Instructor Insights

Below, Professor Martin Bazant describes various aspects of how he taught 10.626 Electrochemical Energy Systems.

I created the class in 2009 as an attempt to synthesize theoretical electrochemistry across many disciplines with the goal of eventually writing a textbook on Electrochemical Physics, based on original notes and problems. I chose energy as the cross-cutting theme because there is tremendous interest in this field, also reflected in my own research on batteries, fuel cells and capacitors, but the course is organized around fundamental topics, such as thermodynamics, kinetics, electrostatics, and transport, that have many other applications. The subject fills a need at MIT and elsewhere for a quantitative course on electrochemical systems, especially relating to energy conversion.

I am self-taught in electrochemistry and originally trained as a theoretical physicist, and I try to bring this perspective to the students. Thinking like a physicist means that nothing is a “black box.” I never tell students “it can be shown” or give them formulae to memorize, but rather show them how to derive results themselves, at least approximately, from fundamental concepts and equations. In doing so, they come to understand the assumptions behind a given formula and see how to modify it for different situations.

The OCW notes were written by student “scribes” based on my lectures, as a homework assignment. I do this every year as a way to help the students cement their knowledge and to record what I teach for future classes, since there is no other textbook available (until I publish my own). The content varies each year to increase the overall coverage and depth of the full set of lecture notes, including many that are not on OCW.