Viola Birss

Last updated
Viola Ingrid Birss
Born
Crowsnest Pass, Alberta
Alma mater University of Auckland
Known forElectrochemistry
Solid oxide fuel cells
AwardsDavid C. Grahame Award (2017)
Scientific career
Institutions University of Ottawa
University of Calgary

Viola Ingrid Birss is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Calgary. She works on electrochemistry and the development of nanomaterials for sustainable energy and sensing applications. She has demonstrated a metal oxide perovskite that can be used as the air and fuel electrode in solid oxide fuel cells, as well as creating nanoporous carbon scaffolds to be used in batteries and capacitors.

Contents

Early life and education

Birss grew up in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta. [1] She moved to Calgary at the age of five. [1] When she was deciding what to study at college she felt that physics was "too abstract", and biology "too descriptive", so settled on chemistry. [1] Having grown up with the wilderness close to her home, Birss was always aware of the environment, and interested in identifying clean ways of storing, converting and using energy. [1] [2] This attracted her to materials science and electrochemistry. [1] Birss earned her doctorate at the University of Auckland as a Commonwealth Scholar, where she studied anodic films on silver electrodes. [1] Her doctoral thesis was titled Electrochemical studies of anodic films on silver. [3] She was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Ottawa, where she worked on the supercapacitive properties of hydrous metal oxides. During this post she specialised in Ruthenium(IV) oxide. [1]

Research and career

Birss began her independent career at Alcan International, where she developed new techniques to evaluate the susceptibility of aluminium alloys to stress corrosion and pitting. [1] Her efforts resulted in the creation of a high-strength corrosion-resistant alloy; Al-Mg-Si alloy. [1] She moved to the University of Calgary in 1983 and was promoted to Full Professor in 1991. [1]

Birss studies nanomaterials for a range of different applications, including fuel cells, batteries, capacitors and sensors. She is also interested in catalysis and drug sensing. [4] In 2002 she was a founder of the Western Canada Fuel Cell Initiative, which included over 35 research groups at eight institutions. [1] This was supported by $2 million of funding under Birss' leadership. She subsequently founded the pan-Canadian Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Canada, an umbrella organisation for groups working on solid oxide fuel cells. [5] Her work has focused on understanding and modifying the electrochemical, chemical, physical and morphological properties of thin films on electrode surfaces. This has involved the development of redox-active metal oxides. [1]

Birss became a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Fuel Cells at the University of Calgary in 2004. [6] [7] The majority of her efforts have focussed on solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), carbon materials and biological sensing. [8] Her main contributions have been to the identification of the kinetics and mechanisms of oxidation and reduction in fuel cells using electrochemical methods, as well as developing new fuel cell materials. [1] She has improved the performance and lifetime of low temperature PEMFCs through the development of carbon scaffolds. For high temperature SOFCs Birss has developed metal oxide perovskite catalysts that can be used as both the anode and cathode, allowing for carbon dioxide and water splitting. [4]

She has worked with Honeywell on electrodeposition of metal coatings to enhance their protection. She has since served as Co-Director of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Strategic Research Network, which distributes $5.5 million funding across 16 research groups.

Awards and honours

Her awards and honours include;

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, [12] the Chemical Institute of Canada and the Electrochemical Society.

Selected publications

Her publications include:

Birss serves as associate editor of the Journal of Materials Chemistry A . [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrochemistry</span> Branch of chemistry

Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an outcome of a particular chemical change, or vice versa. These reactions involve electrons moving via an electronically-conducting phase between electrodes separated by an ionically conducting and electronically insulating electrolyte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrochemical cell</span> Electro-chemical device

An electrochemical cell is a device capable of either generating electrical energy from chemical reactions or using electrical energy to cause chemical reactions. The electrochemical cells which generate an electric current are called voltaic or galvanic cells and those that generate chemical reactions, via electrolysis for example, are called electrolytic cells. A common example of a galvanic cell is a standard 1.5 volt cell meant for consumer use. A battery consists of one or more cells, connected in parallel, series or series-and-parallel pattern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuel cell</span> Device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity

A fuel cell is the electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel and an oxidizing agent into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery the chemical energy usually comes from substances that are already present in the battery. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrolysis</span> Technique in chemistry and manufacturing

In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from naturally occurring sources such as ores using an electrolytic cell. The voltage that is needed for electrolysis to occur is called the decomposition potential. The word "lysis" means to separate or break, so in terms, electrolysis would mean "breakdown via electricity".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redox</span> Chemical reaction in which oxidation states of atoms are changed

Redox is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a decrease in the oxidation state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proton-exchange membrane fuel cell</span> Power generation technology

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), also known as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, are a type of fuel cell being developed mainly for transport applications, as well as for stationary fuel-cell applications and portable fuel-cell applications. Their distinguishing features include lower temperature/pressure ranges and a special proton-conducting polymer electrolyte membrane. PEMFCs generate electricity and operate on the opposite principle to PEM electrolysis, which consumes electricity. They are a leading candidate to replace the aging alkaline fuel-cell technology, which was used in the Space Shuttle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solid oxide fuel cell</span> Fuel cell that produces electricity by oxidization

A solid oxide fuel cell is an electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel. Fuel cells are characterized by their electrolyte material; the SOFC has a solid oxide or ceramic electrolyte.

