PD Dr. Michael Rohwerder
Main Focus
The following subjects are being actively researched: electrochemically driven delamination; structure-reactivity correlation for reactions at buried interfaces; nano-particles and nano-capsules for smart coatings; self-healing mechanisms; conducting polymers and alternative materials for intelligent release; initial stages of oxidation and corrosion; grain boundary oxidation; electronic properties of oxides; surface modification for improved mechanical and chemical stability of composite materials; hydrogen detection in and uptake into metals and hydrogen embrittlement; novel applications of Kelvin probe techniques; electrochemistry at “dry” surfaces and buried interfaces, extending this also to very fundamental electrochemistry and for fast through-put characterization; Scanning Flow Cell (SFC) for corrosion studies.
Curriculum Vitae
Since 2000 Dr. Rohwerder is head of research group at the
Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH (MPIE) in Düsseldorf. He
studied physics at the University of Hamburg, where he received his diploma in
1992. He finished his dissertation in 1997 at the University of Düsseldorf.
After about one year of postdoctoral research at the University of Texas at
Austin, in the electrochemistry lab of Prof. A.J. Bard, he accepted a position
as senior researcher at the University of Erlangen at the Chair for Corrosion
and Surface Engineering (Prof. M. Stratmann), where he built up a lab for high
temperature research. At the MPIE he is responsible for the corrosion related
research of the institute, covering a wide range from novel zinc alloy
coatings, self-healing organic coatings, hydrogen in metals to high-temperature
grain boundary oxidation.
In 2008 he was awarded a Laboratory form the Christian Doppler Society (CDL for
Diffusion and Segregation, 2008-2014) and 2014 he received a call as Full
Professor at Ohio State University (Department of Materials Science and
Engineering), but stayed at MPIE after receiving a counter offer.
Also since 2014 he is in charge of the scientific coordination and
administrative supervision of the Department of “Interface Chemistry and Surface
Engineering” at the MPIE (Prof. M. Stratmann, currently on leave as the
president of the Max Planck Society).