Submission Deadline EXTENDED: February 12, 2020 March 15, 2020

Submit your manuscripts to the Journal of The Electrochemical Society‘s Focus Issue on Battery Safety, Reliability, and Mitigation.

About the focus issue

This Journal of The Electrochemical Society focus issue addresses the fundamental risks and issues associated with battery safety and reliability. Industry challenges with fielding safe and reliable batteries are increasing as new cell designs are introduced into advanced energy storage applications requiring higher specific energies, fast charging, and lower cost alternatives. As such, improvements in cell and battery safety design without compromising performance continues to be a major focus for researchers, manufacturers and users across all sectors of the energy storage marketplace. Better understanding of battery failure mechanisms will further enable regulatory agency approval and public acceptance of early deployment of advanced battery energy storage systems for high reliability applications. (more…)

Congratulations to Siegfried R. Waldvogel who received the 2020 ECS Organic and Biological Electrochemistry Division Manuel M. Baizer Award in recognition of his significant contributions to the field of organic electrochemistry. The award is sponsored by The Electrosynthesis Company, Inc. and Monsanto Company. A symposium and reception in his honor will be held at the 237th ECS Meeting with IMCS 2020.

Siegfried R. Waldvogel

Waldvogel received his PhD in 1996 from the University of Bochum/Max-Planck-Institute for Coal Research. After postdoctoral research at the Scripps Research Institute, he worked at the University of Münster, then as professor of organic chemistry at the University of Bonn. Waldvogel became a full professor in 2010 at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. He has recently been named the director of the Gutenberg University Forschungskollegs.

Long Luo, the featured speaker at ECS Detroit Section’s November 21 meeting, presents:

“Bubble-based electrochemical methods for detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water”


Long Luo

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry
Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan (more…)

From left to right: Ramchandra Gawas, Thomas Lee Spencer, and Junpei Koike; photo by Robb Cohen Photography and Video

Established in 1993, the General Student Poster Session Awards acknowledge the excellence of students’ work. The winners display their understanding of research topics in fields of interest to The Electrochemical Society (ECS).

This year, at the 236th ECS Meeting in Atlanta, GA, almost 600 students submitted posters to the General Student Poster Session. Of them, three student posters stood out above the rest.

The recipients of the 235th ECS Meeting’s best poster awards are:

1st Place – $1,500 cash award
Ramchandra Gawas, Drexel University
Poster # 2310
Ionic Liquid Composite Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction(more…)

ECS announces a special opportunity for attendees

Interested in innovation programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF)? The NSF Directorate for Engineering’s Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) supports programs to accelerate NSF-funded and federally-funded fundamental research into market opportunities, and fosters public-private partnerships to advance technological innovation. IIP invests in high-tech small businesses and collaborations between academia and industry to transform discoveries into innovative commercial technologies with societal benefits.

Meet one-on-one with Jesus Soriano, NSF program director, Industrial Innovation and Partnerships Division, October 15-16 at the 236th ECS Meeting in Atlanta. Reserve your 15-minute meeting here:

Learn more about the IIP programs:

(more…)

John B. Goodenough

Christina Bock, president of the Board of The Electrochemical Society (ECS), congratulated John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino who today were jointly awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

“On behalf of the entire ECS community, I would like to extend my sincerest congratulations to our esteemed members: John Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino on being awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry ‘for the development of Lithium-ion batteries,’” said Bock. “This is fitting recognition for the truly groundbreaking advancements these pioneers have made for our field and for the whole of humanity. Simply put, their research is the enabling science upon which the solutions to the grand challenges facing the planet—renewable energy, clean transportation, communications to name but a few—will be based. We are honored to count their almost 60 years of combined membership among our ranks.” (more…)

While most research is accomplished by graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, a number of undergraduate-only institutions are also making significant contributions to electrochemistry. The Education in Electrochemistry symposium at the 236th ECS Meeting explores the challenges these primary investigators face that those at more research focused institutions do not. The symposium addresses teaching and curriculum ideas for incorporating electrochemistry into undergraduate programs — and also provides opportunities for undergrads to showcase their work.

In “How Do We Learn Electrochemistry,” Jeffrey W. Fergus decries the lack of formal electrochemistry educational programs. (more…)

ECS’s Detroit Section is proud to present guest speaker Fabio Albano at its October 10 section meeting. He will speak on:

“Best of Both Worlds: A Marriage of Two Battery Technologies”


Fabio Albano

Vice President of Technology
NantEnergy, Inc. (formerly Fluidic Energy)
Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

When:
Thursday, 10 October, 2019

Schedule:
17:30h | Reception
18:30h | Dinner
19:30h | Speaker (more…)

Women at the Forefront of Science

As ECS celebrates the 40-year-anniversary of its first female president, Joan Berkowitz, it is important to note that ECS has a tradition of showcasing women in the sciences at its meetings. Carol A. Bessel, acting division director at the National Science Foundation (NSF), was the highlighted speaker at the annual business meeting at the 235th ECS Meeting. Valerie Browning, director of the Defense Advances Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO), will deliver the ECS Lecture at the plenary session of the 236th ECS Meeting. If including, recognizing, and hearing women is critical to attracting and retaining talented women in the sciences, then Bessel and Browning are shining examples of women leading the way. (more…)

ECS recently lost a devoted, accomplished member, and a cherished friend. Robert Frankenthal passed away on Wednesday, September 18.

Bob held many posts and positions within the Corrosion Division and the Society itself, serving as chair of Pittsburgh Section (1963–64), Corrosion Division chair (1980–1982), and ECS President (1993–1994). He also received numerous awards and honors, including winning the Corrosion Division H. H. Uhlig Award in 1989 and becoming a Fellow of The Electrochemical Society in 1995.

If you would like to learn more about Bob, please visit the page about him on the ECS website, which also includes a long-form interview Roque Calvo, former ECS Executive Director, conducted with him as part of the ECS Masters Series.

(more…)