The Electrochemical Society

Formation	1902 (1902)
Type	Scientific society
Legal status	501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Headquarters	Pennington, New Jersey
Location	United States
Membership	8,000
Key people	Christopher J. Jannuzzi (Executive Director) Stefan De Gendt (President)
Website	electrochem.org

The Electrochemical Society is a learned society (professional association) based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of electrochemistry solid-state science and related technology. The Society membership comprises more than 8,000 scientists and engineers in over 85 countries at all degree levels and in all fields of electrochemistry, solid-state science and related technologies.^[1] Additional support is provided by institutional members including corporations and laboratories.

ECS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

The Society publishes numerous journals including the Journal of The Electrochemical Society (the oldest peer-reviewed journal in its field), the Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, ECS Meeting Abstracts, ECS Transactions, and ECS Interface. The Society sponsors the ECS Monographs Series. These distinguished monographs, published by John Wiley & Sons, are the leading textbooks in their fields.

The ECS Digital Library on IOPscience encompasses over 160,000 journal and magazine articles and meeting abstracts.^[2] The Society supports open access through the Society’s initiative to make research freely available to world readers and free for authors to publish.

The Society has thirteen topic interest area divisions as well as regional sections in Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, and Southern Asia; over 100 ECS student chapters are located in major universities in all of these regions as well as Eastern Europe and South Africa.^[3] Student members benefit from exposure to experts in their fields, sharing research, volunteer activities, and career development.

ECS administers numerous international awards and supports STEM educational and outreach efforts.

History

The Electrochemical Society was founded in 1902 in Philadelphia, PA.^[4] At the beginning, ECS was called the American Electrochemical Society.

The 19th century saw many applications of electricity to chemical processes and chemical understanding. Bridging the gap between electrical engineering and chemistry led people in industrial and academic circles to search for a new forum to discuss developments in the burgeoning field of electrochemistry.

The original constitution of the Society called for holding meetings and publishing papers presented there and the ensuing discussions. In 1902 the Society ushered in a new publication, Transactions of the American Electrochemical Society. In 1907 the first “local” section was formed at the University of Wisconsin. That same year, the American Electrochemical Society Bulletin was launched; it became the Journal of The Electrochemical Society in 1948.

In the 1920s, topical interest area divisions began to be founded, including the High Temperature Materials Division and the Electrodeposition Division. In 1930, the international nature of the Society was officially recognized by dropping “American” from the name. A new category of membership was started in 1941 to permit industrial companies to support the Society’s mission. ECS began fulfilling the need for critical textbooks with the publication of its second monograph, the Corrosion Handbook, by H. H. Uhlig in 1948.

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, the Society continued to grow in size and importance, expanding the number of its publications, and the significance of the technical research unveiled at its meetings.

Over time, the Society’s members and publications’ authors have included many distinguished scientists and engineers. The Society’s original charter members included:

• E. G. Acheson, who commercialized carborundum, an artificial graphite;

• H. H. Dow, the founder of Dow Chemical Company;

• C. M. Hall, the inventor of the Hall process for the manufacture of aluminum;

• Edward Weston, the founder of Weston Instruments.

Thomas A. Edison joined the Society in 1903 and enjoyed membership for 28 years. In 1965, Gordon Moore's seminal prediction, Moore's Law, developed its roots within the Society. ECS has included numerous Nobel laureates among its members, most recently the three co-winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino shared the prize “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.”^[5]

ECS alignment groups

The Society’s alignment groups represent the wide range of interests of the electrochemical and solid state science and technology community.

Meetings

The Society has hosted scientific technical meetings since 1902 including its biannual meetings in the spring and fall of each year. The ECS biannual meetings bring together the most active researchers in academia, government, and industry—both professionals and students—to engage, discuss, and innovate in the areas of electrochemistry solid-state science, and related technology. They are a premier destination—in person or online—for industry professionals to experience five days of learning, technical presentations, business development, and networking. ECS also sponsors meetings for other renowned scientific organizations including the Storage X International Symposium Series, the International Meeting on Chemical Sensors, and the International Symposium on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.

