11.02.16
Henkel has presented the “Laundry & Home Care Research Award 2016” to Dr. Kristin Ganske for her outstanding research at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The award comes with a €3,000 grant. For her thesis, Ganske worked on new synthesis routes for bio-based polymers, which could lead to better stain removal on textiles.
The 31-year-old doctoral candidate in chemistry used cellulose to synthesize so-called cellulose carbamates, which have strong film-forming properties. By choosing cellulose, she opted for the most common organic compound on earth. “The new polymer is not just much more resource-conserving, but also biodegradable,” says Ganske. In the past, these products were partly obtained from non-renewable petrochemical raw materials.
“Dr. Ganske’s work has shown that there are new synthetic approaches to obtaining functional bio-based polymers, which can improve laundry detergents’ washing performance. Her findings are an important building block for the development of more efficient and more resource-conserving detergents,” says Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller-Kirschbaum, head of global R&D in the laundry and home care business unit.
The 31-year-old doctoral candidate in chemistry used cellulose to synthesize so-called cellulose carbamates, which have strong film-forming properties. By choosing cellulose, she opted for the most common organic compound on earth. “The new polymer is not just much more resource-conserving, but also biodegradable,” says Ganske. In the past, these products were partly obtained from non-renewable petrochemical raw materials.
“Dr. Ganske’s work has shown that there are new synthetic approaches to obtaining functional bio-based polymers, which can improve laundry detergents’ washing performance. Her findings are an important building block for the development of more efficient and more resource-conserving detergents,” says Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller-Kirschbaum, head of global R&D in the laundry and home care business unit.