Prof Klaus Müllen bags Felcht Award for Graphene Research

Dr Gerd Wingefeld, a member of the SGL Group Board of Management, said: “We present the Utz-Hellmuth Felcht Award to honor outstanding scientific and technological contributions in the field of carbon and ceramic materials.

"The extremely strong, electrically conductive carbon material, graphene, has immense application potential in computer chip manufacture, as a composite material for energy storage in batteries and fuel cells, and as a catalyst. Professor Müllen and his team have made an important contribution here. The synthesis process developed by him makes it possible for the first time to produce graphene nanoribbons with precisely defined shape and size.”

Graphene is a very good electrical conductor, ultralight, stronger than steel, chemically resistant, and virtually transparent. In 2010, Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on this two-dimensional carbon material. In 2013, the European Commission chose “Graphene” as one of its first large-scale research projects to be funded with up to a billion euros over 10 years under the “Future and Emerging Technologies Flagships” (FET) initiative.

About the Awardee - Professor Dr Klaus Müllen

Klaus Müllen gained his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Basel and received his “habilitation” in 1977 at ETH, Zürich. In 1979 he became a Professor at the University of Cologne, and in 1983 at the Johannes-Gutenberg-University, Mainz. Since 1989, Professor Müllen has been Director of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz.

He has won many awards, including the Max Planck Research Prize (1993), Philip Morris Research Prize (1997), Nozoe Award (2001), Belgian Polymer Group Award (2006), Innovation Award (2008), and Society of Polymer Science Japan International Award.

With over 1500 published articles, numerous patents, and regular presentations at conferences and symposia worldwide, Professor Müllen ensures dissemination of his knowledge and a lively exchange of information and ideas. As President of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (Society of German Chemists) (2008-2009) and through many national and international research projects, he has made an important contribution to the further development of polymer research.

About SGL Group – The Carbon Company

SGL Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of carbon-based products and materials. It has a comprehensive portfolio ranging from carbon and graphite products to carbon fibers and composites. SGL Group’s core competencies are its expertise in high-temperature technology as well as its applications and engineering know-how gained over many years. These competencies enable the Company to make full use of its broad material base.

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