Prof. Dr. Elena Sturm
Professorin für Angewandte Mineralogie: Geomaterialien in Technik und Umwelt
has been appointed in 2022 as W2 Professor for “Applied Mineralogy: Geomaterials in Technology and Environment” at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, LMU Munich. She studied chemistry at the Omsk State University and received her Diploma in 2005. In 2010 she received her PhD from the Department of Crystallography at the Saint-Petersburg State University (supervisor: Prof. O. V. Frank-Kamenetskaya) based on work carried out in cooperation with the group of Prof. R. Kniep at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids. From 2010 to 2012 she was a PostDoc at the same Max Planck Institute in Dresden. Since 2013 she was a Research Fellow of the Zukunftskolleg, Junior group leader and Habilitandin at the Department Chemistry (Physical Chemistry, group of Prof. H. Cölfen), University of Konstanz. In 2021, she finished her Habilitation and received Venia Legendi in Materials Science and Solid-State Chemistry. Her research is devoted to the understanding of the fundamental principles of structuring, formation and properties of nanostructured and composite materials from natural, biomimetic and bioinspired materials and self-assemblies of nanoparticles.
CV
Education and Qualifications
2013 – 2021
Habilitation and Venia Legendi in Materials Science and Solid-State Chemistry. Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
Defended: 17.11.2021, Urkunde 01.12.2021
Title: "Nanostructured Composite Materials: From Biological and Bioinspired Materials to Nanoparticle Assemblies"
10/2005 – 18/02/2010
Candidate of Science in Geology and Mineralogy (equivalent of PhD and Dr. degrees). Specialization "Crystallography and Mineralogy". Department of Crystallography, Geological Faculty, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
Defended: 18.02.2010
Title "Crystal chemistry and morphogenesis of natural and biomimetic apatite-(CaF)-organic composites"
Supervisor: Prof. Olga V. Frank-Kamenetskaya
03/2007 – 02/2010
Visiting Research Scholar (within PhD project), Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany.
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Kniep
09/2000 – 07/2005
Diploma degree in Chemistry (equivalent of M.S. degree), Chemical Faculty, Department of Inorganic Chemistry,
F. M. Dostoevsky Omsk State University, Omsk, Russia.
Advisor: Prof. Olga A. Golovanova
Grade: 5.0 (5.0=best)
09/1990 – 06/2000
Gymnasium (High School) 9, scientific profile, Omsk, Russia.
Grade: 5.0 (5.0=best) Silver Medal
Academic Appointmentssince 01.01.2022
Professor W2 (tenure track) of Applied Mineralogy: Geomaterials in Technology and Environment. Crystallography Section, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich.
03/2013 – 2021
Group leader and Habilitandin at the Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany (since 01.01.2021 – associated).
Host: Prof. Dr. Helmut Cölfen
01/2021 – 12/2021
Associated Fellow of the Zukunftskolleg/ Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
02/2018 – 12/2020
Fellow of the Zukunftskolleg/ Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
03/2013 – 02/2018
Research fellow of the Zukunftskolleg/ Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
10/2012 – 03/2014
Postdoctoral Researcher, DFG Individual Grant (RO 4511/1-1). Department of Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
Host: Prof. Dr. Helmut Cölfen
03/2010 – 09/2012
Postdoctoral Researcher, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany.
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Kniep
03/2007-10/2008, 04 – 05/2009, 01 – 03/2010
Research Assistant, Visiting Research Scholar, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany.
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Kniep
01/2007 – 02/2007
Research Assistant, Visiting Research Scholar, Institute of Geography and Geological Sciences, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
Supervisor: Dr. J. Kasbohm
2006 – 2009
Research Assistant, Institute of Earth Crust, Geological Faculty, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Advisor: Prof. Olga V. Frank-Kamenetskaya
- 08/2020 Emerging Investigators 2020 issue, Journal of Materials Chemistry C (J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020, 8, 10490).
- 07-12/2020 "Konstanzia Transition" funded by the Equal Opportunity Council.
- 06-07/2017 Research fellow, Department of Chemistry and Molecular Design Institute, New York University, New York City, United States. Host: Prof. Bart Kahr, Res. Prof. Alexander Shtukenberg, Prof. Michael Ward.
- 2013 – 2018 Zukunftskolleg Research Fellowship, Zukunftskolleg University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
- 2007- 2010 Visiting Research Scholar, MPI for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany.
- 2009 Award of the Russian Geological Society and Federal Subsoil Use Agency in the field of science and innovation technology, Moscow, Russia.
- 10/2009 Award of the Russian Mineralogical Society "Outstanding scientific research of young scientists" Saint Petersburg, Russia.
- 10/2008 Award of the Russian Mineralogical Society "The Best Scientific Presentation of Young Scientists" ("Fedorov Session"), Saint Petersburg, Russia.
- 2003 – 2004 Scholarship of Government of Russian Federation for the graduate and postgraduate students. Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.
