Anthony R. West

Last updated

Anthony Roy West
Born (1947-01-21) 21 January 1947 (age 77)
Education University College Swansea
University of Aberdeen
Scientific career
Institutions University of Aberdeen
University of Sheffield
Doctoral advisor Fredrik P. Glasser

Anthony Roy West FRSE, FRSC, FInstP, FIMMM (born 21 January 1947) is a British chemist and materials scientist, and Professor of Electroceramics and Solid State Chemistry at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield. [1]

Contents

Education

West was educated at The Harvey Grammar School and then University College Swansea where he gained a Bachelor of Science in chemistry in 1968. He then moved to the University of Aberdeen where he completed a PhD in 1971 under the supervision of Fredrik P. Glasser. [1]

He was appointed lecturer at the University of Aberdeen in 1971 and gained his Doctor of Science (DSc) from the university in 1984. He became professor in chemistry in 1989. He then moved to the University of Sheffield in 1999 to become Head of the Department of Engineering Materials.

Research

West's research has covered the synthesis of new oxide materials, crystal structure determination and structure-property relations with particular focus on ionic, electronic and mixed ionic-electronic conduction. This includes lithium ion conductors, oxygen ion conductor and superconductors. His research on these new materials has covered a broad range of conducting materials, including Li3VO4-Li4(Si,Ge)O4 solid solutions with high lithium ion conductivity at room temperature, [2] the Ca12Al14O33 oxide ion conductor [3] and much research on barium titanate, such as that on the La-doped BaTiO3 high permittivity dielectric. [4] He discovered the first 5-volt cathode material for lithium battery applications, Li2CoMn3O8. [5]

One of his specialties has been development of the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (see dielectric spectroscopy) technique for materials characterisation and electrical property measurements. [6] [7] [8] He developed the impedance and modulus spectroscopy technique of data analysis with his colleague at Aberdeen, Malcolm Ingram [6] [7] and the Almond-West method for ac conductivity data analysis. [9]

Promotion of solid state and materials chemistry

West's book Solid State Chemistry and its applications [10] and its condensed version "Basic Solid State Chemistry" [11] are well-regarded texts in the field [12] [13] and a recent updated version of the former as a student edition was published in 2014. [11]

West was the founder of the RSC journal Journal of Materials Chemistry in 1991 [14] and of the "Materials Chemistry" conference series in the UK, organising the first in Aberdeen in 1991. [15]

Awards and honours

West was awarded the John B. Goodenough Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2013 for "his outstanding contributions to our understanding of structure-composition-property relationships in oxide-based materials, and their application in solid state devices, and for his preeminent role in promoting materials chemistry." [15]

West is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Awards:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium-ion battery</span> Rechargeable battery type

A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. In comparison with other commercial rechargeable batteries, Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, higher energy density, higher energy efficiency, a longer cycle life, and a longer calendar life. Also noteworthy is a dramatic improvement in lithium-ion battery properties after their market introduction in 1991: within the next 30 years, their volumetric energy density increased threefold while their cost dropped tenfold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strontium titanate</span> Chemical compound

Strontium titanate is an oxide of strontium and titanium with the chemical formula SrTiO3. At room temperature, it is a centrosymmetric paraelectric material with a perovskite structure. At low temperatures it approaches a ferroelectric phase transition with a very large dielectric constant ~104 but remains paraelectric down to the lowest temperatures measured as a result of quantum fluctuations, making it a quantum paraelectric. It was long thought to be a wholly artificial material, until 1982 when its natural counterpart—discovered in Siberia and named tausonite—was recognised by the IMA. Tausonite remains an extremely rare mineral in nature, occurring as very tiny crystals. Its most important application has been in its synthesized form wherein it is occasionally encountered as a diamond simulant, in precision optics, in varistors, and in advanced ceramics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium nitride</span> Chemical compound

Lithium nitride is a compound with the formula Li3N. It is the only stable alkali metal nitride. The solid has a reddish-pink color and high melting point.

