In the current phase of the Rhineland-Palatinate research initiative, process development for the efficient use of sustainable resources is at the center of NanoKat's scientific focus. The research objectives focus on the following areas of work:

a) process technology for raw material change (reactor concepts, separation processes, on-line analytics)

b) Catalysts for raw material conversion (in particular non-toxic metal compounds, biocatalysts)

c) Material flows in raw material conversion (in particular the material use of lignocellulosic biomass)

NanoKat integrates biocatalysis, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis into new process engineering concepts in a sustainable way. The PIs' expertise therefore ideally complements each other.

Another important aspect of NanoKAT is the promotion of young scientists. With nine young scientists in the team so far, NanoKat documents the high value placed on promoting young talent. In recent years, four of the young scientists have been appointed to independent professorships, e.g. in Aachen and Munich, or have taken up management positions in industry. Currently, seven young scientists are conducting research at NanoKAT (35%): Ms. JP Becker, Mr. JP Bundschuh, Mr. JP Jirasek, Mr. JP Kohns, Dr. Münnemann, Dr. Schulz and Dr.-Ing. Strieth.

NanoKat is the only area of potential at the TU Kaiserslautern that integrates natural sciences and engineering, works on an interdisciplinary topic and has created its own degree program for young scientists with Bio- and Chemical Engineering (BCI).

New LASE research building

The new LASE research building will soon go into operation. Members of Nanokat from the fields of chemistry and process engineering will jointly operate the Laboratory for NMR Science and Engineering in LASE. This is a unique project in Germany, which is supported by Nanokat. 

Joint publication (selection)

