“I find it particularly inspiring that the materials we study have the potential to meet the future needs of our society in terms of properties, scalable processing, and carbon footprint.”

Having started his career as a synthetic organic chemist, Rolf van Benthem has develop into a materials scientist specializing in polymers, resins, coatings, active surfaces and especially industrial materials and their contributions to sustainability. He is active in the development of new polymers and new levels of control in polymers and polymer materials (such as synthesis, processing, self-assembly, crystallization and cross-linking), as well as aspects of circularity and scalable industrial manufacturing with low carbon-dioxide impact.  Van Benthem is also involved, both at Shell and at TU/e, in finding new functions (including self-healing and surface-replenishing materials), and roles for polymer materials, thin films and carbon-based materials in the generation, conversion, transport and storage of energy. 

Rolf van Benthem studied Chemistry at Leiden University, specializing in Organic Chemistry and Biocatalysis and graduating cum laude in 1990 (Prof.Van der Gen, Dr Hans Brussee). Subsequently he obtained his PhD at the University of Amsterdam in 1995 under supervision of professors Nico Speckamp and Henk Hiemstra, with his thesis on homogeneous oxidative catalysis for the synthesis of vicinal aminoalcohols and diamines. He then started his research into highly branched polymers  and other coating related subjects with DSM Research in Geleen (the Netherlands), where he was Corporate Science Fellow for Macromolecular Sciences until 2021. He is currently employed by Shell as Chief Scientist (Materials Science & Engineering), where he started in 2022. Since 2002 he is part-time professor at our Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, at the Physical Chemistry group (SPC), first of Coatings Technology (2012-2021) and of Sustainable Industrial Polymer Materials since 2022.  

• DPI (Supervisory Board)
• CBBC (Supervisory Board)
• NWO (Member of the Materials Committee)

Partners in industry

• Shell (shell.com)
• Ytlar (ytlar.com)