Nachhaltige Bausteine für die Kunststoff‐Herstellung

Plant oils are currently the principle resource for the production of bio‐based, high performance polymers, such as polyamides. This process is facilitated by giant strides in chemical catalysis and biotechnology, which allows conversion of vegetable oils in “drop‐in” chemical building blocks. These bio‐based polymer building blocks have equivalent chemical and physical properties as well as similar cost structures compared to conventional petrochemical synthesis feedstock. This allows integration of bio‐based resources into industrial production processes without significant adaptations in logistics or process configuration. However, only use of synergies between chemical and biotechnological unit operations will in future provide for sustainable and eco‐efficient process designs. To allow sustainable supply of bio‐oils to a growing chemical industry without a significant impact on food production demands development of alternative bio‐oil sourcing strategies. In this respect the development of processes for the production of microbial oils, which have equivalent chemical properties to their plant counterparts is imperative. One leading option is the biotechnological conversion of agricultural and food waste streams into microbial oils by combining enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentative production using oleaginous organisms, such as yeasts.     

Inexpensive Hole‐Transporting Materials Derived from Tröger's Base Afford Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

The synthesis of three enamine hole‐transporting materials (HTMs) based on Tröger's base scaffold are reported. These compounds are obtained in a three‐step facile synthesis from commercially available materials without the need of expensive catalysts, inert conditions or time‐consuming purification steps. The best performing material, HTM3, demonstrated 18.62 % PCE in PSCs, rivaling spiro‐OMeTAD in efficiency, and showing markedly superior long‐term stability in non‐encapsulated devices. In dopant‐free PSCs, HTM3 outperformed spiro‐OMeTAD by a factror of 1.6. The high glass‐transition temperature (T_g=176 °C) of HTM3 also suggests promising perspectives in device applications.     

Highly Conductive Anion‐Exchange Membranes from Microporous Tröger's Base Polymers

The development of polymeric anion‐exchange membranes (AEMs) combining high ion conductivity and long‐term stability is a major challenge for materials chemistry. AEMs with regularly distributed fixed cationic groups, based on the formation of microporous polymers containing the V‐shape rigid Tröger's base units, are reported for the first time. Despite their simple preparation, which involves only two synthetic steps using commercially available precursors, the polymers provide AEMs with exceptional hydroxide conductivity at relatively low ion‐exchange capacity, as well as a high swelling resistance and chemical stability. An unprecedented hydroxide conductivity of 164.4 mS cm^?1 is obtained at a relatively a low ion‐exchange capacity of 0.82 mmol g^?1 under optimal operating conditions. The exceptional anion conductivity appears related to the intrinsic microporosity of the charged polymer matrix, which facilitates rapid anion transport.