Mischa Jütte completed his PhD “with distinction”

On June 23 2023, Mischa Jütte successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Fundamental reaction mechanisms of chlorine dioxide during water treatment – Reactions with phenols and biomolecules during inactivation mechanisms”. Mr. Jütte has been working as a research associate in the department of Environmental Analytics and Pollutants since April 2020 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Holger V. Lutze and is therefore one of the founding members of this department.

In his doctoral thesis, he dealt with the reaction mechanisms of chlorine dioxide during drinking water disinfection. Chlorine dioxide can be used in water treatment as a substitute for chlorine in order to avoid or reduce the formation of harmful halogenated disinfection by-products (e.g. chloroform). Recent studies have shown that free chlorine can be formed in certain reactions of chlorine dioxide. Despite the intrinsic formation of free chlorine, the formation of halogenated by-products in chlorine dioxide-based applications is significantly lower than in chlorine-based applications. Mr. Jütte investigated in which reactions during the disinfection of drinking water intrinsically free chlorine can be formed and how the formation affects the disinfection. After a successful disputation in presence, the doctoral hat was handed over, followed by singing and a big lap in the doctor's car according to the IWAR tradition. Eventually, there was an extensive celebration with family, friends, and institute colleagues.