Professor Alan Chadwick

I was born in Manchester to a family that had supported Newton Heath Loco from the time of its inception. I went to Gorton Mount Primary School and passed the 11 plus to go to Burnage Grammar School for Boys. I then studied chemistry at Manchester University for both BSc and PhD degrees. I finished the PhD in 1966, the year England won the World Cup, the height of Beatles mania and Swinging London. I missed the latter as I was in Ottawa, Canada at the National Research Council of Canada as a post-doctoral fellow. However, I did see Expo in Montreal and saw Charles de Gaulle at the now infamous ‘Quebec Libre’ visit. I was also given the chance to see a lot of Canada and the northern USA. After Canada I had another two year as a post-doctoral fellow at Strathclyde University in Glasgow. This was a dramatic change and I really enjoyed Glasgow, the place the people and the research. In 1970 I came to Kent as a lecturer in chemistry for what I expected to be a ‘few years’. The fact that I am still here is evidence for my lasting respect and affection for place and the people.

My research career has centred on solid state chemistry, beginning when this was a very niche area of chemistry through to the current popularity of materials chemistry. I have worked on a very wide range of topics, namely defects and diffusion solids, including ionic, molecular and polymeric materials, electrical transport in polar solids, solid electrolytes, (superionic or fast-ion conductors) and nanocrystalline materials. The techniques I have employed have been very wide and have included structural methods, including X-ray absorption fine-structure (XAS) spectroscopy and NMR, computer modelling of solids and chemical sensor development. My current research is now centred on two areas; energy materials and archaeology. In 2004 I was a founder member of the on-going Alistore EU project to improve lithium-ion batteries. I led the platform using synchrotron radiation in characterising materials. This has now widened to energy materials (materials for batteries, fuel cells, photovoltaics, etc.) and I coordinate a consortium at the Diamond Light Source studying these systems. Also in 2004 I began collaboration with the Mary Rose Trust with the aim of using XAS to study the conservation problems in the ship. This research continues with a focus on the ‘sulfur problem’, the attack on the timbers by sulfuric acid formed by the oxidation of sulfur compounds in the wood.