John R. Scully Group, Center for Electrochemical Science and Engineering at the University of Virginia
The John Scully research group is located within the Center for Electrochemical Science and Engineering (CESE) in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Virginia (UVA). The CESE include several well-known faculty in corrosion and inhibition, fracture, hydrogen embrittlement, functional electrochemical materials and their synthesis, energetic surface engineering, and high-temperature oxidation phenomena. Scully’s group is devoted to research and education in corrosion focusing on the effects of material micro- and nano-structure, composition, surfaces, and environment on the corrosion of novel advanced materials, coated materials, and legacy materials. The group includes high school students, undergraduates, masters, Ph.D. students, post-doctoral scholars, and visiting research scientists from all over the world.
The group often conducts research emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to understand passivity and passivity breakdown, local corrosion, stress corrosion, hydrogen entry, and hydrogen interactions. Studies include a wide variety of materials including ferrous, nickel, aluminum, magnesium, and titanium-based alloys, as well as intermetallic compounds, metallic glasses, and high entropy alloys. Electrochemistry, surface science, material science, and fracture mechanics are taught in the department and frequently integrated into the group’s research to advance fundamental understanding of corrosion mechanisms.
In this way, the structure, processing, composition – property paradigm is extended toward corrosion science and engineering. This research supports many technological sections. The group is currently investigating the corrosion behavior of anti-microbial copper alloys, lead pipe, metal-rich primers, and other coatings to replace chromate inhibitors for substrate protection, additively manufactured alloys, and compositionally complex alloys. The group travels extensively to attend conferences and also makes extensive use of UVA’s own CESE and nanoscale materials characterization facility, as well as national and international instrument facilities aimed at providing exceptional insights to augment the research conducted at UVA.
Shown in the photograph is a fraction of Scully’s research group dedicating volunteer time to understand the corrosion of lead pipe relevant to the Flint, Michigan corrosion.
