TUM and Clariant renew research partnership on sustainable chemistry and catalysis

10/26/2023
Reading time 1 min.

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the chemical concern Clariant will continue their successful partnership of ten years in the area of catalysis research. TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann and Clariant Catalysts Head of Research and Development Marvin Estenfelder signed a corresponding agreement in Munich extending the Munich Catalysis Alliance (MuniCat) until 2033. The partners will jointly develop even more efficient and more sustainable catalysts for the chemical industry.

(from left) Dr. Christian Gückel, Vice President Strategy & Marketing Clariant Catalysis, Prof. Gerhard Kramer, TUM Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation, TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann, Dr. Richard Haldimann, Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer Clariant, Dr. Marvin Estenfelder, Head of Research and Development Clariant Catalysis.

TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann said: "The strategic partnership with Clariant is a true success story. Our focus will now include new developments for sustainable chemistry and their transfer to industrial practice. The partnership thus makes an important contribution to our TUM Sustainable Futures Strategy 2030, which will make TUM a formative force in sustainable transformation."

Clariant's head of research and development for catalysis, Marvin Estenfelder, said: "Over the years the partnership between Clariant and TUM has paved the way for many milestones, not only in the area of research and development on catalysis, but also in shaping a more sustainable future for the chemical industry. The partnership has turned out to be highly symbiotic, since we have access to the latest research methods and technologies developed at the university, while the young TUM researchers benefit from our many years of experience in industry and application. We are thus very happy to extend this productive partnership for another ten years."

The importance of catalysts

Catalysts play a crucial role in chemical reactions, accelerating them and making them more energy-efficient. Catalysts are also important in the environmentally friendly treatment of toxic chemicals. Typical examples are catalytic cracking of raw fossil materials to produce commodity chemicals as well as the transition to renewable resources and their catalytic conversion to the desired chemical products.

The research alliance MuniCat is an integral part of the TUM Catalysis Research Center at the Garching campus. Working at the Center as part of an Industry on Campus concept, researchers from TUM and Clariant jointly investigate important questions in fundamental research and application research. The TUM instance in charge of MuniCat is Prof. Kai-Olaf Martin Hinrichsen's Professorship of Technical Chemistry I.

Further information and links

Technical University of Munich

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Contacts to this article:

Prof. Kai-Olaf Martin Hinrichsen
Professorship of Technical Chemistry I
Technical University of Munich
Tel: (089) 289 13511
E-Mail: office.tc1spam prevention@ch.tum.de
https://www.ch.nat.tum.de/tc1/startseite/