DECHEMA Prize for Andreas J. Vorholt, MPI CEC Mülheim

The use of renewable raw materials can replace fossil raw materials or even produce completely new products. Andreas J. Vorholt conducts research with a view to industrial applications and develops processes that are transferred from the laboratory scale to continuously operated miniplants. His research into multiphase catalysis lies at the interface between catalysis, chemical reaction engineering and process intensification. With his working group, he is developing solutions for catalytic processes for energy storage in single or multiphase systems. One focus is on new tandem reactions that offer new synthesis routes by creatively linking technical reactions. For example, long-chain alcohols that can be used as diesel fuels can be produced by combining homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Andreas J. Vorholt's research work also focusses on liquid-solid two-phase systems. Water plays a major role here as a green and favourable solvent. In addition, he and his working group are researching new solvent systems such as reactive ionic liquids or designing solvents for the conversion of biogenic materials.

Andreas J. Vorholt studied chemistry at TU Dortmund University. He holds a master's degree in economics and a doctorate in technical chemistry from the Faculty of Biological and Chemical Engineering. After completing his doctorate in 2011, he worked for a year as an industrial consultant in process optimisation in various industries. From 2013 to 2017 he habilitated at the Institute of Technical Chemistry at TU Dortmund University. He has held teaching positions at RWTH Aachen University and TU Dortmund University and has headed the Multiphase Catalysis working group in the Department of Molecular Catalysis at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Mülheim an der Ruhr since 2018. Since 2019, he has also co-led the West German Catalysis Teaching Network and is involved in the promotion of young scientists at a supra-regional level. His work on the conversion of fatty substances was awarded the H.P. Kaufmann Prize by the German Society for Fatty Sciences in 2016, in 2017 he received the Carl-Zerbe Prize from the DGMK Deutsche Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Erdöl, Erdgas und Kohle e.V. and the DECHEMA University Teacher Award for Young Scientists, and in 2018 his work was honoured with the Jochen Block Prize from the German Catalysis Society.

The award, which is endowed with 20,000 euros, will be presented at a ceremony on 15 June 2023 <https://dechema.de/en/Events/2023/DECH_Prize_2022.html> in Mülheim überreicht.

Press release of the "idw - Informationsdienst Wissenschaft" from 03 May 2023