“Beyond Lithium Ion: The Lithium/Sulfur Cell”
Prof. Cairns received his education in chemistry and chemical engineering at the Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, and the University of California, Berkeley. He has conducted research and held management positions at the General Electric Research Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, General Motors Research Laboratories, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Associate Lab Director and Director, Energy & Environment Division.) He currently serves as Faculty Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Professor of the Graduate School in Chemical Engineering, University of California in Berkeley.
Prof. Cairns has contributed more than 250 publications and 20 patents in the areas of electrochemical kinetics, batteries, fuel cells, molten salts, liquid metals, thermodynamics, surface chemistry, catalysis, and transport phenomena. Prof. Cairns co-authored with Dr. H.A. Liebhafsky (Texas A&M) a book entitled “Fuel Cells and Fuel Batteries”. He has received a number of awards for his research contributions, and has served as president of The Electrochemical Society and the International Society of Electrochemistry.
Prof. Cairns is a member of the advisory board for several journals and book series and served as an editor of the Journal of the Electrochemical Society and Electrochimica Acta. He also organized and chaired a number of national and international meetings and symposia on electrochemistry, energy conversion, and related topics. He has served on many National Academy of Sciences committees, and has been a consultant to a number of national and international corporations, as well as an Expert Witness in several patent infringement trials. His current research includes lithium ion cells, lithium/sulfur cells, and electrocatalysts for fuel cells.
