Applied Electrochemistry

(Server of the Division)

Field

It would be impossible to imagine our industrial society without electrochemistry and its applications. Its main areas are:

• Electrolysis
• Electrosynthesis
• Environmental technology, purification and separation of substances
• Electrochemical energy technology
• Surface technology
• Micro- and nanotechnology
• Corrosion protection
• Electrochemical analysis and sensors

Electrochemistry was originally a fundamental science, concerned with all processes involving the passage of electric charges (electrons or ions) at phase boundaries and with the transport of ions in homogeneous phases. Combining electrochemistry with chemical engineering , which even today is often based on emperical knoweldge, the gap between theoretical science and industrial enengineering is closed by applied electrochemistry like a bridge between science and industry.

Development and future of the group

When the group was founded in 1960, its spheres of interest and action were limited and the number of members small. However, the dynamics of interdisciplinary fields soon proved to be a stimulus: the group was increasingly required, and willing, to take on additional tasks. In addition to the original emphasis on electrolysis and energy technology, now high-tech areas, new systems and material problems were taken on as well. The then growing number of members (today around 400) reflected the response in all fields of science and technology. The group has set itself  the comprehensive promotion of applied electrochemistry as its main objective.

Activities
Annual conference and publications

The annual conference is traditionally held at the end of September and the beginning of October. The theme of each conference is chosen to ensure that significant areas are dealt with at regular intervals. Presentations from industry and universities, as well as visits to plants, provide all participants with a scientifically and socially integrated programme. An evening reception and a social evening give both old and new members from the field of electrochemistry the opportunity to meet and discuss informally. The scientific presentions of th annual conferences are published as monographs which provide a representative picture of the work of this scientific community.

Contacts with related fields

Vital to electrochemistry, as to other fields, is contact with other disciplines. The group therefore also organizes conferences in cooperation with the German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry (DBG), the German Society for Galvanotechnics and Surface Treatment (DGO) and the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE).

Promotion of young talents and further training

A particularly important, forward-looking aspect of the group is to promote young talents. The group offers grants for students to participate in the annual conference, careers advice advice and service, and incentives for scientific work by granting an annual research award.

In order to provide training for established chemists, the group initiates and holds information days for teachers and advanced training courses for industrial chemists in cooperation with scientific institutes.

Research planning and support

The group is concerned with  aspects of research planning. It offers advice concerning German and EU research programmes and supports personnel and organizational developments in the field of electrochemistry. It is in close relationship with research initiatives such as those of the Working Committee of Electrochemical Research Institutions (AGEF).

National and international links

The group was founded in the Federal Republic of Germany and has its focus in the German-language area. However, active involvement by electrochemists from neighbouring countries is a tradition we encourage. Good relations are maintained with the International Society of Electrochemistry.
 
Board

Chair

Co-Chair

Dr. Klaus-Michael Mangold, DECHEMA e.V., Frankfurt/M
E-Mail: mangold@dechema.de

Members

Dr. Andreas Fischer, BASF Aktiengesellschaft, Ludwigshafen
E-Mail: andreas.fischer@basf.com

Dr. Dirk Hoormann, Uhde GmbH, Dortmund
E-Mail: dirk.hoormann@thyssenkrupp.com

Dr. Klaus-Michael Mangold, DECHEMA e.V., Frankfurt/M
E-Mail: mangold@dechema.de

Dr. Manfred Waidhas, Siemens AG, Erlangen
E-Mail: manfred.waidhas@siemens.com

Dr. Rainer Weber, Bayer MaterialScience AG, Leverkusen
E-Mail: rainer.weber@bayermaterialscience.com

Prof. Dr. Martin Winter, Technische Universität Graz
E-Mail: martin.winter@tugraz.at

Dr. Margret Wohlfahrt-Mehrens, Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung, Ulm
E-Mail: margret.wohlfahrt-mehrens@zsw-bw.de

Contact to the GDCh Main Office

Ulrike Bechler
Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker
Postfach 90 04 40
60444 Frankfurt M.

Phone: 069/7917-363
Fax: 069/7917-1363
E-Mail: u.bechler@gdch.de

How to become a member? click here

Prof. Dr. Angelika HEINZEL, Universität Duisburg
E-Mail: a.heinzel@uni-duisburg.de