Prof. Dr. Jennifer Strunk
Academic Career and Research Areas
Prof. Strunk (*1980) conducts research in the fields of heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis. The goal is the activation of small stable molecules, such as the recycling of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into chemical production and the activation of nitrogen for the synthesis of basic chemicals. In particular, the focus is on understanding the light- and heat-driven physical and chemical elementary steps to enable scaling up from the laboratory to industry.
Prof. Strunk received her diploma (2004) and PhD degree (2008) in Industrial Chemistry from the Ruhr-University Bochum. After a postdoctoral stay at UC Berkeley (2008-2010), she became junior research group leader at Ruhr-University (2010-2014). She was independent group leader at the MPI for Chemical Energy Conversion (2014-2016), and W2 professor at Leibniz Institute for Catalysis at the University of Rostock (2017-2023). In 2023, Prof. Strunk was appointed to the W3 professorship “Industrial Chemistry and Heterogeneous Catalysis” at TUM.
Awards
- "Dozentenpreis" of the Chemical Industry Fund (2017)
- Jochen-Block-Preis of the German Catalysis Society (2014)
- Nominated member of the “Global Young Faculty” of the Mercator Research Center Ruhr (2013)
- BMBF Junior Research Group Grant, ~1.2 Mio. Euros (2010)
- PhD Fellowship of the Heinrich-Böll foundation (2007)
Key Publications
Lang M, Klahn M, Strunk J: „Supported Titanium Oxide Species as Photocatalysts in 2-Propanol Oxidation: Linking Selectivity to Structural and Electronic Properties“, Applied Surface Science. 2023; 611: 155623.
AbstractMoustakas NG, Lorenz F, Dilla M, Peppel T, Strunk J: “Pivotal role of holes in photocatalytic CO2 reduction on TiO2”, Chemistry - A European Journal. 2021; 27(68): 17213-17219.
AbstractSiemer N, Lüken A, Zalibera M, Frenzel J, Muñoz-Santiburcio D, Savitsky A, Lubitz W, Muhler M, Marx D, Strunk J: “Atomic scale explanation of O2 activation at the Au-TiO2 interface”, Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2018; 140(51): 18082-18092.
AbstractPougin A, Dilla M, Strunk J: “Identification and exclusion of intermediates of photocatalytic CO2 reduction on TiO2 under conditions of highest purity”, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2016. 18:10809-10817.
AbstractMei B, Pougin A, Strunk J: „Influence of photodeposited gold nanoparticles on the photocatalytic activity of titanate species in the reduction of CO2 to hydrocarbons”, Journal of Catalysis 2013. 306: 184-189.
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