Holger Ruland

Dr. Holger Ruland is a Researcher and Group Leader of the Catalytic Technology Group at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research (MPI CEC). He leads research on heterogeneous catalysis for energy conversion and storage, focusing on ammonia synthesis, methanol synthesis from industrial exhaust gases, and CO2 hydrogenation. His work addresses challenges in catalyst design, gas purification, and process optimization for sustainable energy technologies.

Education: Diploma in Chemistry from the University of Cologne (2007), followed by a PhD and postdoctoral research at Ruhr University Bochum (2007–2016) under Prof. Muhler, and postdoctoral work at MPI CEC under Prof. Schlögl (2016). Became Group Leader in 2018.

Research Interests: Heterogeneous catalysis for renewable energy storage (e.g., ammonia/methanol synthesis), CO2 utilization, and analysis of steel mill exhaust gases. Key projects include the HügaProp and Carbon2Chem initiatives, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which develop mobile gas analysis infrastructure and investigate catalyst stability under industrial conditions.

Technical Expertise: Proton transfer reaction-TOF mass spectrometry, catalyst characterization (e.g., Fe-based ammonia synthesis catalysts), and reactor design for dynamic process studies. Collaborates on green synthesis methods to avoid high-temperature catalyst precursors.

Team: Includes postdoctoral researchers (e.g., Dr. Jan Markus Folke, Dr. Daniel Laudenschleger) and laboratory staff (e.g., Dennis Ernst, Lea Kreutzheide). The group operates specialized facilities like the HügaProp mobile lab and kinetic flow reactors for ex-situ catalyst analysis.