ACalNet 2.0

   

The international exchange program ACalNet 2.0 builds on the existing network ACalNet, a program supported by the DAAD from 2013 to 2018. Within this network, between the RWTH Aachen University and Californian partner universities (UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara und UC Los Angeles) as well as other renowned research institutes (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Forschungszentrum Jülich, CAT Catalytic Center, and Schlumberger Doll Research), project-related lump-sums are awarded to doctoral students of RWTH Aachen University from medical, technical or scientific disciplines, within the framework of ACalNet 2.0, to support a research stay at one of the renowned Californian partner institutions. New research groups are always very welcome.

Under the patronage of the speaker Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Regina Palkovits (Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University), ACalNet 2.0 aims to further consolidate the excellent transatlantic collaboration and initiate new cooperative projects between German and Californian partners.

The continuation model is based on close cooperation between the International Office of RWTH Aachen University, the Center for Molecular Transformations and the Profile Area - Energy, Chemical & Process Engineering (ECPE).

 

History of the ACalNet network

The Aachen-California Network (ACalNet) was founded in 2013 to promote scientific exchange and to build an international research network. The first four-year funding period was supported by the DAAD program "Strategic Partnerships and Thematic Networks", the funding was provided by the BMBF. Follow-up funding for two years by the DAAD enabled the continuation until 2018, during this time ACalNet supported the mutual exchange between German and Californian partners (RWTH Aachen, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC Los Angeles, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Forschungszentrum Jülich, CAT Catalytic Center, and Schlumberger Doll Research). Funding was provided during this period for students, doctoral candidates, and teachers from the natural and engineering sciences and medicine. From 2017 to 2019, the American IRES program: Training Next Generation Researchers in Advanced Magnetic Resonance at Chemistry Interfaces supported research stays of Californian PhD students at the RWTH Aachen University.

Today, the successful network can look back on a remarkable history of success and international attention. It has grown dynamically in recent years and has been able to expand its professional horizon without losing its thematic focus. It has provided outstanding scholarship holders with a valuable opportunity to supplement their personal profile in terms of an excellent education by a stay abroad and to establish academic contacts at the renowned partner institutes. The high quality and productivity of the exchange are reflected in an impressive and growing list of joint publications of the network partners [1-30].

 

Publications

1. M. Krödel, B.M. Carter, D. Rall, J. Lohaus, M. Wessling, and D.J. Miller (2020) "Rational Design of Ion Exchange Membrane Material Properties Limits the Crossover of CO₂ Reduction Products in Artificial Photosynthesis Devices", ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12(10): p. 12030-12042.
   [DOI:10.1021/acsami.9b21415]

2. V.J. Witherspoon, R. Mercado, E. Braun, A. Mace, J. Bachman, J.R. Long, B. Blümich, B. Smit, and J.A. Reimer (2019) "Combined Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Molecular Dynamics Study of Methane Adsorption in M₂(dobdc) Metal–Organic Frameworks", The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 123(19): p. 12286-12295.
   [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b01733 ]

3. S.C. Nies, R. Dinger, Y. Chen, G.G. Wordofa, M. Kristensen, K. Schneider, J. Büchs, C.J. Petzold, J.D. Keasling, L.M. Blank, and B.E. Ebert (2019) "The metabolic response of Pseudomonas taiwanensis to NADH dehydrogenase deficiency", bioRxiv: p. 624536.
   [DOI: 10.1101/624536]

4. A. Kätelhön, R. Meys, S. Deutz, S. Suh, and A. Bardow (2019) "Climate change mitigation potential of carbon capture and utilization in the chemical industry", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(23): p. 11187-11194.
   [DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1821029116 ]