A proton-exchange membrane, or polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM), is a semipermeable membrane generally made from ionomers and designed to conduct protons while acting as an electronic insulator and reactant barrier, e.g. to oxygen and hydrogen gas. This is their essential function when incorporated into a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell or of a proton-exchange membrane electrolyser: separation of reactants and transport of protons while blocking a direct electronic pathway through the membrane.

Genoa Joint Laboratories (GJL) is a scientific research activity founded in 2002, combining expertise in electroceramics and electrochemistry of three facilities: National Research Council - Institute for Energetics and Interphases (CNR-IENI), Department of Chemical and Process Engineering with University of Genova (DICHeP), and the Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry with University of Genova (DCCI), all located in Genoa, Italy.

A Direct Carbon Fuel Cell (DCFC) is a fuel cell that uses a carbon rich material as a fuel such as bio-mass or coal. The cell produces energy by combining carbon and oxygen, which releases carbon dioxide as a by-product. It is also called coal fuel cells (CFCs), carbon-air fuel cells (CAFCs), direct carbon/coal fuel cells (DCFCs), and DC-SOFC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrocatalyst</span> Catalyst participating in electrochemical reactions

An electrocatalyst is a catalyst that participates in electrochemical reactions. Electrocatalysts are a specific form of catalysts that function at electrode surfaces or, most commonly, may be the electrode surface itself. An electrocatalyst can be heterogeneous such as a platinized electrode. Homogeneous electrocatalysts, which are soluble, assist in transferring electrons between the electrode and reactants, and/or facilitate an intermediate chemical transformation described by an overall half reaction. Major challenges in electrocatalysts focus on fuel cells.

Water oxidation is one of the half reactions of water splitting:

A triple phase boundary (TPB) is a geometrical class of phase boundary and the location of contact between three different phases. A simple example of a TPB is a coastline where land, air and sea meet to create an energetic location driven by solar, wind and wave energy capable of supporting a high level of biodiversity. This concept is particularly important in the description of electrodes in fuel cells and batteries. For example for fuel cells, the three phases are an ion conductor (electrolyte), an electron conductor, and a virtual "porosity" phase for transporting gaseous or liquid fuel molecules. The electrochemical reactions that fuel cells use to produce electricity occur in the presence of these three phases. Triple phase boundaries are thus the electrochemically active sites within electrodes.

Andrzej Wieckowski American chemistry professor (1945–2019)

Andrzej Wieckowski was an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and the North American Editor of Electrochimica Acta. He is known for his spectroscopic investigations of electrocatalysis in fuel cells and co-inventing of the direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC). He authored more than 300 publications, has been cited over 13,000 times and has an h-index 60. He was appointed fellow of the Electrochemical Society in 2007 and fellow of the International Society of Electrochemistry in 2009. He was awarded the US Department of Energy Prize for outstanding Scientific Accomplishment in Materials Chemistry in 1992, the ISE Jacques Tacussel Prize in 1998, the ECS David. C. Graham Award in 2003, and the ISE Gold Medal in 2007.

Jeanne Beadle Burbank worked for 25 years at the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), studying the materials and components of lead-acid and silver-zinc batteries used in submarines. She was acknowledged internationally as an expert in the field of electrochemistry.

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.

Bilge Yıldız is a Professor of Nuclear Science, Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She develops new materials for energy conversion in harsh environments. These include solid oxide fuel cells and corrosion-resistant materials for nuclear energy regeneration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">María Escudero-Escribano</span> Spanish chemist

María Escudero-Escribano is a Spanish chemist and Director of the Nano-Electrochemical group at the University of Copenhagen. Her research considers the design of materials for catalysis, fuel cells and sustainable chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suddhasatwa Basu</span> Indian chemical engineer

Sudhhasatwa Basu is an Indian chemical engineer. He is director of Council of Scientific Industrial Research - Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT) in Bhubaneswar, India, and is Professor of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, Adjunct Professor, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai and Professor of AcSIR. His research interests include electrokinetic and electrochemical phenomena in fuel cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reversible solid oxide cell</span>

A reversible solid oxide cell (rSOC) is a solid-state electrochemical device that is operated alternatively as a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC). Similarly to SOFCs, rSOCs are made of a dense electrolyte sandwiched between two porous electrodes. Their operating temperature ranges from 600°C to 900°C, hence they benefit from enhanced kinetics of the reactions and increased efficiency with respect to low-temperature electrochemical technologies.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Madsen, Lynnette (2016-01-15). Successful Women Ceramic and Glass Scientists and Engineers: 100 Inspirational Profiles. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   9781118733714.
  2. ↑ How many batteries would it take to power the whole world? , retrieved 2019-09-23
  3. ↑ Birss, Viola I. (1978), Electrochemical studies of anodic films on silver, ResearchSpace@Auckland, hdl:2292/1489, Wikidata   Q111963788
  4. 1 2 "journal_of_materials_chemistry_a_editorial board members". www.rsc.org. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "About Dr. Birss | Dr. Viola I. Birss | Department of Chemistry| University of Calgary". www.ucalgary.ca. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  6. ↑ "Viola Birss". ECS. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  7. ↑ Government of Canada, Industry Canada (2012-11-29). "Canada Research Chairs". www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  8. ↑ "Birss Research Group". birssgroup. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  9. ↑ "Canada Section W. Lash Miller Award". ECS. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  10. ↑ "Birss, Dr. Viola – ASTech Foundation" . Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  11. ↑ "David C. Grahame Award". ECS. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  12. ↑ "Viola Birss | Research". www.ucalgary.ca. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  13. ↑ "Journal of Materials Chemistry A". www.rsc.org. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
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