What currently moves us and what kept us busy in the past can be found in the following sections:
Biological degradation of pollutants
- Basic research on biological degradation of environmental pollutants
- Isolation, identification and characterization of bacteria with special abilities to degrade chemicals
- Elucidation of degradation pathways for various hydrocarbons, such as halogenated aromatics, ether compounds, branched alkanes, PAHs
- Investigation of the bacterial degradation of drug residues
- Investigations of pollutant degradation in hypersaline environments
- Investigation of the biochemistry and genetics of key enzymes of degradative systems, such as mono- and dioxygenases
Applied environmental protection: waste air and waste water treatment
- Use of special bacteria in technical plants for the removal of pollutants
- Optimization of biological waste air purification processes
- Development of novel processes and process combinations in environmental technology
- Immobilization of bacteria on different surfaces, e.g. on packing material in waste air purification or on rotating immersion disk in waste water treatment
Biotransformation: Recovery of valuable materials
- Research on the biosynthesis of valuable substances
- Use of biotransformation potentials for the production of compounds that are difficult to manufacture chemically
- Use of renewable and secondary raw materials for the synthesis of fine chemicals