Timo Brändel

Defining R&D transformation towards green technology and circular economy. Dedicated to understand & shape the next generation of sustainable materials.

Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

About

As a passionate scientist, I strive to bridge the gap between today and tomorrow. It has always been one of my favorite things to develop concepts and work hard to make them become reality. Therefore, I am happy that I have always had the possibility to be a true researcher throughout my career. After working in the Battery R&D Department of Daikin Chemical Europe for almost 3 years, I am responsible for the Analytics Department in the recently established Daikin Chemical Europe Innovation Center, located in Dortmund, Germany. Recently we expended our departments activities incorporating two new topics. We participate in the development of a high-throughput fast formulation platform and digitalization of the application development for oil & water repellents in the textile and paper field. Additionally, we engage in collaborations with start-ups and in public funded projects to develop innovative processes for the recycling of fluoroplastics, a topic with highest societal relevance.

Experience

  • Daikin Chemical Europe GmbH (Full-time · 6 yrs)
    • R&D Leader Analytical Sciences, Sustainable Materials & Processes
      Nov 2025 - Present · 8 mos

      Head of three interconnected R&D pillars in the Daikin Chemical Europe Innovation Center. Our aim is to built a modern and impactful department - for the company and society. Our activities include: 1) Analytical Sciences: Aiding all other departments of the center to understand and accelerate their innovations through advanced characterization, process automation and digitalization. 2) Develop solutions to expand circularity of fluorochemicals and find new innovative materials and processes contributing to new sustainable business models. 3) Setting up a new weak signal scouting function to identify and support scientific breakthrough technologies from Europe with potential for global impact.

    • R&D Leader, Analytical Sciences
      May 2023 - Nov 2025 · 2 yrs 7 mos

      Department Leader for Analytical Sciences, High-Throughput Formulation Platform and Polymer Recycling Activities in the Daikin Chemical Europe Innovation Center (DCEIC). Our group covers a variety of themes relevant for successful R&D and application development work in Europe. - We perform and develop advanced characterization methods for all product lines represented in the DCEIC - We drive the automatization and digitalization of formulation research of water & oil repellents for textiles and paper - We engage in collaborative research with start-ups and in public funded project groups to develop innovative processes for the recycling of fluoroplastics

    • Polymer Chemist R&D
      Jul 2020 - May 2023 · 2 yrs 11 mos

      Member of the R&D Departement Battery & Energy Storage. Development of polymer materials for all-solid-state Li-ion batteries inside the EU funded project ASTRABAT.

  • Postdoctoral Scientist at CFM Materials Physics Center
    Jun 2019 - Jun 2020 · 1 yr 1 mo

    Postdoctoral Researcher at the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) / Centro de Física de Materiales (CFM). I worked as a member of the Polymers and Soft Matter research group. My main research interest was the investigation of polymeric single-chain nanoparticles under environmental crowding in semidiute polymer solutions.

  • Postdoctoral Scientist at Bielefeld University
    Mar 2019 - May 2019 · 3 mos