both University of Stuttgart). 2022-2026.

Polyester-Based Additives Using Renewable Monomers

This research porjects targets both the development of sustainable catalytic setups as well as the employment of renewable monomer feedstock for the preparation of oligomeric additives. 2022-2023.

Novel Organocatalysts for Large-Scale Polyether Preparation

This project investigates novel organocatalysts for the selective and functional-group tolerant production of polyethers, aiming for large-scale-friendly strategies. 2021-2024.