Image courtesy Department of Chemistry Photography
Professor Clare Grey is the 2015 winner of the Arfvedson-Schlenk Award, which honours outstanding scientific and technical achievements in the field of lithium chemistry.
Clare specialises in applications of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and in particular using this spectroscopic technique to study materials of relevance to energy and the environment.
Her recent investigations were focused on the field of lithium ion batteries (LiB’s), where she uses in-situ 6Li/7Li solid state NMR spectroscopy to investigate the mechanisms of lithium insertion and extraction during battery charge/discharge. She studies the effects of local structure and electronic properties on LiB performance and she identifies nano-sized or amorphous phases which are formed on lithium incorporation.
These investigations are especially useful for the development of high-capacity conversion-type electrode materials, which may lead to the next generation of high energy lithium batteries required for electric power train technologies, e.g. for long-range e-mobility.
The award is presented by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker and named after Johann August Arfvedson, the chemist who discovered the element lithium, and Wilhelm Schlenk, a pioneer in organolithium chemistry.
Clare will receive the award in August at the GDCh Scientific Forum Chemistry in Dresden.
The award is sponsored by Rockwood Lithium GmbH.