Presse-Information

Willi Keim Prize for an Outstanding Young Chemist

The Willi Keim Prize is being awarded to Dr. Ulrich Hintermair, University of Bath / United Kingdom, for his original and creative contributions to the design of catalytic systems based on molecular complexes in alternative fluids and solid matrices. The biennial Willi Keim Prize is awarded to younger scientists for fundamental and original research work in the field of advanced fluids, and comes with a prize money of 2,000 Euros. The award ceremony will take place on 16^th October 2016 during the Green Solvents Conference in Kiel / Germany. Since its foundation, the "Green Solvents" biennial conference series has been established as a unique platform for the discussion of scientific progress and industrial implementation of advanced fluids in chemical synthesis and processes. The 8^th edition is traditionally organized by Dechema - Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, which brings together experts from a wide range of disciplines, institutions and generations to stimulate scientific exchange in chemical engineering, process engineering and biotechnology.

Homogeneous catalysis is undoubtedly one of the most powerful tools for chemical synthesis and a key technology for addressing future challenges related to sustainable chemicals production and clean energy. Separation of the product from the catalyst without destroying either one of them is often difficult in practice, leading to engineering barriers to larger scale applications in many cases. Ulrich Hintermair has made major contributions to tuneable multiphasic systems based on thin ionic liquid films adsorbed on porous support materials in contact with near- or supercritical fluids, which enable complex catalytic reactions to take place with in-built product separation at mild temperatures. These systems work continuously and show great promise for a variety of applications.

Born in 1981, Ulrich Hintermair studied chemistry at Julius-Maximilians Universität Würzburg / Germany, and continued with studies of chemical engineering and master studies in Inorganic Chemistry and Materials Science at École Supérieure de Chimie, Physique et Életronique de Lyon, at Université Claude Bernard I and École Normale Supérieure de Lyon / France. In 2007 he graduated as Dipl.-Chem. (Universität Würzburg), Ingénieur Chimiste (ES CPE Lyon) and M.Sc. (UCBL). In 2010 he obtained his doctorate with distinction at RWTH Aachen / Germany. After postdoctoral research at Yale University / USA as Humboldt Fellow, in 2013 he started his independent career as Whorrod Resarch Fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies at the University of Bath / UK.

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