ULTRACAPACITORS
The father of supercapacitors, Brian Conway (1927 – 2005)
Brian Conway — better known as the father of the supercapacitor, he even coined the term — was born in Farnborough, UK in January 1927. He attended Imperial College London, where he became part of an elite group of 10 researchers led by electrochemist John Bockris, who supervised them for their PhDs. The principal subjects studied were electrode kinetics and very high temperature chemistry. During this time, Bockris and Conway attended discussions at the Faraday Society here they met a famous group of Russian electrochemists, — including Alexander Frumkin, the founder of the Institute of Electrochemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences and Boris Kabanov, later a senior figure in the institute — who he kept in contact with in later years. Having obtained his PhD in 1949, Conway joined the Chester Beatty Cancer Research Institute, University of London, as a research associate with John. Butler, an eminent electrochemist. His research with Butler concerned in part the influence of electrochemically-generated free radicals and ionizing radiation for treating certain cancers. In 1954, Conway moved to the
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University of Pennsylvania to join his former PhD supervisor, John Bockris, who had taken up a position there in the previous year and convinced him to try his hand in the US. He stayed until 1956, at which time he was persuaded by chemical kinetics pioneer professor Keith Laidler to apply for a faculty position at the then two-year-old chemistry department of the University of Ottawa. Conway — who would become a Canadian citizen — would remain there for the next 49 years. He was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1962, then four years later as chairman of the department. Conway worked on nearly all aspects of electrochemistry: the electrified interface, ion solvation, adsorption, electrode kinetics, oxide film formation, electrocatalysis, rechargeable batteries, and electrochemical capacitors Between 1975 and 1980, Conway carried out extensive fundamental and development work on the ruthenium oxide type of electrochemical capacitor. In 1991 he coined the term ‘supercapacitor’ as the explanation for increased capacitance by surface redox reactions with faradaic charge transfer between electrodes and ions. Conway’s work in applied electrochemistry has allowed the development of rechargeable, compact batteries and supercapacitors for cellular phones In the early 2000s, Axion Power International developed its e3 Supercell, a low cost batterysupercapacitor hybrid that uses the same cases, materials, internal components and manufacturing equipment as conventional leadacid batteries; offers faster recharge rates, higher power output and longer cycle-life. During this time, Conway collaborated with the East Penn Manufacturing Company, and Sandia National Laboratories, an independent testing facility owned by the US Department of Energy and managed by Lockheed Martin Corporation. Brian Conway died on July 9, 2005. Less than a year later, in May
2006, Axion Power International, successfully manufactured its first commercial prototype e3 Supercells on a conventional lead acid battery production line. Conway published over 260 scientific research articles, including as a senior editor of two series, Comprehensive Treatise of Electrochemistry and Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry, He also wrote about electrochemical data, electrode processes and ionic hydration in chemistry and biophysics. Sometimes known as the “dean of electrochemistry in Canada”, among his most prestigious honours and awards were Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1968), the Chemical Institute of Canada Medal (1975), the American Chemical Society Kendall Award in Surface Chemistry (1984), the Electrochemical Society Henry Linford Medal (1984), the Olin Palladium Medal and Award of the Electrochemical Society (1989), the Galvani Medal of the Italian Chemical Society (1991), and Fellow of the Electrochemical Society of America (1995).
The way we were. The Royal College of Science Electrochemistry Group, 1947-1948. Front row, second from right Brian Conway, seated two further from right, John Bockris, friend and mentor
Alexander Frumkin and Brian Conway in Moscow, 1950s
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