Maksym Kovalenko was born in 1982 in southern
Ukraine. He grew up in the Ukrainian area of
Bukovina. He studied chemistry at
Chernivtsi National University. In 2007, Kovalenko obtained his Ph.D. at the
Johannes Kepler University in
Linz, Austria under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Heiss. During this time, he focused on narrow
band gapquantum dots, and published several articles on HgTe,[3] SnTe,[4] PbSe[5] as well as iron oxide[6] nanocrystals. A part of these works was carried out at the
Molecular Foundry (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA).
Academic career and research
After the completion of his Ph.D., he moved to the
University of Chicago in
Chicago, Illinois as a
post-doctoral research assistant in the group of Prof. Dmitri Talapin. In 2009, Kovalenko published an article in
Science describing the use of inorganic ligands on colloidal nanocrystals.[7] Such an all-inorganic design of semiconductor nanocrystals had enabled their integration into diverse electronic and optoelectronic devices.[8][9][10][11]
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.[12][13][14] In 2015, the group introduced highly luminescent nanocrystals of cesium lead halide perovskites[15] and shortly thereafter, in 2016–2017, formamidinium lead halide nanocrystals.[16][17]
In 2016, Kovalenko received tenure and became an
associate professor 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,[18][19] their assembly into long-range ordered superlattices and their exploration as quantum light sources.[20] Additionally, the group continues to investigate the surface chemistry of nanocrystals[21][22] and novel electrode materials for
Li-ion and non-Li battery technologies.[23][24] The group is increasingly active in the discovery of novel semiconductors and light emitters.[25][26][27][28] 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.[29] The expertise of the group now also includes single-particle spectroscopy,[30] fabrication of light-emitting diodes[31][32] and testing materials for hard radiation detection.[33][34]
In August 2020, Kovalenko was promoted to
full professor at ETH Zurich.
Additional roles
Kovalenko currently serves as an associate editor for the journal Chemistry of Materials.[35] He has served as the chair of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry (LAC) at ETH Zurich from 2018 to 2019.
^Kovalenko, Maksym V.; Heiss, Wolfgang; Shevchenko, Elena V.; Lee, Jong-Soo; Schwinghammer, Harald; Alivisatos, A. Paul; Talapin, Dmitri V. (September 2007). "SnTe Nanocrystals: A New Example of Narrow-Gap Semiconductor Quantum Dots". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 129 (37): 11354–11355.
doi:
10.1021/ja074481z.
ISSN0002-7863.
PMID17722931.
^Kovalenko, Maksym V.; Bodnarchuk, Maryna I.; Lechner, Rainer T.; Hesser, Günter; Schäffler, Friedrich; Heiss, Wolfgang (May 2007). "Fatty Acid Salts as Stabilizers in Size- and Shape-Controlled Nanocrystal Synthesis: The Case of Inverse Spinel Iron Oxide". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 129 (20): 6352–6353.
doi:
10.1021/ja0692478.
ISSN0002-7863.
PMID17472378.
^Kovalenko, Maksym V.; Bodnarchuk, Maryna I.; Zaumseil, Jana; Lee, Jong-Soo; Talapin, Dmitri V. (2010-07-28). "Expanding the Chemical Versatility of Colloidal Nanocrystals Capped with Molecular Metal Chalcogenide Ligands". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 132 (29): 10085–10092.
doi:
10.1021/ja1024832.
ISSN0002-7863.
PMID20593874.
Maksym Kovalenko was born in 1982 in southern
Ukraine. He grew up in the Ukrainian area of
Bukovina. He studied chemistry at
Chernivtsi National University. In 2007, Kovalenko obtained his Ph.D. at the
Johannes Kepler University in
Linz, Austria under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Heiss. During this time, he focused on narrow
band gapquantum dots, and published several articles on HgTe,[3] SnTe,[4] PbSe[5] as well as iron oxide[6] nanocrystals. A part of these works was carried out at the
Molecular Foundry (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA).
Academic career and research
After the completion of his Ph.D., he moved to the
University of Chicago in
Chicago, Illinois as a
post-doctoral research assistant in the group of Prof. Dmitri Talapin. In 2009, Kovalenko published an article in
Science describing the use of inorganic ligands on colloidal nanocrystals.[7] Such an all-inorganic design of semiconductor nanocrystals had enabled their integration into diverse electronic and optoelectronic devices.[8][9][10][11]
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.[12][13][14] In 2015, the group introduced highly luminescent nanocrystals of cesium lead halide perovskites[15] and shortly thereafter, in 2016–2017, formamidinium lead halide nanocrystals.[16][17]
In 2016, Kovalenko received tenure and became an
associate professor 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,[18][19] their assembly into long-range ordered superlattices and their exploration as quantum light sources.[20] Additionally, the group continues to investigate the surface chemistry of nanocrystals[21][22] and novel electrode materials for
Li-ion and non-Li battery technologies.[23][24] The group is increasingly active in the discovery of novel semiconductors and light emitters.[25][26][27][28] 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.[29] The expertise of the group now also includes single-particle spectroscopy,[30] fabrication of light-emitting diodes[31][32] and testing materials for hard radiation detection.[33][34]
In August 2020, Kovalenko was promoted to
full professor at ETH Zurich.
Additional roles
Kovalenko currently serves as an associate editor for the journal Chemistry of Materials.[35] He has served as the chair of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry (LAC) at ETH Zurich from 2018 to 2019.
^Kovalenko, Maksym V.; Heiss, Wolfgang; Shevchenko, Elena V.; Lee, Jong-Soo; Schwinghammer, Harald; Alivisatos, A. Paul; Talapin, Dmitri V. (September 2007). "SnTe Nanocrystals: A New Example of Narrow-Gap Semiconductor Quantum Dots". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 129 (37): 11354–11355.
doi:
10.1021/ja074481z.
ISSN0002-7863.
PMID17722931.
^Kovalenko, Maksym V.; Bodnarchuk, Maryna I.; Lechner, Rainer T.; Hesser, Günter; Schäffler, Friedrich; Heiss, Wolfgang (May 2007). "Fatty Acid Salts as Stabilizers in Size- and Shape-Controlled Nanocrystal Synthesis: The Case of Inverse Spinel Iron Oxide". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 129 (20): 6352–6353.
doi:
10.1021/ja0692478.
ISSN0002-7863.
PMID17472378.
^Kovalenko, Maksym V.; Bodnarchuk, Maryna I.; Zaumseil, Jana; Lee, Jong-Soo; Talapin, Dmitri V. (2010-07-28). "Expanding the Chemical Versatility of Colloidal Nanocrystals Capped with Molecular Metal Chalcogenide Ligands". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 132 (29): 10085–10092.
doi:
10.1021/ja1024832.
ISSN0002-7863.
PMID20593874.