Brian E. Conway
The Electrochemical Double Layer and the Birth of the Supercapacitor
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A Life Between Two Worlds: Britain and Canada, Theory and Experiment
Brian Evans Conway was born on January 26, 1927, in Farnborough, England, a town synonymous with aviation and scientific innovation — home to the Royal Aircraft Establishment and a symbol of British technological ambition. Raised during the turbulent interwar years and coming of age amidst the backdrop of World War II, Conway entered the scientific world at a time when chemistry was experiencing profound transitions: quantum mechanics had only recently begun to influence chemical thinking, and electrochemistry was still largely descriptive, lacking the deep mechanistic insights we now take for granted.
Conway’s academic journey began at Imperial College of Science and Technology, where he earned his BSc in 1946. But it was under the supervision of John Bockris — himself one of the key figures in modern electrochemistry — that Conway completed his PhD at the University of London in 1949. This mentorship connected him directly to the heart of electrochemical theory development just as the field was expanding beyond metallurgy and battery technology into the realms of interfacial science, catalysis, and kinetics.
Before crossing the Atlantic, Conway held a postdoctoral role at the Chester Beatty Cancer Research Institute in London — an unusual but telling choice that reflects his broad scientific curiosity, stretching from fundamental electrochemistry into the life sciences.
The Move to North America: From Pennsylvania to Ottawa
From 1955 to 1957, Conway served as an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, placing him in direct dialogue with North America’s emerging electrochemical community at a time when transatlantic scientific exchange was accelerating.
But it was in 1956 that his defining move took place: he was recruited by Keith J. Laidler, the kineticist known for work on chemical reaction rates, to the then newly formed Department of Chemistry at the University of Ottawa. Promoted to full professor by 1962, Conway would spend the rest of his academic life there, shaping both the institution and the field of electrochemistry for nearly four decades.
He chaired the department twice (1966–1969, 1975–1980), was awarded prestigious fellowships, including the Killam Senior Research Fellowship (1983–1985), and held the NSERC-Alcan Chair of Electrochemistry (1987–1992) — titles that not only reflect his scientific achievements but also his leadership in establishing electrochemistry as a major research discipline in Canada.
It was in Ottawa that Conway became widely known as the “dean of electrochemistry in Canada.”
The Complete Electrochemist: From Hydrogen Evolution to Supercapacitors
Brian Conway’s body of work — over 400 peer-reviewed papers, four books, and editorial leadership in the landmark series Comprehensive Treatise of Electrochemistry and Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry — reveals the breadth of his scientific interests. But breadth should not be mistaken for lack of focus. Conway was what many might call a “complete electrochemist”: his research spanned nearly every aspect of the field, from the most fundamental studies of the electrified interface to highly practical innovations in energy storage.
Some of his major contributions include:
Electrode Kinetics: Particularly in hydrogen evolution and the earliest stages of metal oxidation, where his work helped clarify mechanistic details that remain critical for fields like electrocatalysis and corrosion science.
Ion Solvation and Ionic Hydration: His book Ionic Hydration in Chemistry and Biophysics (1981) remains a key reference for understanding how solvated ions behave at interfaces.
Oxide Film Formation and Electrocatalysis: Studies on passive films and electrode surface modifications that inform modern corrosion resistance and catalyst design.
The Electrical Double Layer: Conway's research on adsorption, particularly of protons and other cations at electrode surfaces, advanced the understanding of how charge separation occurs at the molecular level.
Rechargeable Batteries and Electrochemical Capacitors: Perhaps most famously, Conway coined the term “supercapacitor”, bringing scientific clarity and definition to what is now a multi-billion-dollar sector of the energy storage industry.
The Supercapacitor: A Legacy in Energy Storage
The electrical double layer capacitor (EDLC) — what the world now calls a “supercapacitor” — exploits the separation of charge at the electrode-electrolyte interface to store energy, relying on non-faradaic processes where no charge transfer reactions occur. This stands in contrast to batteries, where chemical reactions are required for energy storage.
Conway’s studies on pseudocapacitance — a hybrid mechanism where charge storage involves both double-layer formation and surface redox reactions — helped bridge the gap between traditional capacitors and batteries, offering a conceptual framework that still guides the design of modern hybrid energy storage devices.
In his landmark 1999 paper in Journal of Power Sources, Conway systematically described the mechanisms of capacitance enhancement via surface reactions, a model that remains central to the design of today’s supercapacitors used in technologies ranging from portable electronics to regenerative braking systems.
Honours, Recognition, and the Building of a Field
Throughout his career, Conway received a long list of honours, including:
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1968)
Chemical Institute of Canada Medal (1975)
American Chemical Society Kendall Award in Surface Chemistry (1984)
Electrochemical Society Henry Linford Medal (1984)
Olin Palladium Medal (1989)
Galvani Medal of the Italian Chemical Society (1991)
Fellow of the Electrochemical Society (1995)
Thomas W. Eadie Medal, Royal Society of Canada (2000)
But perhaps his greatest legacy lies not in medals but in mentorship and field-building. His editorial leadership shaped the way electrochemistry is communicated, while his own research provided the foundational language and concepts that still dominate discussions on interfacial electrochemistry and energy storage.
A Legacy at the Molecular Interface
Brian Conway retired as professor emeritus in 1993 but remained scientifically active until his death in 2005. Over the course of five decades, he transformed the University of Ottawa into a recognized hub for electrochemical research.
What stands out most about Conway’s career is the balance between fundamental science and technological relevance. His work on electrode processes, ion hydration, and capacitive energy storage did not exist in isolation but informed one another, reflecting his deep understanding that theory, mechanism, and application are intertwined.
Today, the term supercapacitor appears in thousands of research papers, patents, and product datasheets — a small linguistic artifact that encapsulates a much larger contribution: the translation of surface science into real-world impact.
In every ion adsorbed to a carbon nanopore, in every hydrated proton crossing an electrified interface, and in every supercapacitor charging up for the next pulse of power — the influence of Brian Conway endures.
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