Prof. Landau celebrated his 80th birthday on August 28. He studied metallurgy at TU Clausthal and TU Berlin and received his doctorate in 1978 in the field of electrometallurgy and electrochemistry with the topic "Scoring on copper cathodes during copper refining electrolysis". In this thesis, he not only investigated the basic mechanisms for the leveling and roughening of electrochemically deposited metal surfaces by organic inhibitors and promoters with the simultaneous influence of so-called chaotic flow structures in the natural convection boundary layer, but he also used his results to identify causes and solutions for a major quality problem in copper refining electrolysis that remained unsolved at the time.
Another area of his work was the electrolytic deposition of aluminum from non-aqueous electrolytes, a topic on which he habilitated in 1991. In this work, Prof. Landau combined basic research with the industrial application of the organic electrolyte system discovered by Ziegler student Herbert Lehmkuhl at the Max Planck Institute in Mülheim a. d. Ruhr. At Schempp + Decker, the first large-scale plant for electroplating aluminum from an electrolyte containing aluminum alkyl with an electrolyte volume of 30 m3 was set up and operated under his leadership. This organic electrolyte system can certainly be regarded as one of the first industrially used ionic liquids for electrolytic metal deposition, even though the term ionic liquids was not yet in common use at the time.
Prof. Landau taught the subject of surface technology at the TU Berlin for 18 years and was appointed adjunct professor in 2001.
In addition to his scientific work, industrial applications of electrochemical and galvanic processes for the production of new materials and coating systems were always of particular importance to Prof. Landau, as exemplified by the large-scale implementation of electroplated aluminum deposition. In 1987, he founded OTB-Oberflächentechnik in Berlin GmbH & Co. in order to implement electroplating processes and procedures himself as an entrepreneur, which he developed into a leading company in the field of strip electroplating of electronic components as managing director and shareholder for 20 years. During this time, he developed systems for the selective coating of three-dimensionally complex electrical contacts, for the high-precision cleaning of plastic protrusions from overmolded chips using high-pressure water jet technology and for ultra-fine cleaning using barrier plasma technology in reel-to-reel processes. As a manufacturer of strip plating systems, it has also installed systems in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan with OTB surface technology. The takeover of OTB-Oberflächentechnik by Diehl and the merger with Schempp + Decker has resulted in Diehl Metal Applications (DMA), an important one-stop-shop company for electronic system solutions.
His exceptional ability to understand fundamental material science and electrochemical principles while driving the technical implementation and development of marketable products led to the founding of Largentec GmbH in 2007. In this company, he worked on the development and marketing of a new type of galvanically produced antimicrobial surface coating, which is now marketed under the name AGXX by licensees such as Heraeus Precious Metals and Feindrahtwerk Adolf Edelhoff in addition to Largentec. The extraordinary germicidal effect of the AGXX surface coating was also proven during a prolonged mission on the International Space Station (ISS). In particulate form, the AGXX system can apply its antimicrobial effect to various plastics and plastic fibers, cellulose fibers as well as paints and varnishes using patented processes.
In addition to his entrepreneurial activities, Prof. Landau has always been extremely committed to the various committees of the DGO and the ZVO. He was on the board of the DGO and chaired the advisory board of ZVO Service GmbH. He was one of the founders of the DGO Precious Metals Committee, which he chaired for 21 years and in which he is still active today. He is also on the board of the Association for the Research Institute for Precious Metals and Metal Chemistry (fem).
Prof. Landau is the author of around 100 publications and co-author of several specialist books. He has appeared as a speaker at many congresses and events in Germany and abroad. He is the owner or co-owner of a large number of patents. In the course of his career, he has received various honors, such as the DGO Jacobi Prize (2016), the Heinz-Leuze Prize (2004 and 2014), the Berlin-Brandenburg Innovation Prize (1999) with his company OTB-Oberflächentechnik, the Berlin Innovation Prize (1984) with the company Schempp + Decker and the Stifterverband Metalle Prize (1983).
After handing over the operational activities at Largentec GmbH to his son and a co-partner, Prof. Landau has more time to devote to his family and his five grandchildren, his circle of friends and his classic car, and enjoys longer stays in his little house on the Baltic Sea. Otherwise, he shares the opinion of the well-known actor and author Armin Müller-Stahl, who, when asked what he plans to do after his 80th birthday, replied: "Then I'll think about my future."