5. J.A. Frumkin, L. Fleitmann, and M.F. Doherty (2019) "Ultimate Reaction Selectivity Limits for Intensified Reactor–Separators", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 58(15): p. 6042-6048.
   [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.8b04143 ]
6. Blaine M. Carter, L. Keller, M. Wessling, and D.J. Miller (2019) "Preparation and characterization of crosslinked poly(vinylimidazolium) anion exchange membranes for artificial photosynthesis", Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 7(41): p. 23818-23829.
   [DOI: 10.1039/c9ta00498j ]
7. A.V. Bayles, C.S. Valentine, T. Überrück, S.P.O. Danielsen, S. Han, M.E. Helgeson, and T.M. Squires (2019) "Anomalous Solute Diffusivity in Ionic Liquids: Label-Free Visualization and Physical Origins", Physical Review X, 9(1): p. 011048.
   [DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.9.011048 ]
8. D.A. Barskiy, M.C.D. Tayler, I. Marco-Rius, J. Kurhanewicz, D.B. Vigneron, S. Cikrikci, A. Aydogdu, M. Reh, A.N. Pravdivtsev, J.-B. Hövener, J.W. Blanchard, T. Wu, D. Budker, and A. Pines (2019) "Zero-field nuclear magnetic resonance of chemically exchanging systems", Nature Communications, 10(1): p. 3002.
   [DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10787-9]
9. B.J. Archer, T. Uberruck, J.J. Mack, K. Youssef, N.N. Jarenwattananon, D. Rall, D. Wypysek, M. Wiese, B. Blumich, M. Wessling, M.L. Iruela-Arispe, and L.S. Bouchard (2019) "Noninvasive Quantification of Cell Density in Three-Dimensional Gels by MRI", IEEE Trans Biomed Eng, 66(3): p. 821-830.
   [DOI: 10.1109/tbme.2018.2857443]
10. T. Überrück, O. Neudert, K.-D. Kreuer, B. Blümich, J. Granwehr, S. Stapf, and S. Han (2018) "Effect of nitroxide spin probes on the transport properties of Nafion membranes", Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 20(41): p. 26660-26674.
    [DOI: 10.1039/C8CP04607G ]
11. D. Koumoulis, M. Kupers, R. Touzani, Y. Zhang, B.P.T. Fokwa, and L.S. Bouchard (2018) "Cr₃ Triangles induced competing magnetic interactions in the new metal boride TiCrIr₂B₂: An NMR and DFT study", Materials Research Bulletin, 100: p. 91-96.
    [DOI: 10.1016/j.materresbull.2017.12.011]
12. A.C. Forse, M.I. Gonzalez, R.L. Siegelman, V.J. Witherspoon, S. Jawahery, R. Mercado, P.J. Milner, J.D. Martell, B. Smit, B. Blümich, J.R. Long, and J.A. Reimer (2018) "Unexpected Diffusion Anisotropy of Carbon Dioxide in the Metal–Organic Framework Zn₂(dobpdc)", Journal of the American Chemical Society, 140(5): p. 1663-1673.
    [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b09453 ]
13. A.C. Forse, S.A. Altobelli, S. Benders, M.S. Conradi, and J.A. Reimer (2018) "Revisiting Anisotropic Diffusion of Carbon Dioxide in the Metal–Organic Framework Zn₂(dobpdc)", The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 122(27): p. 15344-15351.
    [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b02843 ]
14. F. Bünning, M. Wetter, M. Fuchs, and D. Müller (2018) "Bidirectional low temperature district energy systems with agent-based control: Performance comparison and operation optimization", Applied Energy, 209: p. 502-515.
    [DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.10.072]
15. S. Biswas, K. Kubota, M. Orlandi, M. Turberg, D.H. Miles, M.S. Sigman, and F.D. Toste (2018) "Enantioselective Synthesis of N,S-Acetals by an Oxidative Pummerer-Type Transformation using Phase-Transfer Catalysis", Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 57(2): p. 589-593.
    [DOI: 10.1002/anie.201711277 ]
16. J.A. Barrett, Z.R. Jones, C. Stickelmaier, N. Schopp, and P.C. Ford (2018) "A Pinch of Salt Improves n-Butanol Selectivity in the Guerbet Condensation of Ethanol over Cu-Doped Mg/Al Oxides", ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 6(11): p. 15119-15126.
    [DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b03589 ]
17. C. Szczuka, M. Drake, and J.A. Reimer (2017) "Effects of laser-induced heating on nitrogen-vacancy centers and single-nitrogen defects in diamond", Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 50(39): p. 395307.
