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M. Stanley Whittingham

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Michael Stanley Whittingham
Born1941
UK
Alma materOxford University
Scientific career
FieldsChemist
InstitutionsBinghamton University

M. Stanley Whittingham is an English chemist. He is currently a professor of chemistry and director of both the Institute for Materials Research and the Materials Science and Engineering program at Binghamton University, part of the State University of New York.

Education and career

Whittingham was educated at Stamford School in Lincolnshire from 1951-1960, before going to New College, Oxford to read Chemistry. At the University of Oxford, he took his BA (1964), MA (1967), and DPhil (1968).[1] After completing his graduate studies, Dr. Whittingham was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University until 1972. He then worked for Exxon Research & Engineering Company from 1972 until 1984. He then spent four years working for Schlumberger prior to becoming a professor at Binghamton University.[1]

For five years, he served as the University’s vice provost for research and outreach.[2] He also served as Vice-Chair of the Research Foundation of the State University of New York for six years.

Research

Whittingham is a key figure in the history of the development of lithium batteries discovering the concept of intercalation electrodes. Exxon manufactured in 1970s Whittingham's rechargeable lithium battery, which was based on a titanium disulfide cathode and a lithium-aluminum anode. However, this rechargeable lithium battery could never be made practical. Titanium disulfide was a poor choice, since it has to be synthesized under completely sealed conditions. This is extremely expensive (~$1000 per kilo for titanium disulfide raw material in 1970s). When it is exposed to air, it stinks because the moisture in the air reacts with titanium disulfide to make hydrogen sulfide. Because this material was unworkable, Exxon finally killed lithium-titanium disulfide battery.[3] Batteries with metallic lithium electrodes presented safety issues, as lithium is a highly reactive element; it burns in normal atmospheric conditions because of the presence of water and oxygen. As a result, research moved to develop batteries where, instead of metallic lithium, only lithium compounds are present, being capable of accepting and releasing lithium ions.

Dr. Whittingham co-chaired DOE' study of Chemical Energy Storage in 2007, and is now Director of the Northeastern Center for Chemical Energy Storage, a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center.

He received the Young Author Award from The Electrochemical Society in 1971, the Battery Research Award in 2004, and was elected a Fellow in 2006 for his contributions to lithium battery science and technology.

Patents

  • 5,514,490 Secondary lithium battery using a new layered anode material
  • 4,339,424 Method of preparing W or Mo metal oxides
  • 4,243,624 Method of making cathodes derived from ammonium-metal-chalcogen compounds
  • 4,233,375 High energy density plural chalcogenide cathode-containing cell
  • 4,201,839 Cell containing an alkali metal anode, a solid cathode, and a closoborane and/or closocarborane electrolyte
  • 4,166,160 Cells having cathodes derived from ammonium-molybdenum-chalcogen compounds
  • 4,144,384 Cells having cathodes with vanadium-chalcogen-containing compounds
  • 4,143,213 Cells having cathodes containing chalcogenide compounds of the formula M.sub.a FeX.sub.b and species thereof exhibiting alkali metal incorporation
  • 4,139,682 Cells having cathodes derived from ammonium-copper-molybdenum-chalcogen compounds
  • 4,086,403 Alkali metal/niobium triselenide cell having a dioxolane-based electrolyte
  • 4,084,046 Rechargeable electrochemical cell with cathode of stoichiometric titanium disulfide
  • 4,049,887 Electrochemical cells with cathode-active materials of layered compounds
  • 4,049,879 Intercalated transition metal phosphorus trisulfides
  • 4,040,917 Preparation of intercalated chalcogenides
  • 4,009,052 Chalcogenide battery
  • 4,007,055 Preparation of stoichiometric titanium disulfide

Books

  • J. B. Goodenough; M. S. Whittingham (1977). Solid State Chemistry of Energy Conversion and Storage. American Chemical Society Symposium Series #163. ISBN 0-8412-0358-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  • G. G. Libowitz; M. S. Whittingham (1979). Materials Science in Energy Technology. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-447550-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  • M. S. Whittingham; A. J. Jacobson (1984). Intercalation Chemistry. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-747380-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  • D. L. Nelson, M. S. Whittingham and T. F. George (1987). Chemistry of High Temperature Superconductors. American Chemical Society Symposium Series #352. ISBN 0-8412-1431-X.
  • M. A. Alario-Franco, M. Greenblatt, G. Rohrer and M. S. Whittingham (2003). Solid-state chemistry of inorganic materials IV. Materials Research Society. ISBN 1-55899-692-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Most-cited papers

Following is a short list of some of his most cited papers.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Professor M. Stanley Whittingham
  2. ^ Inside Binghamton University
  3. ^ Fletcher, Seth (2011). Bottled Lightning: Superbatteries, Electric Cars, and the New Lithium Economy. Macmillan.
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