Oliver Kröcher

Prof. Dr. Oliver Kröcher is the head of the Laboratory for Sustainable Energy Carriers and Processes at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and an Adjunct Professor at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) since 2013. His professional leadership includes chairing the Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research (SCCER BIOSWEET) from 2014–2021 and co-developing a highly efficient DeNOx system for diesel engines, which earned him two major awards in 2005.

• Education: PhD in Chemical Engineering from ETH Zurich (1994–1997); Chemistry studies at the University of Würzburg (1988–1993)

Research Focus: Oliver Kröcher specializes in heterogeneous catalysis for sustainable energy systems, including CO2 conversion, biomass valorization, and DeNOx technologies. His work spans supercritical fluid chemistry, sol-gel synthesis of hybrid catalysts, and industrial process development for catalytic systems in energy applications.

Scientific Contributions: His early research on supercritical CO2 hydrogenation and sol-gel derived catalysts laid the foundation for modern CO2 utilization technologies. Later work focused on heterogeneous gas-phase reactions (propene to acrolein, methanol to methyl mercaptan) and catalyst quality control for industrial production plants.

• Awards: Swiss Technology Award 2005, Special Environmental Prize 2005 (ABB Schweiz AG)

Additional Roles: Chief Editor of Frontiers in Fuels since 2022, member of the Extended Energy Commission of the Swiss Academies of Sciences since 2018, and active participant in international advisory boards for catalysis and bioenergy research.