Professor Robert Schlögl, Berlin, Germany, was awarded the Alwin Mittasch Prize 2015. The award recognizes his extensive contributions to the characterization of heterogeneous catalysts and their preparation for industrial applications with which he succeeded in bridging the gap between model-catalysis and complex technical catalysis. His works provide a fundamentally new understanding of catalytically active materials which makes a more effective development of catalysts for industrial use possible.
This international award comes with EUR 10,000 in prize money. It is sponsored by BASF SE and awarded every three years by DECHEMA and the German Society for Catalysis (GeCatS). The prize was awarded at the 48. Jahrestreffen Deutscher Katalytiker (Annual Meeting of German Catalysis Researchers) in Weimar.
Robert Schlögl, born in Munich, Germany, studied chemistry at Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, and obtained his Ph.D. there in 1982. After post-doctoral positions at the Universities of Cambridge, UK, and Basel, Switzerland, and Fritz Haber Institute, Berlin, Germany, he started his habilitation at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. He became Full Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Frankfurt, Germany. In 1994, he was appointed director and Scientific Member at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society. In 2011, he became the founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry.
Schlögl received numerous prizes and awards. He was awarded the DECHEMA Plaque in Titanium, the Otto Bayer Prize and the Schunk Prize for innovative materials. He is also a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and a honorary professor at the Technical University and Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Duisburg-Essen, both Germany.
Selected publications by Schlögl:
- The Electronic Factor in Alkane Oxidation Catalysis,
Maik Eichelbaum, Michael Hävecker, Christian Heine, Anna Maria Wernbacher, Frank Rosowski, Annette Trunschke, Robert Schlögl,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201410632 - Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Molybdenum Carbide and Nitride as Catalysts for Ammonia Decomposition,
Weiqing Zheng, Thomas P. Cotter, Payam Kaghazchi, Timo Jacob, Benjamin Frank, Klaus Schlichte, Wei Zhang, Dang Sheng Su, Ferdi Schüth, Robert Schlögl,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 3458–3464.
DOI: 10.1021/ja309734u - The Role of the Oxide Component in the Development of Copper Composite Catalysts for Methanol Synthesis,
Stefan Zander, Edward L. Kunkes, Manfred E. Schuster, Julia Schumann, Gisela Weinberg, Detre Teschner, Nikolas Jacobsen, Robert Schlögl, Malte Behrens,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 6536–6540.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201301419 - Carbon-Supported Gold Nanocatalysts: Shape Effect in the Selective Glycerol Oxidation,
Di Wang, Alberto Villa, Dangsheng Su, Laura Prati, Robert Schlögl,
ChemCatChem 2013, 5, 2717–2723.
DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201200535 - The Role of Defects in the Local Reaction Kinetics of CO Oxidation on Low-Index Pd Surfaces,
D. Vogel, C. Spiel, M. Schmid, M. Stöger-Pollach, R. Schlögl, Y. Suchorski, G. Rupprechter,
J. Phys. Chem. C 2013, 117, 12054–12060.
DOI: 10.1021/jp312510d
