Research
Research at the TMC Institute focuses on the synthesis and characterization of polymers and polymer materials, as well as polymerization technology.
This includes the synthesis, processing and characterization of monomers and polymer materials up to a kg scale. Typical polymers are polyolefins, polyurethanes, polyesters, polycarbonates or polyethers. The research focuses on catalytic polymerization, the optimization of process control, the development of new reactor concepts, for example the spray polymerization process, and the processing of materials using extrusion, injection molding or 3D printing. Other research areas include the use of bio-based and bio-inspired polymers, as well as plastic recycling. The mechanical, thermal and rheological testing enables us to set up a material profile.
Highlights include:
1) Polymerization in disperse phase, development of coatings with defined permeability, design of continuous polymerization processes, safety of chemical reactions, online process analysis, process control and process modeling, kinetic studies on processes and material systems;
2) In-situ polymerization of olefins for nanocomposite production, polymerization and copolymerization of propylene oxide and butadiene, testing and processing of thermoplastics, rheological analysis of gels and melts, scale-up and provision of samples on a kg scale;
3) Bio-based and bio-inspired polymers, molecular recognition, application in the pharmaceutical and medical fields.
You can find detailed information on our research areas on the websites of the individual research groups of our institute.