Publications

ECS publishes peer-reviewed technical journals, proceedings, monographs, conference abstracts, and a quarterly news magazine.

Educational activities and programs

Notable members

Notable members of The Electrochemical Society include numerous Nobel Prize laureates including the three co-winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

• Thomas Edison: Edison became a member^[15] on April 4, 1903. Early members recall attending a meeting at Edison's home in the Society’s early days. Edison is often credited for inventing the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the electric light bulb.^[16]
• John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino, all long-time ECS members, shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry^[17] “for the development of lithium-ion batteries”.^[18]
• Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics^[19] for “the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes, which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources”.^[20]
• Jack Kilby’s invention of the integrated circuit^[18] earned him half of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics "for basic work on information and communication technology".^[21]
• Steven Chu and William D. Phillips were co-recipients of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics^[18] “for the development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light”.^[22]
• Richard Smalley shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry^[18] “for the discovery of fullerenes”.^[23]
• Rudolph A. Marcus won the 1992 Nobel Prize in Chemistry^[18] “for his contributions to the theory of electron transfer reactions in chemical systems".^[24]
• Jean-Marie Lehn, an early innovator in the field of supramolecular chemistry,^[18] shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity”.^[25]
• Gerd Binnig shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics^[18] “for the design of the scanning tunneling microscope”.^[26]
• Charles W. Tobias: A pioneer in the field of electrochemical engineering, Tobias made a long-lasting and far-reaching impact on the field of electrochemical science by forming the Chemical Engineering Department at UC Berkeley in 1947. He served as ECS president from 1970-1971.^[27]
• Gordon E. Moore: The co-founder of Intel^[28] was known for his 1965 principle which made possible the delivery of more powerful and lower-costing semiconductor chips. This was later known as Moore's law.^[29]
• Norman Hackerman: The internationally known expert in metal corrosion served as ECS president from 1957-1958.^[30] Hackerman is most recognized for developing the electrochemistry of oxidation.
• Carl Wagner: Often referred to as the father of solid-state chemistry,^[31] Wagner's work on oxidation rate theory, counter diffusion of ions, and defect chemistry considerably advanced knowledge of how reactions proceed at the atomic level in the solid state. Wagner was the first recipient of the ECS Palladium Award in 1951.^[32]
• Irving Langmuir: received the 1932 Nobel Prize in Chemistry^[18] “for his discoveries and investigations in surface chemistry”.^[33]
• Edward Goodrich Acheson: The inventor of the Acheson process was a manufacturer of carborundum and graphite.^[34] The ECS Acheson Award was named in his honor in 1931.^[35]
• Theodore William Richards: Richards, whose research helped confirm the existence of isotopes,^[18] received the 1914 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, “in recognition of his accurate determinations of the atomic weight of a large number of chemical elements”.^[36]
• Willis R. Whitney: ECS president from 1911-1912,^[37] Whitney is most recognized among his many achievements for founding the research laboratory of the General Electric Company.^[38]
• Leo Baekeland: Baekland, who served as ECS president in 1909,^[39] is most famous for inventing Bakelite in 1907. His entrepreneurial genius and inventive nature made Baekeland one of the most important players in chemical technology.^[40]
• Herbert H. Dow: Among his most significant achievements, Dow founded the Dow Chemical Company in 1897.^[41] Dow Chemical funded the creation of the ECS Industrial Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Engineering Division H. H. Dow Memorial Student Achievement Award in his honor in 1990.^[42]
• Edward Weston: Noted for his achievements in electroplating,^[15] Weston developed the electrochemical cell – named the Weston cell, for the voltage standard.^[43]
• Charles Martin Hall: Hall, is best known for inventing an inexpensive process to produce aluminum,^[44] was one of the founders of Alcoa.^[45]
• Lawrence Addicks (1878-1964) served as president of The Electrochemical Society from 1915 to 1916.

References