• S. Shylesh, J. Schweitzer, S. Demeshko, V. Schünemann, S. Ernst, W. R. Thiel: Fabrication of Nanoparticle Supported, Magnetically Recoverable Oxodiperoxo Molybdenum Complexes: Efficient Catalysts for Selective Epoxidation Reactions, Adv. Synth. & Catal. 2009, 351, 1789-1795
• S. Shylesh, J. Schweizer, S. Demeshko, V. Schünemann, S. Ernst, W. R. Thiel: Nanoparticle Supported, Magnetically Recoverable Oxodiperoxo Molybdenum Complexes: Efficient Catalysts for Selective Epoxidation Reactions, Adv. Synthesis & Catalysis 351(11-12), 2009, 1789
• S. Shylesh, V. Schünemann, W. R. Thiel: Magnetically Separable Nanocatalysts: Bridges between Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysis, Angew. Chemie Int. Ed., 2010, 3428-3459
• S. Shylesh, J. Schweizer, R. Ulber, W. Thiel, V. Schünemann: Mössbauer­ spectroscopy on superparamagnetic nanoparticles used as catalyst supports for the production of fine chemicals, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser., 2010, 012024
• K. Muffler, W. Thiel, H. Hasse, R. Ulber: Bio- und Chemieingenieurwissenschaften an der TU Kaiserslautern, Chem. Unserer Zeit 45, 2011, 162
• K. Muller, A. Schubert, T. Jozak, A. Ahrens-Botzong, V. Schünemann, W. R. Thiel: Electronic Effects in the Catalytic Hydrosilylation with In-Situ Iron(II)-Catalysts, Chem. Cat. Chem., 2011,887-892
• H. Huang, R. Christmann, R. Ulber, V. Schünemann, Mössbauer Spectroscopy of Protein-Passivated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles, Hyperfine Inter., 2012, 205, 121
• K. S. M. Salih, P. Mamone, G. Dörr, T. O. Bauer, A. Brodyanski, C. Wagner, M. Kopnarski, S. Ernst, V. Schünemann, R. Klupp Taylor, S. Demeshko, F. Meyer, L. J. Gooßen, W. R.Thiel: A Facile Synthesis of Mono­disperse Maghemite and Ferrite Nanoparticles from Metal Powder and Octanoic Acid, Chem. Mater., 2013, 25, 1430
• J. Marx, H. Huang, I. Faus, S. Rackwitz, J. A. Wolny, K. Schlage, R. Ulber: H.-C. Wille, V. Schünemann, Simultaneous characterization of protein coated ironoxide nanoparticles with nuclear inelastic scattering and atomic force microscopy, Hyperfine Interact, 2013
• A. Scheithauer, A. Brächer, T. Grützner, D. Zollinger, W. R. Thiel, E. von Harbou, H. Hasse: Online 1H-NMR Spectroscopic Study of Reaction Kinetics in Mixtures of Acetaldehyde and Water using a New Micro-Reactor Probe Head, Ind. Engin. Chem. Res. 2014, 53, 17589-17596
• A. Scheithauer, T. Grützner, C. Rijksen, D. Zollinger, E. von Harbou, W. R. Thiel, H. Hasse: NMR Spectroscopic Study of the Aldoxane Formation in Aqueous Acetaldehyde Solutions, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2014,53, 8395-8403
• A. Scheithauer, T. Grützner, C. Rijksen, D. Zollinger, W. R. Thiel, E. von Harbou, H. Hasse: ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR Spectroscopic Study of Chemical Equilibria in the System Acetaldehyde + Water, AIChE J., 2015, 61, 177-187
• J.-Y. Chung, C. Schulz, H. Bauer, Y. Sun, H. Sitzmann, H. Auerbach, A. J. Pierik, V.Schünemann, A. Neuba, W. R. Thiel: Cyclopentadienide Ligand Cp^C– Possessing Intrinsic Helical Chirality and Its Ferrocene Analogues, Organometallics 2015, 34, 5374-5382
• N. Asprion, R. Benfer, S. Blagov, R. Bottcher, M. Bortz, M. Berezhnyi, J. Burger, E. vonHarbou, K.-H. Kufer, H. Hasse: INES - An Interface between Experiments and Simulation to Support the Development of Robust Process Design., Chem. Ing. Tech. 2015, 87, 1810
• M. Bortz, J. Schwientek, K.-H. Kufer, J. Burger, E. von Harbou, H. Hasse, O. Hirth, N. Asprion, S. Blagov: Minimizing the Impact of Uncertain Model Parameters on Process Design, Chem. Ing. Techn. 2015, 87, 1061
• J. Marx, H. Huang, K. S. M. Salih, W. Thiel, V. Schünemann: Spin canting in ferrite nanoparticles, Hyperfine Interactions, 2016, 237: 41
• M. Bortz, J. Burger, E. Forte, E. von Harbou, N. Asprion, H. Hasse: A Pareto- Based Approach to Optimal Design of Experiments, Chem. Ing. Tech. 2016, 88, 1377
• C. Schlegel, J. Chodorski, M. Huster, N. Davoudi, K. Huttenlochner, M. Bohley, I. Reichenbach, S. Buhl, P. Breuninger, C. Müller-Renno, C. Ziegler, J. Aurich, S. Antonyuk, R. Ulber: Analyzing the Influence of Microstructured Surfaces on the Lactic Acid Production of Lactobacillus delbrueckii lactis in a flow-through cell system, Engin. Life Sci., 2017,8, 865-873
• E. Richling, W. Thiel, R. Ulber; Weiterverwertung von pfanzlichen Rohstoffen – grenzüberschreitendes Projekt befasst sich mit Braurückständen; ReSource, 2017, 1, 45
• W. Thiel, R. Ulber: Zentrum für ressourceneffiziente Chemie und Rohstoffwandel an der TU Kaiserslautern; ReSource, 2017, 1, 46
• R. Behrens, E. von Harbou, W. Thiel, W. Böttinger, T. Ingram, G. Sieder, H. Hasse: Monoalkylcarbonate Formation in Methyldiethanolamine–H2O–CO2, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2017, 56, 9006-9015
