Daniela Merz Merz

Dr. rer. nat. Daniela Merz

  • Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
    Institut für Technische Chemie (ITC)
    Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1
    76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen

Abteilung Technische Mineralogie

Research Topics in Circular Economy

Material Behavior in Process Design: Investigating phase transitions and substance transformations in high-temperature recycling systems and scalable reaction dynamics.

Pyrolysis Kinetics of Mixed Plastic Waste: Deciphering reaction mechanisms and kinetic modeling of poyolefin and multilayer plastic decomposition for feedstock recycling.

Pollutant Mitigation & Product Refining: Developing technical solutions for the selective removal of hazardous gaseous by-products (e. g. organohalogens) and the chemical upcycling of pyrolysis oils.

Carbon Circularity & Mineralization: Analyzing CO2 flux in recycling loops and the accelerated carbonation of cementitious materials.

II. Advanced Analytics: Novel Tools & Instrumentation

Integrated Material Characterization: Designing proprietary analytical platforms for the study of complex material matrices and multi-modal coupling techniques (e. g., TG-FTIR) to resolve overlapping decomposition steps in real-time.

Scientific CV:

since 2020 Senior Scientist, Material Research and Advanced Analysis, KIT
Material Behavior in Process Design
2002 - 2019 Tenured Research Group Leader, Institute for Technical Chemistry, KIT
Thermochemical Conversion and Scalable Reaction Dynamics
1998 - 2001

Early Career Group Leader - Grant awarded by Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Helmholtz-Association
In-Furnace NOx Reduction in Waste-to-Energy Plants
1995 - 1997 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), hosted at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt
Novel Evanescent Field NIR Optrode for Industrial-Scale In-Line Monitoring of Hydrocarbons
1992 - 1994 Research Assistant, Institute of Analytical Chemistry
Doctoral Degree, University of Karlsruhe (TH)
Patented In-House Chlorophyll-Fluorescence Biosensor for Surface Water Herbicides
  Graduated in: Food-Chemistry (State Examination / M.Sc. equivalent)
Major in: Chemical Environmental Analysis
University of Karlsruhe (TH)
  Leadership Certification NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), Anchorage, USA
Multi-week intensive. Focusing on team dynamics and conflict resolution.


Memberships:

2004 - 2012 Board Member, GEFTA - Society for Thermal Analysis e. V.
since 2004 Elected Member of WTR, Member of KIT-Founding Senate, Member of KIT-Senate


Publikationen:


