Maksym V. Kovalenko (born 1982) is a full professor of inorganic chemistry and the head of the Functional Inorganic Materials group at

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

. A part of the research activities of the group are conducted at Empa (Dübendorf). He is working in the fields of solid-state chemistry,

quantum dot Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor particles a few nanometres in size, having light, optical and electronics, electronic properties that differ from those of larger particles as a result of quantum mechanics. They are a central topic in nanote ...

s and other

nanomaterials * Nanomaterials describe, in principle, materials of which a single unit is sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 and 100 nm (the usual definition of nanoscale). Nanomaterials research takes a materials science-based approach to nan ...

, surface chemistry, self-assembly, optical spectroscopy, optoelectronics and

energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in ...

Early life and education

Maksym Kovalenko was born in 1982 in southern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He grew up in the Ukrainian area of

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

. He studied chemistry at Chernivtsi National University. In 2007, Kovalenko obtained his Ph.D. at the

Johannes Kepler University The Johannes Kepler University Linz (German: ''Johannes Kepler Universität Linz'', short: ''JKU'') is a public institution of higher education in Austria. It is located in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. It offers bachelor's, master's, d ...

Linz, Austria Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Heiss. During this time, he focused on narrow band gap

s, and published several articles on HgTe, SnTe, PbSe as well as iron oxide nanocrystals. A part of these works was carried out at the

Molecular Foundry The Molecular Foundry is a nanoscience user facility located at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, and is one of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. Overv ...

(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA).

Academic career and research

After the completion of his Ph.D., he moved to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as a post-doctoral research assistant in the group of Prof. Dmitri Talapin. In 2009, Kovalenko published an article in

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

describing the use of inorganic ligands on colloidal nanocrystals. Such an all-inorganic design of semiconductor nanocrystals had enabled their integration into diverse electronic and optoelectronic devices. In 2011, Kovalenko accepted an assistant professorship at ETH Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland. Initially, the research group focused on the development of new synthetic approaches for nanocrystals and their utilization in rechargeable batteries and photodetectors. In 2015, the group introduced highly luminescent nanocrystals of cesium lead halide perovskites and shortly thereafter, in 2016-2017, formamidinium lead halide nanocrystals. In 2016, Kovalenko received tenure and became an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

at ETH Zurich and continued to lead his research group at both ETH Zurich and Empa. Since then, the research group of Kovalenko has focused on understanding and improving colloidal perovskite nanocrystals, their assembly into long-range ordered superlattices and their exploration as quantum light sources. Additionally, the group continues to investigate the surface chemistry of nanocrystals and novel electrode materials for

Li-ion A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible Redox, reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It als ...

and non-Li battery technologies. The group is increasingly active in the discovery of novel semiconductors and light emitters. In 2018, the group received financial support from the ETH+ Initiative to establish a crystal growth and characterization facility for research purposes as well as for education and training of students. The expertise of the group now also includes single-particle spectroscopy, fabrication of light-emitting diodes and testing materials for hard radiation detection. In August 2020, Kovalenko was promoted to

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

at ETH Zurich.

Additional roles

Kovalenko currently serves as an associate editor for the journal ''

Chemistry of Materials Chemistry of Materials is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published since 1989 by the American Chemical Society. ''Chemistry of Materials'' is currently indexed in: Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), SCOPUS, EBSCOhost, British Library, Swetswi ...

''. He has served as the chair of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry (LAC) at ETH Zurich from 2018-2019.

Awards and recognition

Rössler Prize The Rössler Prize, offered by the ETH Zurich Foundation, is a monetary prize that has been awarded annually since 2009 to a promising young tenured professor of the ETH Zurich in the middle of an accelerating career.ERC Consolidator Grant 2018 * Werner Prize 2016 * Ruzicka Prize 2013 * ERC Starting Grant 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovalenko, Maksym V. 21st-century chemists Academic staff of ETH Zurich Johannes Kepler University Linz alumni Living people 1982 births Chernivtsi University alumni Ukrainian expatriates in Austria Ukrainian expatriates in the United States Ukrainian expatriates in Switzerland