Nanoionics is the study and application of phenomena, properties, effects, methods and mechanisms of processes connected with fast ion transport (FIT) in all-solid-state nanoscale systems. The topics of interest include fundamental properties of oxide ceramics at nanometer length scales, and fast ion conductor /electronic conductor heterostructures. Potential applications are in electrochemical devices for conversion and storage of energy, charge and information. The term and conception of nanoionics were first introduced by A.L. Despotuli and V.I. Nikolaichik in January 1992.

Beta-alumina solid electrolyte (BASE) is a fast ion conductor material used as a membrane in several types of molten salt electrochemical cell. Currently there is no known substitute available. β-Alumina exhibits an unusual layered crystal structure which enables very fast ion transport. β-Alumina is not an isomorphic form of aluminium oxide (Al2O3), but a sodium polyaluminate. It is a hard polycrystalline ceramic, which, when prepared as an electrolyte, is complexed with a mobile ion, such as Na+, K+, Li+, Ag+, H+, Pb2+, Sr2+ or Ba2+ depending on the application. β-Alumina is a good conductor of its mobile ion yet allows no non-ionic (i.e., electronic) conductivity. The crystal structure of the β-alumina provides an essential rigid framework with channels along which the ionic species of the solid can migrate. Ion transport involves hopping from site to site along these channels. Since the 1970's this technology has been thoroughly developed, resulting in interesting applications. Its special characteristics on ion and electrical conductivity make this material extremely interesting in the field of energy storage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fast-ion conductor</span>

In materials science, fast ion conductors are solid conductors with highly mobile ions. These materials are important in the area of solid state ionics, and are also known as solid electrolytes and superionic conductors. These materials are useful in batteries and various sensors. Fast ion conductors are used primarily in solid oxide fuel cells. As solid electrolytes they allow the movement of ions without the need for a liquid or soft membrane separating the electrodes. The phenomenon relies on the hopping of ions through an otherwise rigid crystal structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yttria-stabilized zirconia</span> Ceramic with room temperature stable cubic crystal structure

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is a ceramic in which the cubic crystal structure of zirconium dioxide is made stable at room temperature by an addition of yttrium oxide. These oxides are commonly called "zirconia" (ZrO2) and "yttria" (Y2O3), hence the name.

An Ion gel is a composite material consisting of an ionic liquid immobilized by an inorganic or a polymer matrix. The material has the quality of maintaining high ionic conductivity while in the solid state. To create an ion gel, the solid matrix is mixed or synthesized in-situ with an ionic liquid. A common practice is to utilize a block copolymer which is polymerized in solution with an ionic liquid so that a self-assembled nanostructure is generated where the ions are selectively soluble. Ion gels can also be made using non-copolymer polymers such as cellulose, oxides such as silicon dioxide or refractory materials such as boron nitride.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solid state ionics</span>

Solid-state ionics is the study of ionic-electronic mixed conductor and fully ionic conductors and their uses. Some materials that fall into this category include inorganic crystalline and polycrystalline solids, ceramics, glasses, polymers, and composites. Solid-state ionic devices, such as solid oxide fuel cells, can be much more reliable and long-lasting, especially under harsh conditions, than comparable devices with fluid electrolytes.

LISICON is an acronym for LIthiumSuper Ionic CONductor, which refers to a family of solids with the chemical formula Li2+2xZn1−xGeO4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NASICON</span> Class of solid materials

NASICON is an acronym for sodium (Na) super ionic conductor, which usually refers to a family of solids with the chemical formula Na1+xZr2SixP3−xO12, 0 < x < 3. In a broader sense, it is also used for similar compounds where Na, Zr and/or Si are replaced by isovalent elements. NASICON compounds have high ionic conductivities, on the order of 10−3 S/cm, which rival those of liquid electrolytes. They are caused by hopping of Na ions among interstitial sites of the NASICON crystal lattice.

