The German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) is sponsoring around Euro 1.5 million for a joint research project of BASF, Heidelberg University, LMU Munich and Hte GmbH.
The aim of the project, in which the Catalysis Research Laboratory (CaRLa) jointly operated by Heidelberg University and BASF SE will be involved, is to develop catalyst systems allowing the selective hydrogenation of carbon dioxide (CO2) to formaldehyde.
Formaldehyde is an important basic chemical used mainly for … .
Read More From The Source
About Catalysis Research Laboratory
Catalysis represents the most important general technology of industrial chemistry. More than 80 percent of all chemical products come into contact with catalysts at least once during their synthesis. High-performance catalysts have huge environmental and economic benefits. They help to significantly reduce the feedstock needs and energy consumption used for chemical processes while producing fewer by-products and waste; they open up new, more cost-effective ways of manufacturing established products and they enable an efficient manufacturing of new products. One focus is projects related to raw material change for the production of organic chemicals but also the development of new concepts in catalysis and organic synthesis.
In May 2006, BASF and the University of Heidelberg set up our new joint laboratory devoted to homogeneous catalysis, CaRLa. The laboratory was funded by both partners and by the Federal Government of Baden-Württemberg. On the university side, scientific management was provided by Prof. Peter Hofmann until October 2014, followed by Prof. Oliver Trapp (until July 2016). BASF researchers – initially Dr. Christoph Jaekel followed by Dr. Michael Limbach – provided industrial input. At present, scientific management is the hands of Prof. A. Stephen K. Hashmi and Dr. Thomas Schaub, who manages daily work at the lab.
In contrast to classical industry-academia partnerships, the concept of this lab relies on bringing academic and industrial researchers as closely as possible together in one laboratory, fostering technology transfer from basic research to potential industrial applications. Currently at least 8 postdocs are working together on various projects in the area of transition metal based homogeneous catalysis, two of them are funded by the university, six and a senior BASF researcher as managing head of the laboratory are financed by BASF. The team is also support by a lab technician and a co-worker (PhD-student) from the quantum chemical group of the BASF.
The laboratory’s proximity to the facilities of the Chemistry Department of the University of Heidelberg, as well as to BASF’s global Research Verbund with its Ludwigshafen based Research Headquarters offers ideal conditions for outstanding catalysis research and for a swift transfer of technology from fundamental academic research to product innovation in industry.
