The Young Scientist Award, sponsored by BASF SE, was presented on the occasion of the Conferences Electrochemistry 2024 to Dr. Alexander Gunnarson in recognition of his outstanding dissertation entitled: "Synthesis and Evaluation of Nanostructured Electrocatalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells"

"Dr. Gunnarson investigated graphitic hollow spheres and graphitic mesoporous solid spheres as support materials for catalysers for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells. The focus of the work was on the optimisation of the manufacturing process of these carrier materials and on investigations into the stability and transport effects in the catalyst layer. In addition to developing a fundamental understanding of the structure-performance relationships for ORR, Dr Gunnarson also kept an eye on the application and developed a scalable synthesis route. Dr Gunnarson's work impressively covers a wealth of aspects surrounding the use of graphitic support materials for electrocatalysts. In addition, the results obtained in several collaborations are an excellent example of networking in science.

The Young Scientist Award, sponsored by BASF SE, was presented at the GDCh Science Forum Chemistry in Leipzig to Dr. Marvin Cronau in recognition of his outstanding dissertation completed at the Philipps University of Marburg entitled: "Synthesis, characterisation and optimisation of new materials for use in high-performance lithium-ion and lithium solid-state batteries"

"Dr. Cronau investigated the optimisation of the energy density of lithium-ion batteries by increasing the layer thickness of the electrodes. Various parameters for the resulting necessary reduction in cell resistance were evaluated." In the second part of his work, which is particularly noteworthy, Dr Cronau dealt with lithium solid-state batteries. Here he succeeded in revealing and demonstrating the dependence of the ionic conductivity of sulphide solid electrolytes on the manufacturing pressure of the sample and on the measurement pressure. The previously unknown qualitative differences in the pressure dependence of the ionic conductivity of amorphous and glass-ceramic samples compared to microcrystalline samples are of great importance for the further development of this type of battery. Furthermore, his findings can contribute to a better comparability of published ionic conductivities. In addition to the excellent scientific results, which were incorporated into this extremely clear dissertation with very good graphics, Dr Cronau also took into account the classification of his research for large-scale application."

The Young Scientist Award was presented to Dr Johannes Ludwig Röckl in recognition of his publication prepared in the working group of Prof Dr Siegfried Waldvogel at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz: "Merging shuttle reactions and paired electrolysis for reversible vicinal dihalogenations".

"Vicinal dibromides and dichlorides are widely used as flame retardants, pesticides, polymers and pharmaceuticals; their efficient extraction without the use of highly reactive and corrosive halogenation reagents has not been successful so far. Only the skilful combination of electrochemistry and synthesis achieved a breakthrough. The electrochemical reduction of aliphatic polyhalogen compounds with subsequent anodic oxidation of the released halide and its addition to double bonds developed by Mr Röckl is a new concept with broad application possibilities. With his "E-Shuttle" approach, Mr Röckl shows how landfill residues of the toxic insecticide lindane can be used to produce new valuable products. Traditional energy-intensive and technically complex degradation processes can be replaced by the new process."
With his work, Mr Röckl is making an important contribution to sustainable, electricity-based chemistry, which can help to eliminate persistent industrial contaminants."

The Young Scientist Award was presented to Tobias Löffler in recognition of his publication entitled: "Design of Complex Solid-Solution Electrocatalysts by Correlating Configuration, Adsorption Energy Distribution Patterns, and Activity Curves" published in February 2020 in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

High entropy alloys, in which five or more elements are present in a complex single-phase solid solution, form a variety of combinations of electrocatalytically active centres that overcome the limitations of catalyst combinations of individual elements. Tobias Löffler developed a concept that correlates the composition of a solid solution with the distribution pattern of adsorption energies and thus enables the derivation of electrochemical activity curves. The concept was verified by investigating oxygen reduction under alkaline conditions as a model reaction using selected catalyst combinations. This also makes it possible to limit the high screening effort of catalysts to the selection of meaningful element configurations.
The work contributes to the gain in understanding and reduces the future experimental effort for the synthesis and testing of electrocatalysts for the various applications of the promising substance class of high-entropy alloys.

The Young Scientist Award was presented to Dr Philip Heinrich Reinsberg for his outstanding dissertation on the topic: "On the Influence of Cations in Non-Aqueous Electrochemistry" at the 2019 Annual Meeting as part of the GDCh Science Forum in Aachen.

The Young Scientist Award was presented to Dr Philip Heinrich Reinsberg for his outstanding dissertation on the topic: "On the Influence of Cations in Non-Aqueous Electrochemistry" at the 2019 Annual Meeting as part of the GDCh Science Forum in Aachen.

In his work, Philip Reinsberg investigated the influence of alkali and alkaline earth ions on oxygen reduction in aprotic solvents. The influence of the ions on the reaction mechanism as well as the selectivity of the formed products at different electrode materials is described by the concept of the acceptor number of the cation generally valid for mono- and even divalent ions. The concept is based on experimental results obtained by an elegant combination of various electrochemical methods with modern characterisation techniques, for example surface-enhanced infrared spectroscopy. His work opens up access to a deeper understanding of processes in metal-air batteries, especially the possibilities - but also limitations - of alkaline earth-air systems, which could be an alternative to the widespread lithium-ion batteries in the future due to the accessible high energy densities and the good availability of raw materials.