2026
Optimizing product yield and composition in chemical recycling of mixed plastics through temperature-staged pyrolysis
Netsch, N.; Tauber, A.; Merz, D.; Bergfeldt, B.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2026. Chemical engineering science, 327, 123622. doi:10.1016/j.ces.2026.123622
2025
Towards the Circularity of Flame-Retarded Expanded Polystyrene via Pyrolysis
Alsharqawi, R.; Merz, D.; Zeller, M.; Netsch, N.; Kurtz, T.; Bergfeldt, B.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2025, September 17. PYROLIQ III: Pyrolysis and Liquefaction of Biomass and Wastes (2025), Cetraro, Italien, 14.–19. September 2025
Pyrolytic Interactions of Polyurethanes with Thermoplastics : Implications for Chemical Recycling
Zeller, M.; Hannemann, A.; Erdenepurev, A.-E.; Netsch, N.; Schell, P.; Merz, D.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2025. 13th International Freiberg Conference on Circular Carbon Technologies (IFC 2025)
Chemical recycling of flame-retarded Plastics: Reducing the bromine content in the pyrolysis oil using calcium-based sorbents
Alsharqawi, R.; Bergfeldt, B.; Merz, D.; Richter, F.; Straczewski, G.; Netsch, N.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2025, Juni 5. 20th European Meeting on Fire Retardant Polymeric Materials (FRPM 2025), Madrid, Spanien, 3.–6. Juni 2025
TG-FTIR Investigations of the Pyrolysis of Polyurethanes: Quantitative Carbon Dioxide Tracing, Decomposition Mechanisms, Products and Mass Balances for Advanced Recycling
Zeller, M.; Merz, D.; Weigel, L.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2025. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 188, 107048. doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2025.107048
Closing the loop: pyrolysis of flame-retarded (E)PS
Alsharqawi, R.; Merz, D.; Kurtz, T.; Zeller, M.; Netsch, N.; Bergfeldt, B.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2025, März 18. Jahrestreffen der DECHEMA-Fachgruppen Abfallbehandlung und Wertstoffrückgewinnung (AuW), Hochtemperaturtechnik (HTT) und Rohstoffe (ROH 2025), Dresden, Deutschland, 17.–18. März 2025
Pyrolysis of Polystyrene with Mineral Fillers: Perspectives for Recycling of the Plastic-rich Fraction from Thermal Insulation Construction Material
Kurtz, T.; Merz, D.; Garbev, K.; Alsharqawi, R.; Stemmermann, P.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2025, März 18. Jahrestreffen der DECHEMA-Fachgruppen Abfallbehandlung und Wertstoffrückgewinnung (AuW), Hochtemperaturtechnik (HTT) und Rohstoffe (ROH 2025), Dresden, Deutschland, 17.–18. März 2025
Carbonfasern – Grundlagenuntersuchungen und Übertrag auf die Abfallverwertung
Wexler, M.; Garbev, K.; Gehrmann, H.-J.; Hauser, M.; Mahl, J.; Merz, D.; Stapf, D.
2025. 14. Wissenschaftskongress Kreislauf- und Ressourcenwirtschaft. Hrsg.: A. Bockreis, 111–115, innsbruck university press. doi:10.15203/99106-153-3
Carbonfasern – Grundlagenuntersuchungen und Übertrag auf die Abfallverwertung
Wexler, M.; Garbev, K.; Gehrmann, H.-J.; Hauser, M.; Mahl, J.; Merz, D.; Stapf, D.
2025, März 14. 14. DGAW-Wissenschaftskongress "Ressourcen neu denken" (2025), Kassel, Deutschland, 13.–14. März 2025
Thermisches Abbauverhalten von Carbonfasern - Grundlagenuntersuchungen für potentielle Verwertungsprozesse = Thermal Degradation Behaviour of Carbon Fibres - Fundamental Investigations for Potential Recovery Processes
Wexler, M.; Baumann, W.; Garbev, K.; Gehrmann, H. J.; Hauser, M.; Mahl, J.; Merz, D.; Stapf, D.
2025. Abfallwirtschaft und Energie. Bd.: 2. Hrsg.: S. Thiel, 2–15, Thomé-Kozmiensky Verlag (TK)
2024
Influencing the Product Quality in Chemical Recycling of Mixed Thermoplastics by Temperature-staged Pyrolysis
