Larry Curtiss

Larry Curtiss
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin-Madison (BA), Carnegie-Mellon University (PhD)
Occupation	Chemist
Organization(s)	Argonne National Laboratory, Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, the Center for Electrochemical Energy Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Known for	Gaussian-n series, lithium-air batteries
Awards	University of Chicago Distinguished Performance Award
Website	www.anl.gov/profile/larry-a-curtiss

Larry A. Curtiss is an American chemist and researcher. He was born in Madison. WI. in 1947. He is a distinguished fellow and group leader of the Molecular Materials Group in the Materials Science Division at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. ^[1] In addition, Curtiss is a senior investigator in the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), a DOE Energy Storage Hub, and was the deputy director of the Center for Electrochemical Energy Science, a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center. ^[1]

Curtiss is a specialist in developing quantum chemical methods for accurate energy calculations and applying these methods to energy- and material-related problems, including those related to catalysis, batteries, and carbon materials. His work has been cited over 67,000 times. ^[2]

Curtiss is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. ^[3]

Early life and education

Curtiss received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1969. ^[1] He then attended Carnegie-Mellon University, where he completed his master's in physical chemistry in 1971, and his Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1973. ^{[1] [4]} While a graduate student, he worked under the supervision of pioneering chemist Sir John Anthony Pople, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on computational methods in quantum chemistry. ^[5] Curtiss's thesis focused on quantum chemical studies of hydrogen bonded complexes. After graduating in 1973, he became a research fellow at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio until 1976. ^{[1] [4]}

Curtiss joined Argonne in 1976 as a research associate in Argonne's former Chemical Technology Division, where he rose through the ranks to become senior scientist in 1988. ^[4] In 1998, Curtiss was appointed to his current position as senior scientist and group leader of the Molecular Materials Group within Argonne's Materials Science Division. ^[4] From 2006 until 2009, he was also an acting group leader at the Center for Nanoscale Materials, and from 2004 until 2018, Curtiss was a senior fellow of the University of Chicago/Argonne Computation Institute. ^[4] In 2000, Curtiss was named an Argonne Distinguished Fellow. ^[3]

Research

Developing and applying computational chemistry methods

Curtiss helped develop the Gaussian-n series of quantum chemical methods for accurate energy calculations (G1, G2, G3, and G4 theories). ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]} These methods are for calculating the thermochemical properties of molecules and ions.

Modeling lithium-ion batteries and beyond-lithium-ion batteries

Curtiss is also involved in developing so-called "beyond-lithium-ion" batteries, such as lithium-sulfur and lithium–air batteries. He helped create a Li-O₂ battery that runs on lithium superoxide. ^{[10] [11]} Curtiss and researchers from Argonne and the University of Illinois also designed a lithium-air battery that works in a natural air environment for over 700 charge and discharge cycles, surpassing previous technology. ^{[12] [13]}

Honors and awards

• Named a Distinguished Fellow of Argonne National Laboratory, 2000 ^[3]
• Elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1997 ^[2]

