Award for pioneering technology

Assoc. Prof. Eng. Agnieszka Ruppert from TUL has been awarded the prestigious Polish Intelligent Development Award 2020 in the category Researcher of the Future. The researcher from the Faculty of Chemistry was awarded for developing an efficient and selective catalyst for the process of conversion of biomass to compounds important for environmental protection.  

As Prof. Ruppert explains:

- The process of transformation of waste biomass requires the use of nanomaterials. They act as catalysts and selectively convert biomass to appropriate compounds. We have developed pioneering methods of catalyst synthesis, based on competitively priced base metals. The application of these methods results in materials with high activity, selectivity and stability, which in turn determines the high efficiency of the conversion of waste biomass to the desired reaction product. 

Research appreciated by the Polish Intelligent Development Award is carried out in cooperation with centres in France and Germany. The project Competitive catalysts based on base metals to convert biomass to compounds of important industrial importance received funding from the National Science Centre within the SONATA BIS 6 programme. 

Assoc. Prof. Eng. Agnieszka Ruppert (TUL), completed her postdoctoral placement at the University of Utrecht for five years, and then at the Max-Planck Institute in Mülheim. After returning to Lodz University of Technology, she began researching new catalysts and nanomaterials used in many processes related to environmental protection. She published the results of her research in prestigious scientific journals (e.g. ChemSusChem, Catal. Sci. Technol.). She cooperates with renowned centres abroad, including Shibaura Institute of Technology (Tokyo) and University of California (Los Angeles).