Netsch, N.; Tauber, A.; Keskin, O.; Merz, D.; Bergfeldt, B.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2024, November 27. DGMK-Konferenz "Energy and Material Flows in Sustainable Petrochemistry - Opportunities and Implications" (2024), Hamburg, Deutschland, 27.–29. November 2024
Towards Polyurethane Circularity by Pyrolysis : Lab-scale Investigations & Detailed Product Analyses
Zeller, M.; Weigel, L.; Hannemann, A.; Shrestha, P.; Erdenepurev, A.-E.; Wattenberg, L.; Merz, D.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2024, September. KNT-Symposium “Chemical Engineering for a Sustainable World” (2024), Karlsruhe, Deutschland, 30. September–2. Oktober 2024
Towards Polyurethane Circularity : Lab-scale Investigations & Detailed Product Analyses
Zeller, M.; Weigel, L.; Hannemann, A.; Shrestha, P.; Erdenepurev, A.-E.; Wattenberg, L.; Merz, D.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2024, September. KNT-Symposium “Chemical Engineering for a Sustainable World” (2024), Karlsruhe, Deutschland, 30. September–2. Oktober 2024
The influence of brominated flame-retardants on the pyrolysis behavior of plastics via TGA and Py-GC-MS
Alsharqawi, R.; Merz, D.; Bergfeldt, B.; Straczewski, G.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2024, August 22. 10th International Conference on Engineering for Waste and Biomass Valorisation (WasteEng 2024), Sendai, Japan, 20.–23. August 2024
Towards Polyurethane Circularity - An Assessment of Polyurethane Pyrolysis: Degradation Mechanisms, Products and Recycling Potential
Zeller, M.; Merz, D.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2024, August. 10th International Conference on Engineering for Waste and Biomass Valorisation (WasteEng 2024), Sendai, Japan, 20.–23. August 2024
Chemical Recycling of Thermoplastic Mixtures: Superposition Modeling and Experimental Validation
Netsch, N.; Schröder, L.; Merz, D.; Zimmerlin, B.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2024, August. 10th International Conference on Engineering for Waste and Biomass Valorisation (WasteEng 2024), Sendai, Japan, 20.–23. August 2024
Thermogravimetric study on thermal degradation kinetics and polymer interactions in mixed thermoplastics
Netsch, N.; Schröder, L.; Zeller, M.; Neugber, I.; Merz, D.; Klein, C. O.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2024. Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry. doi:10.1007/s10973-024-13630-6
Accelerated carbonation of hardened cement paste: Quantification of calcium carbonate via ATR infrared spectroscopy
Kalkreuth, J.; Ullrich, A.; Garbev, K.; Merz, D.; Stemmermann, P.; Stapf, D.
2024. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 107 (4), 2627–2640. doi:10.1111/jace.19546
2023
CFC – Carbon Fibre Cycle Carbonfasern im Kreislauf – Freisetzungsverhalten und Toxizität bei thermischer und mechanischer Behandlung
Baumann, W.; Bäger, D.; Deußen, O.; Diabaté, S.; Ellermann, N.; Emmerich, R.; Friesen, A.; Fritsch-Decker, S.; Gehrmann, H.-J.; Gries, T.; Große, A.; Guth, J.; Hartwig, A.; Hauser, M.; Hofmann, M.; Hufnagel, M.; Kehren, D.; Krug, H. F.; Kühnel, D.; Leis, J.; Mahl, J.; Marquardt, C.; Mattern, A.; Merz, D.; Möller, N.; Nau, K.; Naumann, R.; Plitzko, S.; Schlögel, K.; Stapf, D.; Steinbach, C.; Weiss, C.; Wexler, M.
2023. CFC – Carbon Fibre Cycle Carbonfasern im Kreislauf – Freisetzungsverhalten und Toxizität bei thermischer und mechanischer Behandlung - Abschlussworkshop (2023), Karlsruhe, Deutschland, 19.–20. Januar 2023
Thermogravimetric studies, kinetic modeling and product analysis of the pyrolysis of model polymers for technical polyurethane applications
Zeller, M.; Garbev, K.; Weigel, L.; Saatzer, T.; Merz, D.; Tavakkol, S.; Stapf, D.
