Research
Research
The rapid growth of plastic production, coupled with low recycling rates, has led to significant plastic waste accumulation. Therefore, there is a need to develop and advance suitable technologies for the conversion of plastic waste streams.
Polyolefins, which account for around 50% of global plastic production, pose significant recycling challenges.1 Conventional methods such as mechanical recycling degrade material properties, while pyrolysis requires high temperatures and lacks selectivity.2
This project is part of the ERC StG project IMPACT and investigates a new recycling approach that involves mechanochemical impact to cleave the polyolefins into shorter-chain hydrocarbons. The use of heterogeneous catalysts enhances selectivity, enabling the efficient conversion of plastic waste into value-added chemicals.
1. Geyer, R. et al. Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Sci.Adv. 3, e1700782 (2017).
2. Hergesell, A. H. et al. Surface-activated mechano-catalysis for ambient conversion of plastic waste. JACS 146, 26139–26147 (2024).
CV
CV
02/2025–present
PhD Candidate at Utrecht University
2022–2024
M.Sc. at Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
Research projects at KIT and POLYMAT, San Sebastian, Spain
2021–2022
Internship at Carl Zeiss GmbH, Oberkochen, Germany
2018–2021
B.Sc. at Heidelberg University, Germany