Dr. Markus Klapper
Markus Klapper studied chemistry at the University of Mainz and received his doctorate in 1990 from Prof. R. C. Schulz with a thesis on the synthesis and topochemical polymerization of aminodiacetylenes. Soon after, he moved to the MPI for Polymer Research and became project leader in the Department of Synthetic Chemistry. His research interests include new polycondensation and polymerization processes as well as polymer-analogous reactions for the synthesis of functional polymers and block copolymers. These materials have been specially developed for fuel cell applications or for hydrophobizing inorganic nanoparticles. In addition, in recent years he has concentrated on the polymerization of olefins in heterogeneous phase, for which he has developed new organic carriers and investigated their polymerization behavior. Another central topic is the development of non-aqueous emulsions suitable for the polymerization of water-sensitive monomers.