Lars Borchardt heads the Mechanochemistry Research Group at Ruhr University Bochum.
ERC-Starting-Grant-Borchardt
RUB, Kramer
ERC Starting Grant 2020
Chemistry in Grinding Jars
Solvents make up a large percentage of the waste generated by the chemical industry. In the MECHANOCAT project, Lars Borchardt shows how this can be completely dispensed with.
Typically, chemical reactions are carried out in solvents, which then have to be separated from the desired product, producing a lot of waste. Lars Borchardt’s team wants to get away from solvents: the researchers rely solely on mechanical energy. To this end, they use ball mills in which grinding balls collide like marbles, thus initiating chemical reactions. This eliminates waste and harbours potential for previously unknown reactions and products.
The project "Using milling balls as catalysts – Understanding the novel concept of direct mechanocatalysis" starts in 2020.
ERC Grant Projects