Select Recent Publications

• Accurate quantum chemical energies for 133000 organic molecules, B. Narayanan, P.C. Redfern, R.S. Assary, L.A. Curtiss, Chem. Sci., 10, 7449-7455 (2019). doi:10.1039/C9SC02834J ^[14]
• Tuning the electrolyte network structure to invoke quasi-solid state sulfur conversion and suppress lithium dendrite formation in Li–S batteries, Q. Pang, A. Shyamsunder, B. Narayanan, C. Y. Kwok, L. A. Curtiss, L. F. Nazar, Nature Energy (2018) doi:10.1038/s41560-018-0214-0 ^[15]
• Lithium-Oxygen Batteries with Long Cycle Life in a Realistic Air Atmosphere, M. Asadi, B. Sayahpour, P. Abbasi, A. T. Ngo, K. Karis, J. R. Jokisaari, C. Liu, B. Narayanan, M. Gerard1, P. Yasaei, X. Hu, A. Mukherjee, K. C. Lau, R. S. Assary, F. Khalili-Araghi, R. F. Klie, L. A. Curtiss, Amin Salehi-Khojin1, Nature, 555, 502 (2018). DOI:10.1038/nature25984 ^[16]
• Perspective: Size selected clusters for catalysis and electrochemistry, A. Halder, L. A. Curtiss, A. Fortunelli, S. Vajda, J. Chem. Phys. 148, 110901 (2018).DOI: 10.1063/1.5020301 ^[17]
• The Role of Nanotechnology in the Development of Battery Materials for Electric Vehicles, J. Lu, Z. Chen, Z. Ma, F. Pan, L. A. Curtiss, K. Amine, Nature Nanotechnology 11, 1031–1038 (2016). DOI:10.1038/nnano.2016.207 ^[18]
• A Lithium-Oxygen Battery Based on Lithium Superoxide, J. Lu, Y. J. Lee, X. Luo, K. C. Lau, M. Asadi, H.-H. Wang, S. Brombosz, J. G. Wen, D. Zhai, Z. Chen, D. J. Miller, Y. S. Jeong, J.-B. Park, Z. Z. Fang, B. Kumar, A. Salehi-Khojin, Y.-K. Sun, L. A. Curtiss, K. Amine, Nature 2016, 529, 377. DOI:10.1038/nature16484 ^[19]
• Transition metal dichalcogenides as highly active catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction, Mohammad Asadi, Kibum Kim, Cong Liu, Aditya Venkata Addepalli, Pedram Abbasi, Poya Yasaei, Patrick Phillips, Amirhossein Behranginia, José M. Cerrato, Richard Haasch, Peter Zapol, Bijandra Kumar, Robert F. Klie, Jeremiah Abiade, Larry A. Curtiss, Amin Salehi-Khojin, Science, 353, 467-470 (2016). DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4767 ^[20]

Patents

• Lithium air batteries having ether-based electrolytes, (2016). ^[21]
• Lithium-oxygen batteries incorporating lithium superoxide, (2017). ^[11]
• Selective Oxidation of Propane to Propylene Oxide, (2019). ^[22]

