Anna Mechler Appointed as Professor of Electrochemical Reaction Engineering
RWTH Aachen University has appointed Dr. Anna Mechler to the newly established Chair of Electrochemical Reaction Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. The new professorship was made possible by a major donation from Covestro Deutschland AG.
In light of Germany’s transition to green energy technologies and a sustainable use of raw materials, there is a great need for innovation in the field of industrial electrochemistry. As part of the electrification of the chemical industry, renewable energies must be expanded in order to establish CO2-neutral value chains. Such processes require a complex interaction of catalyst materials with their reaction environment. A key challenge is to transfer promising process concepts to application on an industrial scale.
The Chair of Electrochemical Reaction Engineering is positioned at the interface between application-oriented fundamental and process research. The scientists seek to achieve a better understanding of electrocatalysts under technically relevant reaction conditions with the aim of optimizing catalyst materials for technical applications.
Strengthening the Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance
The new department serves as a bridge between the research activities at RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich, thus strengthening the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance JARA. By integrating it into the Competence Centre for Industrial Electrochemistry ELECTRA, the collaboration between both institutions can be further enhanced.
A generous donation from Covestro Deutschland AG makes it possible to finance the professorship at RWTH for five years. Subsequently the Chair may be established permanently at Forschungszentrum Jülich.
Mechler studied Applied Science and Material Sciences at the universities of Wuppertal and Osnabrück. She obtained her doctorate from the Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung in Düsseldorf and Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) and subsequently headed a working group for electrocatalysis at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Mülheim an der Ruhr.