Lithium hybrid organic batteries are an energy storage device that combines lithium with an organic polymer. For example, polyaniline vanadium (V) oxide (PAni/V2O5) can be incorporated into the nitroxide-polymer lithium iron phosphate battery, PTMA/LiFePO4. Together, they improve the lithium ion intercalation capacity, cycle life, electrochemical performances, and conductivity of batteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixed conductor</span>

Mixed conductors, also known as mixed ion-electron conductors(MIEC), are a single-phase material that has significant conduction ionically and electronically. Due to the mixed conduction, a formally neutral species can transport in a solid and therefore mass storage and redistribution are enabled. Mixed conductors are well known in conjugation with high-temperature superconductivity and are able to capacitate rapid solid-state reactions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thiosilicate</span> Inorganic silicon compound

In chemistry and materials science, thiosilicate refers to materials containing anions of the formula [SiS2+n]2n. Derivatives where some sulfide is replaced by oxide are also called thiosilicates, examples being materials derived from the oxohexathiodisilicate [Si2OS6]6−. Silicon is tetrahedral in all thiosilicates and sulfur is bridging or terminal. Formally such materials are derived from silicon disulfide in analogy to the relationship between silicon dioxide and silicates. Thiosilicates are typically encountered as colorless solids. They are characteristically sensitive to hydrolysis. They are from the class of chalcogenidotetrelates.

Linda Faye Nazar is a Senior Canada Research Chair in Solid State Materials and Distinguished Research Professor of Chemistry at the University of Waterloo. She develops materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Nazar demonstrated that interwoven composites could be used to improve the energy density of lithium–sulphur batteries. She was awarded the 2019 Chemical Institute of Canada Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Rupp</span> German-American professor

Jennifer L. M. Rupp FRSC is a material scientist and professor at the Technical University of Munich, visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the CTO for battery research at TUM International Energy Research. Rupp has published more than 130 papers in peer reviewed journals, co-authored 7 book chapters and holds more than 25 patents. Rupp research broadly encompasses solid state materials and cell designs for sustainable batteries, energy conversion and neuromorphic memory and computing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solid-state electrolyte</span> Type of solid ionic conductor electrolyte

A solid-state electrolyte (SSE) is a solid ionic conductor and electron-insulating material and it is the characteristic component of the solid-state battery. It is useful for applications in electrical energy storage (EES) in substitution of the liquid electrolytes found in particular in lithium-ion battery. The main advantages are the absolute safety, no issues of leakages of toxic organic solvents, low flammability, non-volatility, mechanical and thermal stability, easy processability, low self-discharge, higher achievable power density and cyclability. This makes possible, for example, the use of a lithium metal anode in a practical device, without the intrinsic limitations of a liquid electrolyte thanks to the property of lithium dendrite suppression in the presence of a solid-state electrolyte membrane. The use of a high capacity anode and low reduction potential, like lithium with a specific capacity of 3860 mAh g−1 and a reduction potential of -3.04 V vs SHE, in substitution of the traditional low capacity graphite, which exhibits a theoretical capacity of 372 mAh g−1 in its fully lithiated state of LiC6, is the first step in the realization of a lighter, thinner and cheaper rechargeable battery. Moreover, this allows the reach of gravimetric and volumetric energy densities, high enough to achieve 500 miles per single charge in an electric vehicle. Despite the promising advantages, there are still many limitations that are hindering the transition of SSEs from academia research to large-scale production, depending mainly on the poor ionic conductivity compared to that of liquid counterparts. However, many car OEMs (Toyota, BMW, Honda, Hyundai) expect to integrate these systems into viable devices and to commercialize solid-state battery-based electric vehicles by 2025.

Lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide (LLZO, Li7La3Zr2O12) or lithium lanthanum zirconate is a lithium-stuffed garnet material that is under investigation for its use in solid-state electrolytes in lithium-based battery technologies. LLZO has a high ionic conductivity and thermal and chemical stability against reactions with prospective electrode materials, mainly lithium metal, giving it an advantage for use as an electrolyte in solid-state batteries. LLZO exhibits favorable characteristics, including the accessibility of starting materials, cost-effectiveness, and straightforward preparation and densification processes. These attributes position this zirconium-containing lithium garnet as a promising solid electrolyte for all-solid-state lithium-ion rechargeable batteries.