2023. Journal of analytical and applied pyrolysis, 171, Article no: 105976. doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2023.105976
CFC – Carbon Fibre Cycle Carbonfasern im Kreislauf – Freisetzungsverhalten und Toxizität bei thermischer und mechanischer Behandlung
Baumann, W.; Bäger, D.; Deußen, O.; Diabaté, S.; Ellermann, N.; Emmerich, R.; Friesen, A.; Fritsch-Decker, S.; Gehrmann, H. J.; Gries, T.; Große, A.; Guth, J.; Hartwig, A.; Hauser, M.; Hofmann, M.; Hufnagel, M.; Kehren, D.; Krug, H. F.; Kühnel, D.; Leis, J.; Mahl, J.; Marquardt, C.; Mattern, A.; Merz, D.; Möller, N.; Nau, K.; Naumann, R.; Plitzko, S.; Schlögel, K.; Stapf, D.; Steinbach, C.; Weiss, C.; Wexler, M.
2023
2022
Thermogravimetric studies and kinetic modeling of the pyrolysis of polyurethane plastics
Zeller, M.; Saatzer, T.; Merz, D.; Stapf, D.
2022, Mai. 23rd International Conference on Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis (PYRO 2022), Gent, Belgien, 15.–20. Mai 2022
Thermische Entsorgung von Carbonfasern
Mahl, J.
2022, April 1. Jahrestreffen der ProcessNet-Fachgruppen "Abfallbehandlung und Wertstoffrückgewinnung, Energieverfahrenstechnik, Gasreinigung, Hochtemperaturtechnik, Rohstoffe" (2022), Bamberg, Deutschland, 30. März–1. April 2022
2021
Optionen der Carbonfaserverwertung in industriellen Hochtemperaturprozessen
Wexler, M.; Baumann, W.; Doninger, T.; Gehrmann, H.-J.; Hagemann, R.; Hauser, M.; Merz, D.; Stapf, D.
2021, Juni 10. 33. Berliner Abfallwirtschafts- und Energiekonferenz (2021), Berlin, Deutschland, 10.–11. Juni 2021
Optionen der Carbonfaserverwertung in industriellen Hochtemperaturprozessen
Wexler, M.; Baumann, W.; Doninger, T.; Gehrmann, H.-J.; Hagemann, R.; Hauser, M.; Merz, D.; Stapf, D.
2021. Energie aus Abfall – Proceedings 2021. Proceedings zur Berliner Abfallwirtschafts- und Energiekonferenz. Hrsg.: S. Thiel
2020
Potentials and Risks in the Recycling and Recovery of Carbon Fibers
Baumann, W.; Beuchle, G.; Gehrmann, H.-J.; Hauser, M.; Merz, D.; Mülhopt, S.; Weiss, C.; Stapf, D.
2020, September 15. (M. Wexler, Hrsg.), 2nd Advanced Materials Online Conference (2020), Online, 15. September 2020
Comparison of wood pyrolysis kinetic data derived from thermogravimetric experiments by model-fitting and model-free methods
Soria-Verdugo, A.; Morgano, M. T.; Mätzing, H.; Goos, E.; Leibold, H.; Merz, D.; Riedel, U.; Stapf, D.
2020. Energy conversion and management, 212, Article No.112818. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2020.112818
2017
Thermal stability of C-S-H phases and applicability of Richardson and Groves’ and Richardson C-(A)-S-H(I) models to synthetic C-S-H
Tajuelo Rodriguez, E.; Garbev, K.; Merz, D.; Black, L.; Richardson, I. G.
2017. Cement and concrete research, 93, 45–56. doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2016.12.005
Dehydroxylation of dioctahedral smectites in water vapor atmosphere
Emmerich, K.; Steudel, A.; Merz, D.
2017. Applied clay science, 137, 1–5. doi:10.1016/j.clay.2016.12.003
2014
Preparation of a novel cementitious material from hydrothermally synthesized C-S-H phases
Garbev, K.; Beuchle, G.; Schweike, U.; Merz, D.; Dregert, O.; Stemmermann, P.
2014. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 97, 2298–2307. doi:10.1111/jace.12920
2012
Morphology and structure of mechanochemically synthesized C-S-H
Tajuelo, E.; Richardson, I. G.; Black, L.; Garbev, K.; Merz, D.
2012. 32nd Cement and Concrete Science Conference, Belfast, IRL, September 17-18, 2012
A reliable quantitative TA-FTIR method for cementitious material characterisation
Merz, D.; Dregert, O.; Garbev, K.; Stemmermann, P.
2012. GEFTA-STK-Joint Meeting on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, Saarbrücken, October 10-12, 2012