- 2002 – 2003 Scholarship of President of Russian Federation for the graduate and postgraduate students. Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.
- since 2024 Elective member of the advisory board (Wahlmitglied des Beirats), German Mineralogical Society (DMG).
- since 2023 Associate Editor, European Journal of Mineralogy (EJM)
- since 2022 Coordinator at LMU Munich. Master in Materials Science powEred by Large Scale Facilities (MaMaSELF2). Erasmus+ Programme. ERASMUS UN Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters.
- since 2024 Member of Center for NanoScience (CeNS) at Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich
- since 2023 Member of German Mineralogical Society (Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft, DMG)
- since 2022 Member of Center for Geobiology and Biodiversity Research at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich (GeoBio-CenterLMU)
- since 2021 Member of German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (Deutscher Hochschulverband, DHV)
- since 2023 Deputy Chair of the Selection Committee (Stellvertrendender Vorsitz der Auswahlkommission) for the LMU-TUM Masters Program in “Geomaterials and Geochemistry LMU-TUM Masters Geomaterials and Geochemistry“.
- since 2023 Examination Committee (Prüfungsausschusses) for the LMU-TUM Master’s Program in Geomaterials and Geochemistry
- since 2022 Member of 7 (incl. 3 Chair) examination PhD committees at LMU Munich
Biological Hard Tissue
The teeth of cichlids from the Great Lakes of East Africa are an excellent example of functional, apatite-containing biomaterials that are well adapted to their respective applications.
The most fascinating natural examples of nanocomposites are represented by so-called biominerals, acting as functional materials in living systems. In particular, apatite-organic (protein) nanocomposites are the main components of bone and teeth hard tissues of vertebrates (including humans).
In order to get deeper insight into the basic principles of apatite-based biomineralization, especially with respect to evolutionary optimization during natural selection processes, a focus will be put on the detailed investigation of the hierarchical structure of the apatite-based dental (and dental-like) hard tissues of the elements of the feeding apparatus of conodonts (one of the earliest vertebrates 495–199.6 Ma) and cichlid fishes.
Simon, P., Carrillo-Cabrera, W., Huang, Y. X., Buder, J., Borrmann, H., Cardoso-Gil, R., Rosseeva, E., Yarin, Y., Zahnert, T., Kniep, R.:
Structural Relationship between Calcite-Gelatine Composites and Biogenic (Human) Otoconia European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry 2011, 5370-5377. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejic.201100756
Biomimetic Material
Taking a biological composite material as a model, one can mimic biomimetic dental filling or bone implant materials with natural composition and structure that exhibit both excellent mechanical properties and good biocompatibility.
We perform biomimetic synthesis of apatite-gelatine nanocomposites. The comprehensive investigation of biomimetically grown composite aggregates as well as dental hard tissues of vertebrates holds the chance to get more insight into the general principles of very early scenarios of biomineralization and to understand the unique structures and properties of nanocomposite materials of biological hard tissues. Parallel to these investigations we are also developing the efficient biomimetic synthesis approach apatite-protein (gelatine) nanocomposites that are suitable for dental repair applications.
Schultz, J., Kirner, F., Potapov, P., Büchner, B., Lubk, A., Sturm, E.V. Tailoring Plasmonics of Au@Ag Nanoparticles by Silica Encapsulation Advanced Optical Materials 2021, 9, 2101221-2101221.
Nanoparticle Self-Assemblies
Structural principles of biomaterials can also be transferred to artificial systems to exploit new structure-property relationships.
Mesocrystals are "nanostructured materials characterized by a defined order on the atomic scale (which can be inferred from the existence of an essentially sharp wide angle diffraction pattern) together with clear evidence that the material consists of individual nanosized building units". In the past years, we have structurally characterized a large variety of inorganic-organic nanocomposite materials incl. biological and biomimetic materials as well as nanoparticle self-assemblies.
The self-assembly of monodisperse anisotropic nanocrystals (stabilized by organic molecules) allows to generate a special type of mesocrystals which fulfils the criteria of crystalline material on two length scales: ordered superlattice (colloidal crystal) together with specific crystallographic orientation of the crystalline building blocks.
Our contribution:One of our recent examples is the detailed structural characterization of 2D and 3D mesocrystalline materials based on iron oxide nanoparticle self-assemblies. The approach we are using in our study aims to determine the orientational relations between the nanocrystals within the superlattice and also to develop atomistic models suitable for a detailed description of the structures of the colloidal superlattices (mesocrystals). Furthermore, we are also examining the effect of synthesis conditions on the self-assembly process and especially on the formation of 3D faceted mesocrystals.
Schlotheuber Née Brunner, J. J., Maier, B., Kirner, F., Sturm, S., Cölfen, H., Sturm, E. V. Self-Assembled Faceted Mesocrystals: Advances in Optimization of Growth Conditions Crystal Growth and Design 2021, 21, 5490-5495.