Future of electrochemistry in light of history and the present conditions
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Future of electrochemistry in light of history and the present conditions György Inzelt 1 Received: 26 March 2020 / Revised: 26 March 2020 / Accepted: 29 March 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
General thoughts We may agree with the saying which is attributable to Niels Bohr who said: “It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” Nevertheless, the past can give ideas in this respect and the present circumstances set the course. However, the great breakthroughs cannot be predicted. Without any exaggeration, we may declare that electrochemistry has played, plays, and will play an important role in the scientific and technological advancement, and consequently the quality of life of the people. We cannot imagine the everyday life without electricity. We have had electric current for 220 years since Volta constructed his pile. The year 1800 was the birth of electrochemistry because beside the production of the first electrochemical power source, electrolysis experiments were also executed. Nowadays, I see some problem concerning the desired ratio between the fundamental and applied research. I agree that people are happy with small batteries in their cellular phone or in their pacemaker. It is also good that the research is directed to pollution control. The easy monitoring of glucose level in blood is also a real success. These are important achievements, and the production of things that make the life better is the ultimate goal of the science. Unfortunately, it is often forgotten that all these successes have started decades or even centuries earlier when a researcher discovered a new material or a novel property of matter. Afterwards, during an extended period of time, others clarified the theoretical basis which gave a new impetus, and many discoveries eventually lead to the new product which usually will be improved again and again for decades. The problem is that if the fundamental research
* György Inzelt [email protected] 1
Department of Physical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, Budapest 1117, Hungary
would not be financed or financed properly, the development of science and consequently that of the technology will stop or at least will slow down. The decision makers want an immediate success for the money of the taxpayers. The applied research and especially the innovation phase needing the capital also for buildings and machines want orders of magnitude higher money than the grant for some thousand researchers at the universities and institutes. The support of the basic research is not a wasted money, and it underlies the future. I would like to draw the attention to another important point: it is the proper education. The wellprepared and competent researchers are essential for the progress in the future. It is true in all cases, i.e., independently whether we are talking about basic or applied research, or even serendipity. The curiosity of scientists, the intuition, or the fantasy are of the utmost importance, h
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