A polymer electrolyte is a polymer matrix capable of ion conduction. Much like other types of electrolyte—liquid and solid-state—polymer electrolytes aid in movement of charge between the anode and cathode of a cell. The use of polymers as an electrolyte was first demonstrated using dye-sensitized solar cells. The field has expanded since and is now primarily focused on the development of polymer electrolytes with applications in batteries, fuel cells, and membranes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithium aluminium germanium phosphate</span> Chemical compound

Lithium aluminium germanium phosphate, typically known with the acronyms LAGP or LAGPO, is an inorganic ceramic solid material whose general formula is Li
1+x
Al
x
Ge
2-x
(PO
4
)
3
. LAGP belongs to the NASICON family of solid conductors and has been applied as a solid electrolyte in all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries. Typical values of ionic conductivity in LAGP at room temperature are in the range of 10–5 - 10–4 S/cm, even if the actual value of conductivity is strongly affected by stoichiometry, microstructure, and synthesis conditions. Compared to lithium aluminium titanium phosphate (LATP), which is another phosphate-based lithium solid conductor, the absence of titanium in LAGP improves its stability towards lithium metal. In addition, phosphate-based solid electrolytes have superior stability against moisture and oxygen compared to sulfide-based electrolytes like Li
10
GeP
2
S
12
(LGPS) and can be handled safely in air, thus simplifying the manufacture process. Since the best performances are encountered when the stoichiometric value of x is 0.5, the acronym LAGP usually indicates the particular composition of Li
1.5
Al
0.5
Ge
1.5
(PO
4
)
3
, which is also the typically used material in battery applications.

References

  1. 1 2 University of Sheffield website
  2. Khorassani, A.; West, A. R. (1984). "Li+ Ion Conductivity in the System Li4SiO4 - Li3VO4". Journal of Solid State Chemistry. 53 (3): 369. doi:10.1016/0022-4596(84)90114-2.
  3. Lacerda, M.; Irvine, J.T.S.; Glasser, F.P.; West, A. R. (1988). "High Oxide Ion Conductivity in Ca12Al14O33". Nature. 332 (6164): 525. Bibcode:1988Natur.332..525L. doi:10.1038/332525a0. S2CID   4348010.
  4. Morrison, F.D.; Sinclair, D.C.; West, A. R. (1999). "Electrical and structural characteristics of lanthanum-doped barium titanate ceramics". Journal of Applied Physics. 86 (11): 6355. Bibcode:1999JAP....86.6355M. doi:10.1063/1.371698.
  5. Kawai, H.; Nagata, M.; Tukamoto, H; West, A. R. (1998). "A novel cathode Li2CoMn3O8 for lithium ion batteries operating over 5 volts". Journal of Materials Chemistry. 8 (4): 837. doi:10.1039/a800604k.
  6. 1 2 Hodge, I. M.; Ingram, M. D.; West, A. R. (1975). "New Method for Analyzing AC Behaviour of Polycrystalline Solid Electrolytes". Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry. 58 (2): 429. doi:10.1016/0368-1874(75)85015-5.
  7. 1 2 Hodge, I. M.; Ingram, M. D.; West, A. R. (1976). "Impedance and Modulus Spectroscopy of Polycrystalline Solid Electrolytes". Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry. 74 (2): 125. doi:10.1016/S0022-0728(76)80229-X.
  8. Irvine, J. T. S.; Sinclair, D. C.; West, A. R. (1990). "Electroceramics: Characterization by Impedance Spectroscopy". Advanced Materials. 2 (3): 132. Bibcode:1990AdM.....2..132I. doi:10.1002/adma.19900020304.
  9. Almond, D. P.; Duncan, G. K.; West, A. R. (1983). "The Determination of Hopping Rates and Carrier Concentrations in Ionic Conductors by a New Analysis of AC Conductivity". Solid State Ionics. 8 (2): 159. doi:10.1016/0167-2738(83)90079-6.
  10. Publisher's website – Wiley
  11. 1 2 Publisher's website – Wiley
  12. Dollase, W. A. (1985). "Review of Solid State Chemistry and its Applications". Acta Crystallographica. B41: 454. doi: 10.1107/S0108768185002476 .
  13. Parkin, Ivan P (2000). "Review: Basic Solid State Chemistry". Applied Organometallic Chemistry. 14: 227. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0739(200004)14:4<227::AID-AOC949>3.0.CO;2-F.
  14. Editorial (2006). "250 Good Reasons to read Journal of Materials Chemistry". Journal of Materials Chemistry. 16 (28): 2865. doi:10.1039/B608323B.
  15. 1 2 RSC citation for Award, 2013