Sustainability

The synthesis of new compounds and materials using chemical processes is closely linked to the availability of raw materials and to energetic aspects. Chemistry inherently deals with the concept of sustainability because of its responsibility for the efficient use of existing resources. In our own research, we try to achieve this by complying with the rules of sustainable chemistry. An explanation of these rules can be found here.
Our research includes sustainability-oriented topics such as the development of self-healing materials that enable products to have a longer service life. In the area of resource-saving encapsulation materials for optoelectronic applications, we are working on replacing rare earths in LEDs with rare earth-free organic phosphors. By investigating structure-activity relationships, we are developing materials that crosslink without platinum-containing catalysts and efficiently protect the organic phosphors against the harmful effects of light and oxygen. In addition, we use mechanochemical methods that produce compounds using less energy and largely without solvents, thus offering a resource-saving synthesis approach. Another focus of our research is the use of continuous processes for the production of particle suspensions. This approach makes it possible to reduce energy consumption during chemical synthesis and at the same time optimize the processes for large-scale industrial scaling.