Award for his research on the synthesis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and 2D macromolecules for electronic components
06.09.2016
JOINT PRESS RELEASE OF THE MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR POLYMER RESEARCH AND JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITY MAINZ
The emeritus director of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) and current Fellow of the Gutenberg Research College (GRC), Prof. Dr. Klaus Müllen, receives the award of the German Chemical Society (GDCh), endowed with a gold medal and prize money. The Hermann Staudinger Award honors the scientist for his research on the synthesis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and 2D macromolecules for electronic components.
The award ceremony is part of the Biennial Meeting of the GDCh-Division Macromolecular Chemistry in Halle from September 11 - September 13, 2016. As one of the speakers, Müllen gives a talk on this research in the field of graphene nanoribbons. Particularly for energy and semiconductor technologies these carbon ribbons with a diameter of less than 50 nanometers carry great potential. Graphene could be used as material for future generations of semiconductors. Thus, in his emeritus research group "Graphenes", Müllen and his team concentrate on the synthesis of graphene nanoribbons with defined band structures, especially with zigzag edges. These path not only the way toward new applications in electronics, but also in the field of spintronics focusing on the "spin" of electrons.
Decorated with several awards, Müllen was director of the MPI-P from 1989-2016. He received, among others, the Max Planck Research Prize, the Polymer Science Award of the American Chemical Society as well as the Adolph-von-Baeyer-Denkmünze of the GDCh. Müllen is currently a Gutenberg Research Fellow at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and heads the emeritus research group "Graphenes" at the MPI-P. He studied chemistry at Cologne University and completed his PhD degree at the University of Basel. At the ETH Zürich Müllen received his habilitation.