Sustainability
Sustainability is a central guiding principle at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf in research, teaching, academic programs, and operations.
Chemistry bridges the molecular world to the great challenges of our time. At the Department of Chemistry, sustainability is one core driver of day-to-day teaching and research.
In the chemistry of sustainable materials, we develop next-generation luminescent materials both with rare earths and equally competitive, more abundant alternatives for energy-efficient lighting, medical imaging, and sensing. With a focus on renewable raw materials and (bio)degradability, we develop new polymers, biopolymer hybrids, and corresponding nanomaterials and we investigate the influence of mechanical force in polymer mechanochemistry. Our supramolecular and crystal engineering groups create self-organising architectures that encode function into structure, precision without waste.
Light is both a subject and a tool in our research. Harnessing sunlight as an energy source is one of Chemistry's most promising contributions to a more resource-conserving world. We engineer inorganic and organic emitters that convert and emit light with exceptional efficiency (See graduate school TUTOR). We develop asymmetric and photocatalytic synthesis routes as greener alternatives to classical reagent-intensive synthesis. Our bacterial photobiotechnology groups use light-controlled gene expression and photosynthetic and phototrophic bacteria to develop new, sustainable biotechnological processes. And our femtosecond spectroscopy and computational photodynamics groups probe the fastest light-driven events in chemistry and biology for a much more fundamental understanding. High-resolution electronic spectroscopic techniques provide information complementary to time resolved spectroscopy about excited molecular states. Complementing these experimental approaches, our theoretical chemistry section develops methodologies and software infrastructure for hybrid quantum/classical dynamics simulations of light-driven processes, enabling future design capacity. Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy and super-resolution microscopy directly map the heterogeneity of molecular properties and their chemical exchange.
Our holistic approach spans small molecules, proteins, and cells. Catalytic processes and methodologies as well as their concatenation play a key role in shaping the future of functional materials with molecular chemical principles. We illuminate the chemistry of metals in biology, from iron-sulfur clusters that fix nitrogen to lanthanide-dependent proteins that inspire new approaches to rare earth recycling. We engineer multistep enzyme cascades for (bio)polymer modification, enzyme cascades for the selective, biobased synthesis of fine chemicals and natural products, embedded in regional bioeconomy networks (NRW-Strategieprojekt BioSC). We develop microbial cell factories for sustainable production of secondary metabolites. We investigate the membrane proteins that build drought-protective barriers in crops, directly relevant to food security under climate change and unravel molecular mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance. Our structural and computational (bio)chemistry groups provide the molecular foundations from membrane biogenesis and lipidomics to photo-switchable molecular motors, dynamic integrative structural biology and computer-aided design of biomolecules.
The research of multiple groups addresses CO₂, its reduction, capture, conversion, and storage. Within the ACCeSS consortium, we are developing circular approaches that turn atmospheric CO₂ into valuable chemicals, and that transform wastewater treatment from a CO₂ source into a CO₂ sink. Besides, our researchers engineer key (metallo)enzymes of the global carbon and nitrogen cycles, utilize porous materials for CO2 separation and storage and recruit bacteria to recover rare earth elements critical for the energy transition. They model reaction networks relevant to atmospheric molecules and radicals using machine learning and AI-driven approaches.
These research questions are supported by the excellent infrastructures of the Center for Molecular and Structural Analytics (NMR Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry), the Center for Structural Studies (X-ray crystallography, Small angle x-ray scattering, TEM and Cryo-EM, Molecular modelling) and the Center for Advanced Imaging (fluorescence imaging). Embedded in a vibrant community of students across Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Business Chemistry, as well as close ties to the Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Department of Chemistry at HHU is a place where research from the fundamental pillars to real-case applications reinforce each other. We are aware that chemistry carries a social responsibility: our department engages publicly and explicitly with the chemistry of the climate crisis and is highly active in a number of outreach initiatives.
The fundamentals of sustainability in chemistry are explicitly addressed in various modules of the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. More advanced aspects of sustainability, such as green chemistry, are implicitly covered in many introductory modules.
Chemical Registry
The Department of Chemistry at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf operates the DaMaRIS chemical inventory. This system is also used by many research groups and units outside the Department of Chemistry and, through its integrated chemical exchange platform, facilitates the easy exchange of chemicals between institutes. In the spirit of sustainability, this conserves resources and prevents waste.
Electronic Laboratory Notebook
In the spirit of sustainable research data management, the Department of Chemistry at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf operates the ELN (Electronic Laboratory Notebook) Chemotion. It is widely used beyond the Department of Chemistry.