The Division of Sustainable Chemistry awards a prize every two years for the best doctoral thesis in the field of sustainable chemistry. The award comes with a certificate of award and prize money of 2,000 euros. The prize is usually awarded in even years during the Division conference . An expert committee appointed by the Division Board decides on the awarding of the prize. The price can be shared.
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The 2024 PhD Award of the GDCh Division of Sustainable Chemistry was awarded to Dr. Philip Matthew Stanley on 12 September 2024 at the Division 's annual meeting in Mülheim:
in recognition of his dissertation entitled "Solar Fuel Production with Metal-Organic Framework and Molecular Catalyst Assemblies. " "Dr. Stanley's dissertation combines materials chemistry with sustainable energy generation and the underlying photophysical chemistry. He focused on the rational design of novel metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and explored their potential for future applications in artificial photosynthesis. One milestone was the increase in photon yield from light to 36%. In addition, he was the first to report on long-lasting electron storage from light in three-dimensional porous materials.
These are significant steps toward solar fuel production and milestones for sustainable chemistry."
The 2022 PhD Award of the GDCh Division of Sustainable Chemistry, sponsored by Evonik, was awarded to Dr. Joel B. Mensah and Dr. Ruth D. Rittinghaus on December 1, 2022, on the occasion of the "Sustainable Chemistry Online Symposium 2022".
Dr. Joel B. Mensah: awarded in recognition of his dissertation entitled "Chemo-Catalytic and Electrochemical Deoxygenation of Bio-Derivable 3-Hydroxydecanoic Acid - Production of Drop-In Fuels and Fine Chemicals". " Dr. Mensah's doctorate demonstrates in a special way the interdisciplinary development of new value chains for sustainable fuels and fine chemicals based on biomass. The focus was on the conversion of biotechnologically efficiently accessible 3-hydroxy fatty acid esters (HAAs). Mr. Mensah succeeded in demonstrating both an efficient chemocatalytic and a direct electrochemical process to selectively produce either pure hydrocarbons, secondary alcohols or an oxygenate mixture starting from 3-HDS. The work impressively builds a bridge from biotechnology via chemo- and electrocatalysis to internal combustion engines along the entire value chain."
Dr. Ruth Rittinghaus: awarded in recognition of her dissertation entitled "Iron Guanidine Complexes as Polymerization Catalysts for ROP and ATRP". " Dr. Rittinghaus's dissertation focused on biocompatible catalysts for the ring-opening polymerization of renewable lactones to produce bioplastics. She not only succeeded in beating the previous industrial, toxic standard in terms of polymerization speed. Dr. Rittinghaus also demonstrated very successfully through copolymerization experiments that her iron-guanidine catalysts both catalyze multimechanistic polymerizations and precisely control the microarchitecture of the resulting copolymers. She thus shows that intelligent catalyst design opens up completely new avenues for sustainable polymer chemistry and will enable new fields of application for tailor-made bioplastics. She has already published four publications in high-ranking journals as first author."
The 2020 PhD Award of the GDCh Division of Sustainable Chemistry, sponsored by Evonik, was awarded to Dr. Kelechukwu N. Onwukamike and Dr. Steffen Tröger-Müller.
Dr. Kelechukwu N. Onwukamike: "In appreciation of his dissertation entitled “Sustainable Cellulose Solubilization, Regeneration and Derivatization in a DBU-CO2 Switchable Solvent System”. Dr. Onwukamike investigated the modification of renewable raw materials in his thesis. By using switchable ionic liquids, he achieved a homogeneous modification of cellulose for the first time. He was able to render solubilization of the cellulose much more sustainable, and he obtained novel materials with promising properties. Dr. Onwukamike's thesis is characterized by excellent science and convinces due to high degrees of diversity and interdisciplinarity. His work is clearly oriented towards sustainable chemistry. Dr. Onwukamike also succeeded in publishing five articles in high-ranking journals as the first author during his doctoral period. The thesis work was conducted in the framework of a European Horizon 2020 project, mainly in the working group of Prof. Dr. MAR Meier at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, but also at the University of Bordeaux."
Dr. Steffen Tröger-Müller: "In recognition of his dissertation entitled "Truly Sustainable Imidazolium Ionics." Dr. Tröger-Müller focused on the development of sustainable energy storage systems. He succeeded in synthesizing imidazolium compounds from environmentally friendly starting materials and testing their applicability, for example, in membranes. Dr. Tröger-Müller not only addressed the scientific and technical facets of sustainability. Rather, he also included the social dimension, building a bridge from chemistry as a science to the major societal task of bringing our lifestyle into harmony with planetary boundaries. Within the astonishingly short period of two and a half years of completing his doctorate, he has already published four articles in high-ranking journals as first author. The dissertation was working group in Dr. Clemens Liedel at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Golm."
| 2024 | Dr. Philip Matthew Stanley, Munich |
| 2022 |
Dr. Joel B. Mensah, Aachen Dr. Ruth D. Rittinghaus, Aachen |
| 2020 |
Dr. Kelechukwu N. Onwukamike, Karlsruhe/Bordeaux Dr. Steffen Tröger-Müller, Golm |
| 2018 | Dr. Thomas Seidensticker, Dortmund |
| 2016 | Dr. Johannes Huwer, Saarbrücken |
| 2014 | Dr. Josef C. Meier, Düsseldorf |
| 2012 | Dr. Hatice Mutlu, Karlsruhe |
During the GDCh Science Forum Chemistry 2019, the Wöhler Award for sustainable chemistry of the GDCh was presented to Prof. Dr. Dieter Vogt.
Photo (from left to right): R. Palkovits, D. Vogt, M. Urmann
(Photo: GDCh / Christian Augustin, Hamburg)
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last modified: 26.03.2025 06:34 H from M.Fries