References

1. "Larry A. Curtiss | Argonne National Laboratory". www.anl.gov. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
2. "Larry A. Curtiss - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
3. "Argonne Distinguished Fellows | Argonne National Laboratory". www.anl.gov. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
4. "Larry Curtiss" (PDF). Argonne National Laboratory. August 2018. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019.
5. "Chemistry Tree - Sir John Anthony Pople". academictree.org. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
6. Pople, John A.; Head-Gordon, Martin; Fox, Douglas J.; Raghavachari, Krishnan; Curtiss, Larry A. (1989-05-15). "Gaussian-1 theory: A general procedure for prediction of molecular energies" . The Journal of Chemical Physics. 90 (10): 5622–5629. Bibcode:1989JChPh..90.5622P. doi:10.1063/1.456415. ISSN   0021-9606.
7. Curtiss, Larry A.; Redfern, Paul C.; Raghavachari, Krishnan (2007-02-28). "Gaussian-4 theory". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 126 (8): 084108. Bibcode:2007JChPh.126h4108C. doi:10.1063/1.2436888. ISSN   0021-9606. PMID   17343441.
8. Curtiss, Larry A.; Raghavachari, Krishnan; Trucks, Gary W.; Pople, John A. (1991-06-01). "Gaussian-2 theory for molecular energies of first- and second-row compounds". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 94 (11): 7221–7230. Bibcode:1991JChPh..94.7221C. doi: 10.1063/1.460205 . ISSN   0021-9606.
9. Curtiss, Larry A.; Raghavachari, Krishnan; Redfern, Paul C.; Rassolov, Vitaly; Pople, John A. (1998-11-08). "Gaussian-3 (G3) theory for molecules containing first and second-row atoms" . The Journal of Chemical Physics. 109 (18): 7764–7776. Bibcode:1998JChPh.109.7764C. doi:10.1063/1.477422. ISSN   0021-9606.
10. "Stable "superoxide" opens the door to a new class of batteries | Argonne National Laboratory". www.anl.gov. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
11. US 9553316,Lu, Jun; Amine, Khalil& Curtiss, Larry Aet al.,"Lithium-oxygen batteries incorporating lithium superoxide",published 2017-01-24, assigned to Uchicago Argonne LLC  
12. Community, Nature Research Chemistry (2018-03-25). "New design produces true lithium-air battery". Nature Research Chemistry Community. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
13. "Out of thin air | Argonne National Laboratory". www.anl.gov. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
14. Narayanan, Badri; Redfern, Paul C.; Assary, Rajeev S.; Curtiss, Larry A. (2019-08-07). "Accurate quantum chemical energies for 133 000 organic molecules". Chemical Science. 10 (31): 7449–7455. doi:10.1039/C9SC02834J. ISSN   2041-6539. PMC   6713865 . PMID   31489167.
15. Pang, Quan; Shyamsunder, Abhinandan; Narayanan, Badri; Kwok, Chun Yuen; Curtiss, Larry A.; Nazar, Linda F. (September 2018). "Tuning the electrolyte network structure to invoke quasi-solid state sulfur conversion and suppress lithium dendrite formation in Li–S batteries". Nature Energy. 3 (9): 783–791. Bibcode:2018NatEn...3..783P. doi:10.1038/s41560-018-0214-0. ISSN   2058-7546. OSTI   1472132. S2CID   52825801.
16. Asadi, Mohammad; Sayahpour, Baharak; Abbasi, Pedram; Ngo, Anh T.; Karis, Klas; Jokisaari, Jacob R.; Liu, Cong; Narayanan, Badri; Gerard, Marc; Yasaei, Poya; Hu, Xuan (March 2018). "A lithium–oxygen battery with a long cycle life in an air-like atmosphere". Nature. 555 (7697): 502–506. Bibcode:2018Natur.555..502A. doi:10.1038/nature25984. ISSN   1476-4687. OSTI   1508362. PMID   29565358. S2CID   4376436.
17. Halder, Avik; Curtiss, Larry A.; Fortunelli, Alessandro; Vajda, Stefan (2018-03-21). "Perspective: Size selected clusters for catalysis and electrochemistry". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 148 (11): 110901. Bibcode:2018JChPh.148k0901H. doi: 10.1063/1.5020301 . ISSN   0021-9606. PMID   29566496.
18. Lu, Jun; Chen, Zonghai; Ma, Zifeng; Pan, Feng; Curtiss, Larry A.; Amine, Khalil (December 2016). "The role of nanotechnology in the development of battery materials for electric vehicles" . Nature Nanotechnology. 11 (12): 1031–1038. Bibcode:2016NatNa..11.1031L. doi:10.1038/nnano.2016.207. ISSN   1748-3387. PMID   27920438.
19. Lu, Jun; Jung Lee, Yun; Luo, Xiangyi; Chun Lau, Kah; Asadi, Mohammad; Wang, Hsien-Hau; Brombosz, Scott; Wen, Jianguo; Zhai, Dengyun; Chen, Zonghai; Miller, Dean J. (January 2016). "A lithium–oxygen battery based on lithium superoxide". Nature. 529 (7586): 377–382. Bibcode:2016Natur.529..377L. doi:10.1038/nature16484. ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   26751057. S2CID   4452883.
20. Asadi, Mohammad; Kim, Kibum; Liu, Cong; Addepalli, Aditya Venkata; Abbasi, Pedram; Yasaei, Poya; Phillips, Patrick; Behranginia, Amirhossein; Cerrato, José M.; Haasch, Richard; Zapol, Peter (2016-07-29). "Nanostructured transition metal dichalcogenide electrocatalysts for CO 2 reduction in ionic liquid". Science. 353 (6298): 467–470. Bibcode:2016Sci...353..467A. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf4767 . ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   27471300.
21. US 9478837,Amine, Khalil; Curtiss, Larry A.& Lu, Junet al.,"Lithium air batteries having ether-based electrolytes",published 2016-10-25, assigned to Uchicago Argonne LLC  
22. US 10385032,Vajda, Stefan; Halder, Avik& Curtiss, Larry A.,"Selective oxidation of propane to propylene oxide",published 2019-08-20, assigned to Uchicago Argonne LLC