Business Chemistry Research Group

The Business Chemistry Research Group is part of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Zurich. We work at the interface of industrial chemistry and quantitative sustainability science, Our group addresses a fundamental gap in industrial sustainability science: for many widely-produced chemicals, the environmental and economic data needed for evidence-based decision-making is either missing, inconsistent, or not transparent. We combine state-of-the-art methods to fill these gaps:

We develop regionalized, transparent life cycle inventory (LCI) datasets for industrial chemicals with a focus on inorganic commodity chemicals where existing databases show critical inconsistencies. A particular emphasis lies on generative LCI methods that can be applied systematically across large numbers of facilities, moving beyond single-process datasets.

We evaluate the economic viability and cost structures of emerging sustainable production routes, enabling comparison between incumbent technologies and low-carbon alternatives under realistic market conditions.

We assess the market dynamics shaping the transition to greener chemistry  including adoption barriers, competitive structures, supply chain risks, and the role of policy in accelerating or hindering sustainable production.

We actively seek input from practitioners and experts in the chemical industry to complement our data-driven modelling work. Particularly for the sulfuric acid project, we are looking for conversations with professionals working in production, procurement, sustainability, or R&D.

We also offer a more hands-on form of collaboration: master's students from our group are available to support companies with research projects in these areas, bringing fresh analytical perspectives to applied questions in sustainability assessment and industrial chemistry.