Wikipedia

Viola Birss

Viola Ingrid Birss is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Calgary. She works on electrochemistry and the development of nanomaterials for sustainable energy and sensing applications. She has demonstrated a metal oxide perovskite that can be used as the air and fuel electrode in solid oxide fuel cells, as well as creating nanoporous carbon scaffolds to be used in batteries and capacitors.

Viola Ingrid Birss
Born
Crowsnest Pass, Alberta
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
Known forElectrochemistry
Solid oxide fuel cells
AwardsDavid C. Grahame Award (2017)
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Ottawa
University of Calgary

Early life and education

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Birss grew up in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta.[1] She moved to Calgary at the age of five.[1] When she was deciding what to study at college she felt that physics was "too abstract", and biology "too descriptive", so settled on chemistry.[1] Having grown up with the wilderness close to her home, Birss was always aware of the environment, and interested in identifying clean ways of storing, converting and using energy.[1][2] This attracted her to materials science and electrochemistry.[1] Birss earned her doctorate at the University of Auckland as a Commonwealth Scholar, where she studied anodic films on silver electrodes.[1] Her doctoral thesis was titled Electrochemical studies of anodic films on silver.[3] She was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Ottawa, where she worked on the supercapacitive properties of hydrous metal oxides. During this post she specialised in Ruthenium(IV) oxide.[1]

Research and career

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Birss began her independent career at Alcan International, where she developed new techniques to evaluate the susceptibility of aluminium alloys to stress corrosion and pitting.[1] Her efforts resulted in the creation of a high-strength corrosion-resistant alloy; Al-Mg-Si alloy.[1] She moved to the University of Calgary in 1983 and was promoted to Full Professor in 1991.[1]

Birss studies nanomaterials for a range of different applications, including fuel cells, batteries, capacitors and sensors. She is also interested in catalysis and drug sensing.[4] In 2002 she was a founder of the Western Canada Fuel Cell Initiative, which included over 35 research groups at eight institutions.[1] This was supported by $2 million of funding under Birss' leadership. She subsequently founded the pan-Canadian Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Canada, an umbrella organisation for groups working on solid oxide fuel cells.[5] Her work has focused on understanding and modifying the electrochemical, chemical, physical and morphological properties of thin films on electrode surfaces. This has involved the development of redox-active metal oxides.[1]

Birss became a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Fuel Cells at the University of Calgary in 2004.[6][7] The majority of her efforts have focussed on solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), carbon materials and biological sensing.[8] Her main contributions have been to the identification of the kinetics and mechanisms of oxidation and reduction in fuel cells using electrochemical methods, as well as developing new fuel cell materials.[1] She has improved the performance and lifetime of low temperature PEMFCs through the development of carbon scaffolds. For high temperature SOFCs Birss has developed metal oxide perovskite catalysts that can be used as both the anode and cathode, allowing for carbon dioxide and water splitting.[4]

She has worked with Honeywell on electrodeposition of metal coatings to enhance their protection. She has since served as Co-Director of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Strategic Research Network, which distributes $5.5 million funding across 16 research groups.

Awards and honours

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Her awards and honours include;

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada,[12] the Chemical Institute of Canada and the Electrochemical Society.

Selected publications

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Her publications include:

  • Birss, Viola (2004). Historical Perspectives on the Evolution of Electrochemical Tools. The Electrochemical Society. ISBN 9781566773836.
  • Birss, Viola (2006). "High performance PtRuIr catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes for the anodic oxidation of methanol". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 128 (11): 3504–3505. doi:10.1021/ja0578653. PMID 16536508. S2CID 21413174.
  • Birss, Viola (1990). "Conversion of methane by oxidative coupling". Catalysis Reviews—Science and Engineering. 32 (3): 163–227. doi:10.1080/01614949009351351. hdl:1880/44970. S2CID 95655227.

Birss serves as associate editor of the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Madsen, Lynnette (2016-01-15). Successful Women Ceramic and Glass Scientists and Engineers: 100 Inspirational Profiles. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118733714.
  2. ^ How many batteries would it take to power the whole world?, retrieved 2019-09-23
  3. ^ Birss, Viola (1978). Electrochemical studies of anodic films on silver (Doctoral thesis). ResearchSpace@Auckland, University of Auckland. hdl:2292/1489.
  4. ^ a b "journal_of_materials_chemistry_a_editorial board members". www.rsc.org. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "About Dr. Birss | Dr. Viola I. Birss | Department of Chemistry| University of Calgary". www.ucalgary.ca. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  6. ^ "Viola Birss". ECS. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  7. ^ Government of Canada, Industry Canada (2012-11-29). "Canada Research Chairs". www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  8. ^ "Birss Research Group". birssgroup. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  9. ^ "Canada Section W. Lash Miller Award". ECS. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  10. ^ "Birss, Dr. Viola – ASTech Foundation". Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  11. ^ "David C. Grahame Award". ECS. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  12. ^ "Viola Birss | Research". www.ucalgary.ca. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  13. ^ "Journal of Materials Chemistry A". www.rsc.org. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
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