Bruno Georges Pollet

Last updated
Bruno Pollet 8042.jpg
Bruno G. Pollet
Born1969
CitizenshipFlag of France.svg  France
Education Université Joseph Fourier (DUT)
Coventry University (BSc(Hons))
The University of Aberdeen (MSc)
Coventry University (PhD)
Advance HE (AHEA)
Known for Hydrogen and Sonoelectrochemistry
AwardsFellow of the IAHE (International Association for Hydrogen Energy) (2024)
SCI Canada International (Society of Chemical Industry) (2024)
IAHE Sir William Grove (2022)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2010)
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
Thesis The Effect of Ultrasound on Electrochemical Processes sonoelectrochemistry
Doctoral advisors Timothy J. Mason and J. Phil Lorimer

Bruno Georges Pollet BSc(Hons) MSc PhD FIAHE FRSC (born in 1969), is a French electrochemist and electrochemical engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Fellow of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, a full professor of chemistry, director of the Green Hydrogen Lab and member of the Hydrogen Research Institute (Institut de recherche sur l'hydrogène) at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in Canada. He has worked on Hydrogen Energy in the UK, Japan, South Africa, Norway and Canada, and has both industrial and academic experience. He is a prolific scholar, collaborator, and mentor. He is also regarded as one of the most prominent Hydrogen experts and one of the Hydrogen "influencers" in the world.

Contents

Early life and education

Bruno G. Pollet was born in Orléans and grew up in Grenoble, France. He was educated in France, England (through the Erasmus Programme) and Scotland. Prior to entering the French university system, he did his Terminale C (baccalaureat C - mathematics and physical sciences) at the Lycée Pierre du Terrail (high school) where he studied with the French researcher and infectiologist, specialist in HIV, hepatitis and Covid-19, Karine Lacombe. He received a Diploma in Chemistry and Materials Science at the Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France (1991), a Bachelor's Honours Degree in Applied Chemistry at Coventry University, England (1992), a Masters Degree in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland (1994) and a Ph.D. Degree in electrochemistry with the dissertation "The Effect of Ultrasound on Electrochemical Processes" at the Sonochemistry Centre of Excellence, School of Chemistry, Coventry University in England (1998) under the supervision of Professors Tim J. Mason (sonochemist) and John P. Lorimer (physical chemist). He was also a Postdoctoral researcher in Electrocatalysis at the University of Liverpool Electrochemistry Group led by Professor David J. Schiffrin (2001) in the UK. He was offered and turned down a 3-year Postdoctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) position at the Compton Electrochemistry Group at Oxford University in the UK (1998), a 2-year Postdoctoral researcher position at The Australian National University Electrochemistry Group in Australia (2001) and a 1-year Postdoctoral researcher position at the Allen J. Bard Electrochemistry Group at the University of Texas at Austin in the US (2001).

