Christian Ludwig

Expertise

• Solid Waste Treatment with a focus on Chemical Processes and Materials in thermal as well as aqueous systems- Waste and Bioenergy Technology development- Synthesis and Characterization (incl. Synchrotron Methods) of Nano-Particle-based materials for biofuel synthesis, gascleaning, and other CleanTech applications- Development of Analytical Devices and Methods for on-line and in-situ investigations- Analyzing, Modeling, and Controlling the Fate of Trace Elements and (Nano-)Particles in waste and biofuel applications- Natural Resources Management- Recycling of Minerals, Metals (incl. REEs), and Nutrients Mission The technological development in the last 100 years has strongly increased the demands for energy and materials and this is increasingly affecting the natural materials cycles. Within the general subject of sustainable resources management our group is contributing to the technology development in the following fields: - New materials for resource efficient (energy) technologies - Controlling the fate of valuable and/or harmful materials - Recycling, recovery and reuse of raw materialsIn this context nanoparticles and nanoobjects, their synthesis, fate, physical-chemical characterization and behavior, are of particular interest.Environmental sciences and research investigate and describe the natural processes and try to quantify the influence of human activities. From this it is possible to derive the aims for an environmentally sound course of action. Afterwards, implementation on the technological, political and social level is necessary. In coordination with the industrial sector, the authorities issue guidelines and adapt laws. In the past a series of environmental standards have been implemented. However, such improvements are based on state-of-the-art technologies, as they can only be realized under economically acceptable boundary conditions. Often a technological gap remains between the desirable goals and the practicable solutions. It is our mission to fill or at least to minimize such technological gaps. Current work Recent work focussed on* nucleation and crystallization processes ** size-resolved elemental anaylysis of gasborne nanoparticles ** sorption processes for the cleaning of gases and fluids ** recovery of rare earth elements and phosphor from wastes and residues ** algal biomass and its applications for waste water treatment, biofuels and chemicals * 2005 - today: Adjunct Professor at EPFL and head of the joint EPFL-PSI Professorship in Solid Waste Treatment, consisting of the Ludwig Group (GR-LUD) at EPFL and the Chemical Processes and Materials research group (CPM) at PSI.2000 - today: Head, Group of Chemical Processes and Materials (CPM) at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in the Laboratory for Energy and Materials Cycles (LEM). In 2009 the LEM unit was closed and the CPM group was affiliated to the Bioenergy and Catalysis Laboratory (LBK) of the Energy and Environment Research Division (ENE). In 2023 LBK changed the name to become the Laboratory for Sustainable Energy Carriers and Processes (LEP) and in 2024 PSI has decided to replace the divisions by PSI Centers. CPM is now affiliated to the PSI Center for Energy and Environmental Sciences (CEE). Since June 2002 permanent position ("tenure").1997 - 1999: Senior Scientist. Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), General Energy Research Department, Element Cycles Section.1995 - 1997: Research Fellow. Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), Department of Resource and Waste Management.1993 - 1995: Post-doc Fellow. University of California Davis, Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources (LAWR).1990 - 1993: PhD Student. University of Berne, Department of Inorganic, Analytical, and Physical Chemistry.1989 - 1990: Master Student. University of Berne, Department of Inorganic, Analytical, and Physical Chemistry. ResearchMy personal publications My personal h-index and i10-index on Google Scholar https://scholar.google.ch/citations?user=liRly_kAAAAJ&hl=enPublications of my research group h-index and i10-index of my research group on Google Scholarhttps://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=de&user=K3_tQjAAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate Teaching & PhD PhD Students Yang Wang Past EPFL PhD Students Bernhard Steubing, Harald Hagendorfer, Marco Wellinger, Marcelo Daniel Kaufman Rechulski, Martin Brandenberger, Noémie Elise Ott, Gaël Peng, Adrian Hess, Frank Pilger, Sven Philip Edinger, Agnese Carino, Debora Foppiano, Eya Nicodeme, Adrian Pulgarin, Sonya Barzgar, Daniil Salionov, Enio Daniel Zanchetta, Tianyu Cen, Tobias Borgmeyer, Ayush Agarwal Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Robert Andrew Witik, Hossein Madi Courses Pollutants analysis in the environment ENV-300 Evaluation of the quality of a river by using methods of observation as well as physico-chemical and biological methods. Collecting samples in the field and laboratory analysis.Practical determination and use of the constants of complexes formation. Solid waste engineering ENV-500 The book "Solid Waste Engineering - A Global Perspective" is the basis for this course. This textbook is an excellent introduction to the field of Solid Waste Engineering and gives insight into relevant solid waste treatment technologies and practices. Transversal skills will be fostered as well. Urban neighborhoods, infrastructures and sustainable development PENS-309 This ENAC Teaching Unit aims to present and implement new concepts of sustainable urban neighbourhood planning. Awards SNF R'equip Grant for Dr. Jay Slowik (PSI) and Prof. Dr. Christian Ludwig (PSI/EPFL) - CHF 273'872.- SNF 2026