Kai Exner, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, has received the Carl Duisberg Memorial Award 2023 from the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society) for his outstanding conceptual contributions to the highly topical and competitive fields of theoretical electrocatalysis and battery research.
The prize is awarded to chemists up to 40 years of age who do not hold a position as Full Professor but have distinguished themselves through original work. The award includes a EUR 7,500 endowment and was presented at the Chemiedozententagung 2023 on March 13, 2023. Of the prize money, EUR 5,000 go directly to the awardee and EUR 2,500 to the working group.
Career
Kai Exner was born in Bad Arolsen, Germany, in 1987 and studied chemistry at the Justus Liebig University, Gießen, Germany, where he completed his Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 2015. After postdoctoral stays at the University of Ulm, Germany, and in Gießen, he went to Sofia University, Bulgaria, in 2017 as a Feodor Lynen Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 2020, he received a return grant from the foundation, which he used to conduct research at the University of Duisburg-Essen. There, he has served as a Junior Professor with a focus on theoretical inorganic chemistry since June 2021.
Kai Exner has received several awards, including an award from the GDCh-Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Universitätsprofessoren und -professorinnen für Chemie (ADUC, Association of German University Professors of Chemistry) in 2022), as well as scholarships and third-party funding. His research interests include theoretical electrochemistry, catalysis (in particular, electrochemical reactions using solid-state catalysts), and drug delivery.
Selected Publications
- Photomechanical Laser Fragmentation of IrO2 Microparticles for the Synthesis of Active and Redox-Sensitive Colloidal Nanoclusters,
Maximilian Spellauge, Meike Tack, René Streubel, Matthias Miertz, Kai Steffen Exner, Sven Reichenberger, Stephan Barcikowski, Heinz Paul Huber, Anna Rosa Ziefuss,
Small 2023, 19, 2206485.
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202206485 - First Principles Calculations of Hydrogen Evolution Reaction and Proton Migration on Stepped Surfaces of SrTiO3,
Maksim Sokolov, Yuri A. Mastrikov, Guntars Zvejnieks, Dmitry Bocharov, Veera Krasnenko, Kai S. Exner, Eugene A. Kotomin,
Adv. Theory Simul. 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adts.202200619 - Materials Screening by the Descriptor Gmax(η): The Free-Energy Span Model in Electrocatalysis,
Samad Razzaq, Kai S. Exner,
ACS Catal. 2023, 13, 1740–1758.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.2c03997 - A Universal Approach To Determine the Free Energy Diagram of an Electrocatalytic Reaction,
Kai S. Exner, Iman Sohrabnejad-Eskan, Herbert Over,
ACS Catal. 2018, 8, 1864–1879.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.7b03142 - Kinetics of Electrocatalytic Reactions from First-Principles: A Critical Comparison with the Ab Initio Thermodynamics Approach,
Kai S. Exner, Herbert Over,
Acc. Chem. Res. 2017, 50, 1240–1247.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.7b00077 - Controlling Selectivity in the Chlorine Evolution Reaction over RuO2-Based Catalysts,
Kai S. Exner, Josef Anton, Timo Jacob, Herbert Over,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 11032–11035.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201406112
