Functional and Sustainable Materials Chemistry
Sustainable materials (Copyright: Alexander Bismarck)
Functional materials are an essential basis of our modern industrial society, with regard to central areas such as energy, environment, mobility, information technology and medicine. The Faculty of Chemistry therefore practices basic and applied research on materials for new, ecologically friendly technologies, on polymers and composites, on metallic, semiconductor, ceramic, thermoelectric and hybrid materials, as well as on catalysts. Special importance is attributed to the production and characterisation of functional structures at the nano and micro levels, and the efficient use of the starting materials for obtaining the desired functional final products, while avoiding waste, minimising the need for energy and using renewable raw materials. For this purpose, manifold synthesising strategies (bottom-up and top-down, catalysed and non-catalysed) and characterisation methods
are applied.
In addition to the aspect of basic research into physical and chemical properties of materials, their potential application is a strong driver of the Faculty’s research activities, which include many of the areas mentioned above, and thus range from innovative and renewable materials to catalysis and molecular identification in diagnostics. Consequently, myriad interrelations with the other key research areas of the Faculty are apparent.