Memberships, Awards and Invitations

He is a member of the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition (CEET): An Independent Advisory Council to the United Nations’ Secretary-General and CEET Hydrogen Task Force leader. He is also member of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Hydrogen Task Force, the “Renewable Hydrogen” task of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Hydrogen Technology Collaboration Program (TCP) and the IEA Technology Collaboration Programme on Advanced Fuel Cells. He is President of the Green Hydrogen Division of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, member of the Board of Directors and Executive Vice President of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE), member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Hydrogen Association (CHA), leader of H2CAN 2.0 (a cluster of hydrogen R&D groups in Canada), Canadian leader of the CNRS International Research Network (IRN) on Clean Hydrogen between France and Canada, [1] member of the Global Hydrogen Production Technologies (HyPT) Center [2] and member of the Strategy Board of HyCentA (Hydrogen Research Centre Austria). He was member of the Board of Directors of Hydrogène Québec from 2022-2024. He is member of the Electrochemical Society, member of the International Society of Electrochemistry and member of the Board of the European Society of Sonochemistry. He is also member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Canadian electrolyzer company, Hydrogen Optimized, led by the Stuart family which builds on a heritage of more than 100 years in the design of unipolar alkaline water electrolysis cells and plants, that has delivered 1 billion operating hours in approximately 1,000 hydrogen plants in 100 countries. [3] [4] [5] [6] He is Scientific Advisor of TES Canada H2 Inc., one of the largest producers of renewable hydrogen and natural gas in Canada. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] He is also Scientific Advisor of Cipher Neutron Inc., the only Canadian technology company focussing on disruptive AEM electrolyser technologies. [12] [13] [14] He was nominated as the "Hydrogen Champion" and Scientific Committee member of the Energy Transition Valley (Vallée de la Transition Énergétique - VTÉ). [15] He was awarded two prestigious research chairs: NSERC Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Green Hydrogen Production, and the Innergex Renewable Energy Research Chair (partly funded by the Québec Ministère de l'Économie, de l'Innovation et de l'Énergie) focussing on the next generation of hydrogen production and water electrolyzers (electrolysis of water). He was awarded the "IAHE Sir William Grove Award" in recognition of his leadership and his groundbreaking works in hydrogen, fuel cell and electrolyser technologies by the International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE) as well as the "SCI Canada International Award" by the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) in recognition of outstanding service and contributions in the international sphere to an industry that is based on Chemistry, for its processes and/or services. During his time at the University of Birmingham Centre for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research, he was named as "Birmingham Hero" for his hydrogen and fuel cell works. [16] In Norway, together with Torstein Dale Sjøtveit, he was member of the foundation group for the establishment of FREYR Battery (lithium-ion battery manufacturer). In 2022, Bruno G. Pollet was invited to witness at the Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources [17] [18] and the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, the House of Commons [19] in Canada. In 2024, he initiated and was the catalyst for the establishment of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Hydrogen Europe and the Canadian Hydrogen Association to accelerate hydrogen deployment and facilitate trade in clean molecules. [20] [21] In June 2024, he was awarded Fellow of the IAHE for his persistent promotion of Green hydrogen Technologies. In October 2024, he led the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières to be the first transatlantic university to join Hydrogen Europe Research, a hydrogen association that brings together the best leading universities, research organisations and R&D labs in Europe. [22] [23] [24]

Research and Teaching

His research field covers a wide range of areas within electrochemistry, electrochemical engineering, electrochemical energy conversion and sonoelectrochemistry (use of ultrasound in electrochemistry). This includes the development of new energy materials (storage of hydrogen, electrolyzer, fuel cells, batteries and supercapacitors); water treatment / disinfection; demonstrators and prototypes. He pioneered the use of ultrasound in the area of hydrogen science and technology. Since 1995, he has worked closely with the chemical engineer, Professor Jean-Yves Hihn (Université de Franche-Comté) in the area of sonoelectrochemistry. In their 2007 paper in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society, they proposed an equation as a tool for sonoelectrochemical research, [25] known as the "Pollet-Hihn equation". [26] During his time in the UK, he worked for several companies that include Johnson Matthey on fuel cell components and testing. He also worked closely with the British physicist and Fellow of the Royal Society, Kevin Kendall who both co-founded the University of Birmingham Centre for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research. In 2010, together with Kevin Kendall FRS, he developed the first Master and PhD programmes with integrated studies in hydrogen, fuel cells and their applications under the £5.5m UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Doctoral Training Centre that included the University of Birmingham, the University of Loughborough and the University of Nottingham. He is member of several international academic journals' editorial boards e.g. the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Current Opinion in Electrochemistry and Johnson Matthey Technology Review (previously known as Platinum Metals Review). According to ResearchGate, Bruno G. Pollet has over 400 publications that include peer-reviewed articles, conference articles, book chapters and authored/edited books. According to Google Scholar, his works have been highly cited (more than 15,000 times), with an h-index of 60 as of october 2024. According to the prestigious list published by Stanford University and the Scopus database, which brings together 9 million scientists, Bruno G. Pollet is among the 2% of most cited research experts across the planet in 2021, 2022 and 2023. [27]

Career

Peer-reviewed publications

Books

Related Research Articles

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