Prof. em. Dr. Alexander Wokaun
Prof. em. Dr. Alexander Wokaun
Professor Emeritus at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences
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Research area
Contributions to the development of sustainable energy supply systems constitute a major point of emphasis in the Energy and Environment Research Division at the Paul Scherrer Institute. The research program comprises processes for the use of regenerative energies, chemical and electro-chemical methods of energy storage, techniques on the low emission combustion of fossil fuels, efficient energy conversion in low temperature fuel cells and a comprehensive analysis of ecological and economical consequences of energy consumption. Prof. Wokaun's research interests lie in particular in the field of catalytic processes for energy storage and the characterization of functional materials by spectroscopic methods.
Alexander Wokaun has been Full Professor of Chemistry at the Laboratory for Biochemical and Chemical Engineering at the ETH Zurich, from 1994 until his retirement end of 2017. During the same time he was also heading the Energy and Environment Research Division at the Paul Scherrer Institute. From 2006 until 2018 he was chairman of the Steering Commitee of the Competence Center for Energy and Mobility, CCEM.
Prof. Wokaun, who is from Endingen AG, was born on 19 October 1952. He studied in the Department of Chemistry at ETH Zurich and received his doctorate under Richard R. Ernst on the subject of nuclear magnetic resonance. During his subsequent research fellowship at IBM Research Laboratories in San Jose CA and at the Bell Laboratories in Holmdel NJ, he worked with laser spectroscopic methods for three years. In 1982 he returned to the ETH Zurich and completed his habilitation thesis on energy conversion processes at interfaces. In 1986 he was appointed to the Chair of Physical Chemistry at the University of Bayreuth.
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Current projects of the Division Energy and Environment of the Paul Scherrer Institute are presented at www.psi.ch/ene .