• M. Bortz, J. Burger, E. von Harbou, M. Klein, J. Schwientek, N. Asprion, R. Bottcher, K.-H. Kufer, H. Hasse: Efficient Approach for Calculating Pareto Boundaries under Uncertainites in Chemical Process Design, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2017,56, 12672
• E. von Harbou, O. Ryll, M. Schrabback, M. Bortz, H. Hasse: Reactive Distillation in a Dividing-Wall Column: Model Development, Simulation, and Error Analysis; Chem. Ing. Techn., 2017, 89, 1315
• A. Fröscher, K. Langenbach, E. von Harbou, W. R. Thiel, H. Hasse: NMR Spectroscopic Study of Chemical Reactions in Mixtures Containing Oleic Acid, Formic Acid, and Formoxystearic Acid, Ind. Engin­. Chem. Res., 2019, 58, 5622
• M. Vafaeezadeh, P. Breuninger, P. Lösch, C. Wilhelm, S. Ernst, S. Antonyuk, W. R. Thiel: Janus interphase organic-inorganic hybrid materials: Novel water-friendly heterogeneous catalysts, ChemCatChem, 2019, 11, 2304
• D. Bauer, B. Andrae, P. Gaß, D. Trenz, S. Becker, S. Kubik: Functionalisable acyclic cucurbiturils, Organic Chemistry Frontiers, 2019, 6, 1555-1560
• E. Forte, F. Jirasek, M. Bortz, J. Burger, J. Vrabec, H. Hasse: Digitalization in Thermodynamics, Chem. Ing. Tech. 2019, 91, 201-214.
• L. M. Mesquita, J. Anhäuser, D. Bellaire, S. Becker, A. Lützen, S. Kubik: Palladium(II)-Mediated Assembly of a M₂L₂ Macrocycle and M₃L₆ Cage from a Cyclopeptide-Derived Ligand, Org. Lett., 2019, 21, 16, 6442-6446
• M. Vafaeezadeh, P. Breuninger, P. Lösch, C. Wilhelm, S. Ernst, S. Antonyuk, W. R. Thiel: A Janus-type heterogeneous phase transfer catalyst for adipic acid synthesis, ChemCatChem, 2020, 12, 10, 122695
• F. Jirasek, R. Alves, J. Damay, R. Vandermeulen, R. Bamler, M. Bortz, S. Mandt, M. Kloft, H. Hasse: Machine Learning in Thermodynamics: Prediction of Activity Coefficients by Matrix Completion, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2020, 11, 981-985.
• E. Kessler, L. Ninni, T. Breug-Nissen, B. Willy, R. Schneider, M. Irfan, J. Rolker, W. R. Thiel, H. Hasse, E. von Harbou: Speciation in CO₂-loaded aqueous solutions of sixteen triacetoneamine-derivates (EvAs) and elucidation of structure-property relationships, Chem. Engin. J., 2021, 229, 115999
• C. Groß, A. Omlor, T. Grimm, B. Oelkers, Y. Sun, V. Schünemann, W. R. Thiel: Iron(II) Complexes Generation of Chiral Tridentate Nitrogen Donorsa zinc and their Application in Catalytic Hydrosilylation Reactions; Zeitschrift fur Anorganische und Allgemeine Chemie, 2020, 646 (13), 968-977
• C. Groß, Y. Sun, T. Jost, T. Grimm, M. P. Klein, G. Niedner-Schatteburg, S. Becker, W.R. Thiel: Generation of a zinc and rhodium containing metallomacrocycle by rearrangement of a six-coordinate precursor complex, Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 368-371
• S. Antonyuk, H.-J. Bart, H. Hasse, M. Ripp, S. Ripperger, R. Ulber; Die Entwicklung der Verfahrenstechnik an der TU Kaiserslautern; Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 2020 92 (8) 1011–1022
• Y. Becker, F. Schön, S. Becker, Y. Sun, W. R. Thiel: Structure-dependent Regio-selectivity of a Roll-Over Cyclopalladation Occuring at 2,2‘-Bipyridine-type Ligands, J. Organometal. Chem., 2021, 940, 121780.
• J. Damay, F. Jirasek, M. Kloft, M. Bortz, H. Hasse: Predicting Activity Coefficients at Infinite Dilution for Varying Temperature by Matrix Completion, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2021, 60, 40, 14564–14578.
• Vafaeezadeh, M., Saynisch, R., Lösch, A., Kleist, W., Thiel, W. R.: Fast and Selective Aqueous-Phase Wacker Oxidation Using a Mesoporous Janus Palladium Catalys, Molecules, 2021, 26, 6450.
• Becker, Y., Huber, M., Becker, S., Sun, Y., Niedner-Schatteburg, G., Thiel, W. R.: A gas-phase study on the cyclometallation of a series of Cp*Ir(III) complexes bearing bidentate pyrimidine ligands, J. Organometal. Chem. 954-955, 2021, 122063.
• Nährig, F., Nunheim, N., Salih, K. S. M., Chung, J.-Y., Gond, D., Sun, Y., Becker, S., Thiel, W. R.: A Novel Cyclopentadienone and its Ruthenium and Iron Tricarbonyl Complexes, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2021, 4832-4841.
• Malchau, C., Milbert, T., Eger, T. R., Fries, D. V., Pape, P. J., Oelkers, B., Sun, Y., Becker, S., Prosenc, M. H., Niedner-Schatteburg, G., Thiel, W. R.: A Cyclometalated NHC Iridium Complex Bearing a Cationic (η5‑Cyclopentadienyl)(η6-phenyl)iron Backbone, Chem. Eur. J. 27, 2021, e202102520.
• Vafaeezadeh, M., Weber, K., Demchenko, A., Lösch, P., Breuninger, P., Lösch, A., Kopnarski, M., Antonyuk, S., Kleist, W., Thiel, W. R.: Janus bifunctional periodic mesoporous organosilica, Chemical Communications, 2022, 58, 112-115.
• Malchau, C., Fries, D. V., Mees, Y., Jakobs, M. F., Sun, Y., Becker, S., Niedner-Schatteburg, G., Thiel, W. R.: Transition metal complexes of NHC ligands functionalized with the cationic (η5-cyclopentadienyl)(η6-phenyl)iron(II) motif, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2022, e202200106.