    [DOI: 10.1088/1361-6463/aa83f4 ]
18. T.F. Sjolander, M.C.D. Tayler, A. Kentner, D. Budker, and A. Pines (2017) "¹³C-Decoupled J-Coupling Spectroscopy Using Two-Dimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance at Zero-Field", The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 8(7): p. 1512-1516.
    [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b00349 ]
19. L. Qi, R. Alamillo, W.A. Elliott, A. Andersen, D.W. Hoyt, E.D. Walter, K.S. Han, N.M. Washton, R.M. Rioux, J.A. Dumesic, and S.L. Scott (2017) "Operando Solid-State NMR Observation of Solvent-Mediated Adsorption-Reaction of Carbohydrates in Zeolites", ACS Catalysis, 7(5): p. 3489-3500.
    [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.7b01045 ]
20. S. Hohloch, J.R. Pankhurst, E.E. Jaekel, B.F. Parker, D.J. Lussier, M.E. Garner, C.H. Booth, J.B. Love, and J. Arnold (2017) "Benzoquinonoid-bridged dinuclear actinide complexes", Dalton Transactions, 46(35): p. 11615-11625.
    [DOI: 10.1039/C7DT02728A ]
21. M. Soorholtz, L.C. Jones, D. Samuelis, C. Weidenthaler, R.J. White, M.-M. Titirici, D.A. Cullen, T. Zimmermann, M. Antonietti, J. Maier, R. Palkovits, B.F. Chmelka, and F. Schüth (2016) "Local Platinum Environments in a Solid Analogue of the Molecular Periana Catalyst", ACS Catalysis, 6(4): p. 2332-2340.
    [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.5b02305 ]
22. A.J. Parker, W. Zia, C.W. Rehorn, and B. Blumich (2016) "Shimming Halbach magnets utilizing genetic algorithms to profit from material imperfections", J Magn Reson, 265: p. 83-89.
    [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2016.01.014 ]
23. W.W. Lukens, M. Speldrich, P. Yang, T.J. Duignan, J. Autschbach, and P. Kögerler (2016) "The roles of 4f- and 5f-orbitals in bonding: a magnetochemical, crystal field, density functional theory, and multi-reference wavefunction study", Dalton Transactions, 45(28): p. 11508-11521.
    [DOI: 10.1039/C6DT00634E ]
24. D. Koumoulis, J.P. Scheifers, R. St. Touzani, B.P.T. Fokwa, and L.-S. Bouchard (2016) "Direct Chemical Fine-Tuning of Electronic Properties in Sc₂Ir_6−xPd_xB", ChemPhysChem, 17(19): p. 2972-2976.
    [DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201600512 ]
25. D. Koumoulis, J.P. Scheifers, R. St. Touzani, B.P.T. Fokwa, and L.-S. Bouchard (2016) "Pseudogap formation and vacancy ordering in the new perovskite boride Zr₂Ir₆B", Acta Materialia, 120: p. 32-39.
    [DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2016.08.031]
26. A. Kätelhön, A. Bardow, and S. Suh (2016) "Stochastic Technology Choice Model for Consequential Life Cycle Assessment", Environmental Science & Technology, 50(23): p. 12575-12583.
    [DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b04270 ]
27. A. Grinberg Dana, O. Elishav, A. Bardow, G.E. Shter, and G.S. Grader (2016) "Nitrogen-Based Fuels: A Power-to-Fuel-to-Power Analysis", Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 55(31): p. 8798-8805.
    [DOI: 10.1002/anie.201510618 ]
28. E. Braun, A.F. Zurhelle, W. Thijssen, S.K. Schnell, L.-C. Lin, J. Kim, J.A. Thompson, and B. Smit (2016) "High-throughput computational screening of nanoporous adsorbents for CO₂ capture from natural gas", Molecular Systems Design & Engineering, 1(2): p. 175-188.
    [DOI: 10.1039/C6ME00043F ]
29. A. Kätelhön, N. von der Assen, S. Suh, J. Jung, and A. Bardow (2015) "Industry-Cost-Curve Approach for Modeling the Environmental Impact of Introducing New Technologies in Life Cycle Assessment", Environmental Science & Technology, 49(13): p. 7543-7551.
    [DOI: 10.1021/es5056512 ]
30. S. Glöggler, A.M. Grunfeld, Y.N. Ertas, J. McCormick, S. Wagner, P.P.M. Schleker, and L.-S. Bouchard (2015) "A Nanoparticle Catalyst for Heterogeneous Phase Para-Hydrogen-Induced Polarization in Water", Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 54(8): p. 2452-2456.
    [DOI: 10.1002/anie.201409027 ]