2006-2014
History:
The Institute of Silicon Chemistry at the TU Munich was founded by Wacker Chemie AG at the end of 2006 to investigate and open up new work fields and applications in silicon-organic chemistry (press release). The first Ph.D. students started their work in July 2007 and with the official opening of the Institute’s own laboratory tract in the middle of 2008, the scholarship holders are working under optimal conditions.
Working environment:
The laboratory area of 500 sqm is located in the TU’s chemistry building and contains state-of-the-art work places with associated offices and analytic areas. Apart from individually customized laboratory equipment, the researchers have a number of modern technical instruments available. Several analytical methods for the characterization of silicon compounds can be employed, beside an NMR machine with a silicon probe head, also IR, in situ-IR, UV-Vis, GC, GC-MS, ESI-MS, HPLC, cyclovoltammetry, optical polarization microscopy etc. A variety of instruments can be used for the analysis of polymeric compounds, including different SEC set ups (also high temperature SEC and triple detection), static light scattering, high temperature HPLC, DSC, TGA-MS and viscosimetry. The Institute of silicon chemistry also owns a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to determine surface properties of electrically conducting materials. In addition a high resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM) is available. This instrument allows the imaging and analysis of detailed surface structures. The attached STEM detector reveals a view to the inner structures.
Research topics:
The Institute of Silicon Chemistry is led by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Bernhard Rieger who also holds the WACKER-Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry. Ph.D. students from many different specializations work together in an interdisciplinary fashion. Apart from polymer chemists the Institute houses organic, inorganic, theoretical, technical and biochemists. One focus of research is the synthesis of organo-functional silicon compounds and silicon containing polymers like silicones, polysilanes, polycarbosilanes, silicon-containing ionic liquids and silane-modified polyolefins. Emphasis also lies on researching catalytic systems for optimizing hydrosilylation, one of the industrially most important reactions to form Si-C bonds. Other fields of interest are chemical interactions during coating of surfaces, hybrid and composite systems, silicon based nanotechnology and materials with completely new property combinations. Support is available for interdisciplinary projects bordering on physics, biotechnology, pharmacy and material science. More details information
Frontiers in Silicon Chemistry 2011 – 1st Munich Forum on Functional Materials
awardies 2006-2014
Contact:
WACKER-Lehrstuhl für Makromolekulare Chemie - Institut für Siliciumchemie * Prof. Dr. Bernhard Rieger *
Technische Universität München * Lichtenbergstraße 4 * 85747 Garching bei München *
phone: 089-289-13571 * email: rieger@tum.de