ACS Award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry: Erhard Kemnitz

Sponsor: ACS Division of Fluorine Chemistry

Citation: For his studies on nanoscopic fluorinated materials that provided the foundation for a novel research field, which exhibits a high impact for fundamental and applied research.

Current position: professor of inorganic chemistry, Humboldt University of Berlin

Education: Diplom (master’s degree equivalent) and Ph.D., chemistry, Humboldt University of Berlin

Kemnitz on his scientific role model and why: “My professional inspiration is based on Wilhelm von Humboldt’s holistic concept of education and the principle of unity of research and teaching. Interactions with my undergraduate and graduate students and collaborators keep me young and creative. Their perspectives impact my research by stimulating questions and reflections on scientific problems. Their input and contributions are invaluable to me to be creative and enthusiastic in what I do as a researcher and teacher.”

What his colleagues say: “Professor Kemnitz is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of solid-state fluorine chemistry, from fundamental chemistry to industrial applications. A striking achievement was his group’s development of the fluorolytic sol-gel route, which has opened new doors into the chemistry of monodisperse nanometal fluorides. Kemnitz and coworkers are the world-leading group in this technique. It is likely to be very useful even beyond academia, and several cooperative projects with industry are still ongoing. In short, professor Kemnitz is an outstanding scientist in the fluorine chemistry community and has made very important contributions to this field.”—Sebastian Riedel, Free University of Berlin

Please send announcements of awards to l_wang@acs.org.