Professor Clare Grey wins the coveted award for her work in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study (electrochemical) energy storage, with the goal of improving lithium and sodium ion battery capacity in function in electric vehicle applications as well as for storage and load-leveling on the electrical grid.
The Richard E. Ernst Prize was founded by EUROMAR with sponsor Bruker Corporation in 2017 to recognize breakthrough contributions in the field of magnetic resonance. Named after the 1991 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Richard R. Ernst for his contributions to the development of the methodology of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the prize represents a significant accolade in the field of magnetic resonance-led research and, importantly, its practical application.
Commenting on her win, Professor Grey said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be awarded the Richard R. Ernst prize in Magnetic Resonance. Being recognized by my peers for work in developing magnetic resonance methods that help to deliver real-world solutions to today’s global concerns is a great honour.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me and has made this possible - especially my coworkers – the students and post-docs in my lab at Cambridge (and before, at Stony Brook) - and my colleagues in the Department of Chemistry.”
Professor Lucia Banci, Chair of the Richard R. Ernst Prize Selection Committee, added: “Clare was unanimously selected as recipient of the 2020 prize for her design and application of solid state NMR methods to study paramagnetic materials, particularly those for energy storage. Her contribution to the development of in situ NMR methods of battery testing and analyses highlight the essential role of NMR in the development and design of novel devices for energy production, storage and conversion. Clare is a highly deserving winner and we look forward to seeing her take the stage at the awards ceremony later this year.”
Dr. Falko Busse, Group President at Bruker BioSpin added: “At Bruker, we are proud to support the pioneering work of academia and industry in the pragmatic application of our technologies. NMR is driving forward technological advancements in areas including understanding and combating diseases, protecting the environment and ensuring a safe and sustainable global food supply – ultimately contributing to improving the quality of life for people across the world. We are very interested to learn how Professor Grey is using magnetic resonance to improve the energy storage and shelf-life of the batteries that are essential to supporting and improving the technology our world has come to rely on.”
Now in its fourth year, the prize and stipendium of 10,000 euros, sponsored by Bruker Corporation, will be presented to Professor Grey at this year’s EUROMAR conference, to be held in Bilbao, Spain, December 6th, 2020. She joins the exclusive alumni of previous winners, including Alexander Pines (UC Berkeley), Robert G. Griffin (MIT), Claudio Luchinat, (University of Florence), Angela Gronenborn (University of Pittsburgh) and Daniella Goldfarb (Weizmann Institute of Science).
Professor Clare Grey, FRS - Materials Chemistry: Structure and Function
Professor Grey’s work focuses on understanding how materials for energy storage and conversion function. Based at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry, she uses a wide range of techniques, including solid state NMR and diffraction, to investigate local structure and dynamics, and the role that they play in controlling the physical properties of technologically important, but often highly disordered and complex materials. Professor Grey has developed NMR methodology to monitor the structural changes in situ that occur during the operation of batteries and supercapacitators, to investigate, for example, the effect of rapid charging and to capture metastable phases. NMR is also used to gain an in-depth understanding of mechanisms for ionic conduction.
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