A Career in Catalysis: Robert Schlögl

Abstract

“Why?” is the question that initiates science. “Why?” is also the answer that maintains science. This interrogative adverb fuels the scientific career of Robert Schlögl. Robert is a dedicated solid-state chemist who has found his specialization in untangling the working principles of heterogeneous catalysts under realistic conditions. As such he combines the full complexity of real catalysts with tailor-made operando experiments to overcome pressure, material, and complexity gaps. His ability to quickly abstract the meaning of spectroscopic and microscopic data, his talent to ask the right question paired with curiosity, diligence, and creativity have made him a world-leading expert in heterogeneous catalysis and energy science. His scientific passion is focused on untangling chemical dynamics as well as working principles and understanding the important interplay of geometric and electronic structures in functional materials. Thereby his research interests involve ammonia and methanol synthesis, carbon materials in catalysis, hydrogenation, and dehydrogenation, selective oxidation, and the development of operando setups for microscopy and spectroscopy. He also has a strong commitment to society in scientifically accelerating the energy transition (“Energiewende”) in Europe, where he focuses on CO2 utilization and hydrogen as an energy carrier. This is manifested in three recent large Germany-wide projects: Carbon2Chem, CatLab, and TransHyDe.

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