Electrochemistry: connector of sciences
- PDF / 192,847 Bytes
- 2 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 16 Downloads / 253 Views
FEATURE ARTICLE
Electrochemistry: connector of sciences Uwe Schröder 1 Received: 20 May 2020 / Revised: 20 May 2020 / Accepted: 22 May 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Electrochemistry is a niche subject. We get this impression when looking into the curricula of chemistry courses—at least at German universities. They contain electrochemistry usually as a minor aspect of physical or general chemistry in undergraduate courses—mostly confined to electrolyte concepts and electrochemical equilibria; advanced electrochemistry courses are scarce and are generally tied to graduate programs at departments with active electrochemical research. Thereby, chairs with an explicit electrochemistry denomination are the exception, and the majority of active groups and chairs operate under the flag of physical, analytical, technical, inorganic, or organic chemistry—or related engineering subjects. The scientific output of the electrochemical community does not reflect this apparent niche existence. Thus, a SciVal analysis (from May 12, 2020) for the years 2014–2019 shows that the international publication output in electrochemistry of 74,320 publications is more than half as high as the number of publications in inorganic chemistry (134,165), one of the main subjects in chemistry. This underlines the creativeness of a vital community. It is obvious and beyond discussion of this article that electrochemistry has become a core element for the research and development in regenerative energy conversion and storage. This trend is reflected in the strong increase in the relative share of fuel cell and battery-related publications over the past 20 years within the electrochemistry field (See Fig. 1). The trend underlines the effects of a focused and strongly
* Uwe Schröder [email protected] 1
Institute of Environmental and Sustainable Chemistry, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hagenring 30, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
increased research funding in this area, which has a significant impact on the publication activity. Looking at fuel cells, the growth trends seem enduring, although the focus of research funding has recently been shifted towards batteries. The current political and social-economic efforts to realize electro-mobility have pushed electrochemistry forward—and into the public and general scientific awareness. This is a unique chance to sustainably strengthen the electrochemical research landscape, e.g., by establishing new research groups and university chairs. Yet, in this development, the rich diversity of electrochemistry should not be sacrificed. Electrochemistry is much broader than battery research. It bridges so many disciplines—from physical chemistry, organic, and inorganic chemistry, as well as green chemistry, to even biology and biochemistry, making electrochemistry an inherently interfacial science, rather than a stand-alone discipline. This explains why we find electrochemical research in so different science and engineering departments—and why electrochemistry should always have its home in these
Data Loading...
