Allen J. Bard, a professor holding the Norman Hackerman – Welch Regents Chair in Chemistry and known around the world as "the father of modern electrochemistry," is stepping down in the Department of Chemistry after a 63-year career at The University of Texas at Austin.
Bard's work led to the development of the scanning electrochemical microscope, an analytical tool used to discover new materials for technologies such as solar cells and batteries, investigate the inner workings of biological cells and otherwise show dynamic chemical activity at very high resolution so that scientists can rapidly analyze many materials at once. He is the winner of many of the most prestigious awards in science, and he has published more than 1,000 academic papers, written three books and received more than 30 patents in his time at UT Austin.
"Allen Bard is, in my view, the most important scientist to have developed at UT through an entire career," said Larry Faulkner, former president of UT Austin and a one-time Ph.D. student under Bard's mentorship. "In a global context, he is the greatest electrochemist of several generations. His contributions have been marked by a remarkable range of invention and by productivity on a peerless scale. He has also been a marvelous teacher, as I have experienced myself, first as a graduate student, then over a lifetime."
Contributions Bard has made in the field of electrochemistry extend into many innovations in energy research, batteries, fuel cells and solar photoelectrochemistry, as well as supporting a range of advances in biological testing, chemistry research, physics and engineering.
Bard himself has remarked that one of the accomplishments that has mattered most to him is his mentoring of students. "Your students go on and they have students and those students have students, and they all make big contributions," he told Chemistry World last year. "I'm very proud of the students I've had and how well they've done."
"They are few and far between any electrochemists who do not make their way back to Al as a former graduate student or postdoc," said David Vanden Bout, interim dean of the College of Natural Sciences and a professor of chemistry. "Of the people who dedicated their life and career to the University of Texas, Al stands out as the preeminent scientist."
Bard is best known for his work in the field of electrochemistry, studying the relationship between light, electricity and chemicals. His research interests involve the application of electrochemical methods to the study of chemical problems and include investigations in scanning electrochemical microscopy, electrogenerated chemiluminescence and photoelectrochemistry.
"Al Bard has been an incredible scientific leader for many decades, and his impact on the field of electrochemistry is legendary," said Jennifer Brodbelt, chair of the Department of Chemistry. "Those who have crossed paths with Al, either as students or colleagues or collaborators, have been inspired by his endless enthusiasm for innovation and discovery. Al has truly been a giant in science who propelled us to the top tier of analytical chemistry and helped establish our significant rank as a top chemistry department."
The scanning electrochemical microscope he helped invent provides high-resolution chemical imaging, including detecting cancer cells and improving batteries. He also developed electrogenerated chemiluminescence, a chemical reaction that produces light. That work led to analytical tools for clinical diagnostics, biomedical research, DNA sensors, developing new materials, biodefense sensors, drug screening, food and water safety and environmental monitoring. His findings also have led to self-cleaning glass and the use of light to decompose pollutants.
He earned numerous awards during his long career, including the National Medal of Science, the Enrico Fermi Award, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, the King Faisal International Prize in Science, the Olin-Palladium Award, the Priestly Medal and the Welch Award in Chemistry. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Bard directed the university's Center for Electrochemistry and authored, with Faulkner, Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications, considered the core text for electrochemistry.
Bard was born in New York City and earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He was recruited to the faculty at UT Austin by Norman Hackerman, then the chair of the chemistry department.
Silicon monoxide is an inorganic ceramic material by co-heating silicon and silica (molar ratio 1:1) under high temperature followed by rapid quenching, which is usually in amorphous phase. Currently, silicon monoxide is employed in anode materials of Li-ion batteries and optical coatings as mainstream applications. When silicon monoxide is used for the anode, during electrochemical lithiation processes, silicon-oxygen bonds will react with lithium ions to form various lithium silicate crystals. However, in previous literature, there were no systematically qualitative and quantitative analyses, not to mention advanced in-situ analysis results. There were no detailed discussions on the electrochemical activity and mechanical properties of any specific lithium silicates, either. Therefore, it would be difficult to design an appropriate silicon monoxide anode material by adjusting the composition ratio of lithium silicates formed during lithiation without knowing their properties. This research project aims to study various lithium silicates under different processing conditions. The physical, chemical, mechanical, and electrochemical properties of lithium silicates synthesized or formed under different electrochemical lithiation depths will be investigated. We plan to utilize solid-state chemical and hydrothermal methods to synthesize lithium silicates (LixSiyOz) with various lithium/silicon ratios, and analyze their characteristics in details to understand how to optimize the anode structure. Since a disproportional reaction can be carried out in the silicon monoxide by heating with inert gases, amorphous silicon will transform into nanocrystals or even large crystals. This will impact the composition, size, and quantity of lithium silicates formed after electrochemical lithiation processes. In the meantime, we will also utilize advanced ex-situ and in situ analysis methods to understand how a specific lithium silicate crystalline structure can form and be controlled by a certain electrochemical lithiation depth. After investigating the forming mechanisms and electrochemical/mechanical properties of lithium silicates, we can further design the best structure of pre-lithiated silicon monoxide for lithium-ion battery applications. This pre-lithiated silicon monoxide will avoid excess lithium loss during initial cycles due to the oxide structure in the anode will transform into lithium silicates in advance. As a result, a high-Coulombic-efficiency and high-energy-density pre-lithiated silicon monoxide anode material will be developed. Additionally, we will also utilize lithium silicates as a protective layer for lithium metal anode to suppress lithium dendrite and dead lithium formation, thereby enhancing the cycle life performance of next-generation high-energy-density lithium metal batteries. We are highly confident that lithium silicates will become an emerging anode structural stabilizer after scrutinized investigation in this project.
Prof. Yu-Sheng Su has received the Yushan Young Scholar award (2021-2025). Thanks to the support from Ministry of Education, Taiwan.
