Chemical and Biological Engineering

Research at the Department is broad in scope, ranging from pure chemistry via biotechnology and applied chemistry to chemical engineering. The teaching staff numbers around 80, of which 18 are professors and 8 associate professors. There are around 180 Ph D students, of which around 30 are industrial graduate students, employed by a company or a research institute. The Department participates in four so-called Competence Centres, supported either by Vinnova or the Swedish Energy Agency. The Department consists of 12 divisions.

 

Pure Chemistry

Within pure chemistry there is a long tradition of strong research in physical chemistry with a focus on spectroscopy. Preparative organic chemistry, inorganic coordination chemistry, nuclear chemistry, and analytical chemistry directed towards detection of trace amounts of organic substances in complex matrices are other areas within the field of pure chemistry where the Department has active research groups.

 

Biotechnology

Within the field of biotechnology yeast research is an important area. These activities comprise fundamental physiological studies as well as applied research aiming at novel or improved fermentation procedures. Membrane protein research is another important area and the Department’s research group is an integral part of a large programme with participating groups also from Göteborg University and Lund University. The boundaries between biotechnology and nanotechnology and between biotechnology and chemical engineering are research areas where groups at the Department are active. The Department also has a research group within food science with a focus on nutritional aspects. Much of this research relates to “Functional Foods”.

 

Applied Chemistry

Polymer technology, surface chemistry, and materials chemistry are areas where the Department has active research groups. These activities can be classified as applied chemistry. The polymer chemistry research concerns physical-chemical and mechanical properties of polymeric materials, in particular polyethylene, and solution properties of biopolymers, in particular hemicellulose. Research on conducting polymers is carried out in collaboration with scientists at Linköping University. The research in surface chemistry relates to both wet surface chemistry, mainly based on the solution behaviour of amphiphilic substances in bulk and at interfaces, and dry surface chemistry, mainly comprising heterogeneous catalysis. The latter has a strong emphasis on emission control catalysis. In recent years pharmaceutical technology has been established at the Department. The activities in materials chemistry have focus on high temperature corrosion and on nanotechnology.

 

Chemical engineering

There is a long tradition of chemical engineering research at Chalmers and the Department maintains strong activities in this field. This research comprises areas such as catalysis, transport phenomena, filtration and other unit processes, and process analytical technology. The Department has a growing activity within environmental-related process technology and much of this research is conducted in close collaboration with energy-related research at other departments at Chalmers.

 

Head of department: Krister Holmberg