Professor Dr. H.C. Achim Müller sustained within Contemporary Chemistry Conferences in 2009 the presentation: "Porous Nanocapsules: Aesthetics and Multifunctionality in Harmony".
Mr. Achim Müller studied chemistry and physics at the University of Göttingen and received there his PhD degree (1965) and the Habilitation (1967). In 1971 he became professor at the Univeristy of Dortmund and since 1977 he is professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Bielefeld.
His research involves the chemistry of transition metals in synthesis, spectroscopy, and theory especially with relation to nanochemistry, bioinorganic chemistry including biological nitrogen fixation, molecular magnets, molecular physics as well as history and philosophy of science. He published besides about 900 original papers in more than 100 different journals related to different fields, more than 40 reviews and is coeditor of 14 books.
Achim Müller is a member of several national and international academies (e.g., Akademie der Wissenschaften Nationale Leopoldina from Germany, Academy of Sciences from Poland, The Indian National Science Academy - India, Academia Europaea form London, Contemporary Inorganic Chemistry Lecturer - Texas A&M University - College Station from USA), and is recipient of numerous awards (honorary doctor degrees, -professorships and -memberships) and prizes (e.g., Alfred-Stock-Gedächtnispreis from German Chemical Society in 2000, Doctor Honoris Causa in 2001 from "Babes-Bolyai" Cluj-Napoca University Romania, Prix Gay-Lussac/Humboldt and Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Prize in 2001, Centenary Lecture/Medal from Royal Society of Chemistry London in 2008/9). In 2012 he was awarded with the prestigious "Advanced Grant" by the European Research Council.
His currently most compelling research relates to bottom-up pathways towards tailor-made porous nanoclusters and their use as versatile materials.
Müller's discovery of the molecular giant spheres (Keplerates) of the type Mo132 (diameter ca. 3 nm) and their derivatives, of the wheel shaped cluster Mo154 and hedgehog shaped cluster Mo368 (as large as 6 nm) has caused a paradigm shift not only regarding their sizes but especially due to their unique properties as nanomaterials.
These single molecules are quite large; this can be shown by taking the length of an oxygen molecule with two atoms (length 0.12 nm) as a meter, then to place Mo368 which is 50 times as large. Müller's related work demonstrates, for example, how cellular processes like ion-transport can be modeled in the spherical porous capsules. All these clusters belong to a class commonly known as polyoxometalates and some special ones to the molybdenum blue family. The compounds are studied worldwide by many groups especially related to problems of Materials Science.
It is important to note also the fact that Mr. Müller research findings go beyond the specialized scientific literature and, because of their importance and influence, these were also present in the widely circulated press around the world (Germany - Der Spiegel, Spain - El Pais, and in mainstream publications in France, UK, India). One of the many merits of Professor Müller is that he contributed significantly to the popularization of science.
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