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Just when we thought it was safe to go back in the water, the Delta variant comes along. Its spread has caused ECS to make the 240th Meeting all digital. I was really looking forward to cashing in on some promises of "I'll buy you a beer the next time we get together." My friends should know that compound interest on those continues to accumulate. As we hunker back down, it is appropriate to stop and recognize the almost unimaginable scientific achievement that has led the world away from cataclysm and back toward normality. The speed with which the vaccines have been developed would have been considered science fiction before it actually happened.

I hope this missive finds you and yours faring well and that life is beginning to return to some sense of normalcy. Thankfully, ECS continues to successfully endure these trying times, serve our community, and do our part to advance the critical science and technologies we represent.

The Electrochemical Society was formed in 1902, three years before Einstein published his Nobel-winning paper on the photoelectric effect, his paper on Brownian motion, and his earth-shaking paper on special relativity. The early years of the society did not include Technical Divisions, and only Technical Committees were established in 1915 to address very and only Technical Committees were established in 1915 to address very specif ic topics associated with electrochemical processes and materials. As the number of committees grew, ECS leaders decided to consolidate several the number of committees grew, ECS leaders decided to consolidate several into the Society's first Technical Division, the Electrothermics Division (which is today's High-Temperature Energy Materials & Processes or H-TEMP Division).

Columnist Alice Suroviec presents a collection of websites that offer free databases and and tutorials.

Electrochemistry's reach is extensive, from fundamentals, material and commodity synthesis and reactor engineering to energy conversion devices. For most areas of interest, experimental conditions are well controlled. However, in some cases, experimental conditions are significantly more complex because applications are located in the field and exposed to the elements. Sensors and innovations designed to abate corrosion are in contact with the environment. These situations add complexity to design activities and data interpretation. Atmospheric air contains hundreds of species (mostly at trace levels), whereas oceans are effective solvents for ions, inorganic (geological features contact) and organic (biological activity) species. A growing interest in the circular economy will also result in similar and uncontrolled experimental conditions for envisaged electrochemical processes. Nuclear reprocessing of fuel rods to recover uranium involves separating noble, transuranic, lanthanide, and other elements. Battery electrodes recycling by hydrometallurgical processes will lead to multi-component solutions. Polymer recycling in bulk using electrochemical processes is desirable to minimize costs, which will create an assemblage of organic components (diverse polymers, leftover synthesis reactants, dyes, stabilizers, corrosion inhibitors). For process control of electrochemical recycling, effective methods are needed to assess the composition of multi-component solutions.

In this installment of the "Looking at Patent Law" series, we present a case study of the prosecution of U.S. Patent No. 9,777,346 directed towards "Methods for Recovering Metals from Electronic Waste, and Related Systems" assigned to Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC of Idaho Falls, ID. This case was chosen to coincide with the focus of this issue of Interface on electrochemical recycling. The case study begins with a brief synopsis of the background of the invention followed by 1) a discussion of the patent applications associated with the invention, 2) inventor assignment and power of attorney designations, 3) submission of an information disclosure statement and duty of candor, 4) summary of office actions, 5) summary of applicant response to non-final rejection, and 6) allowance of the patent application. The applicants made substantial use of continuation applications. The continuation applications resulted in the issuance of two additional patents, U.S. Patent No. 10,378,081 and U.S. Patent No. 11,035,023. These additional patents added both broader and focused claims for the subject invention. With this case study, we hope to de-mystify the patent prosecution process and better prepare electrochemical and solid-state scientists, engineers and technologists to interact with their patent counsel regarding their inventions.

This current issue of Interface focuses on the crosscutting topic of "Electrochemistry for Recycling," highlighting the critical role that electrochemical processes and electrochemical products play in achieving a circular economy.

Nuclear power plants use energy-dense fuel and provide dependable baseload energy without generating greenhouse gas emissions. Despite these advantages, the long-term management of used nuclear fuel (UNF) remains a key challenge due to its lifetime (hundreds of thousands of years) and radiotoxicity. The components of UNF that contribute the most to this challenge are the actinide elements. A potential solution to this issue is to separate these radioisotopes from the bulk of the UNF and recycle them as fuel in advanced nuclear reactors. These separations can be achieved using electrochemical reprocessing, which employs electrochemical conversion and electrodeposition in a high-temperature molten salt electrolyte medium to separate the actinides from UNF. In this short perspective, we review the current status, fundamental challenges, and future prospects of electrochemical reprocessing as they relate to UNF recycling.

Although the US has minimal reserves of the raw materials needed to make EV batteries, EOL material can contribute to domestic supply. However, this valuable resource will be exported if it is not economical to recycle it here. Hydrometallurgical recycling plants are being built now, with the expectation that they will be profitable, but profits will decline with cobalt content. By the time that happens, direct recycling will be sufficiently developed to take up the slack. Both processes will then be available to upgrade recovered materials to more up-to-date chemistries, securing a domestic supply of these materials.

Our society depends on fossil-based resources for energy needs and feedstocks to make many synthetic organic materials, i.e., polymers. Synthetic polymers from fossil resources amount to over 440 million metric tons annually, and are expected to reach 700 million metric tons by 2030. About 20% of discarded synthetic polymers are recycled globally, about 25% are incinerated, and the balance are added to landfill. While some energy is recuperated through incineration, the overall impact of today's linear economy principles of "make, use and mostly discard" approach impacts both local and global environment negatively. An alternative to this is a circular economy principle which aims at restructuring the way we think of design, manufacturing, consumption, and waste. By employing circular economy principles, the feedstock for new synthesis will originate from discarded and recycled polymers after their useful life.

A collection of technology highlights pulled from recent papers published in ECS journals.

In this issue of Society News we cover an update on publications, editorial board appointments, focus issue topics for the journals, news from the divisions, elections results, Staff News, fellowship recipients, and a report from the board.

In this edition of People News we honor those who have earned promotions and awards, and remember members Kathryn Bullock, Sergio Trasatti, Forrest Trumbore, and Petr Zuman.

This issue's section news is from Canada.

We present Society, Division, and Section awardees who are recognized for their professional and volunteer achievement in our multi-disciplinary sciences, as well as the 2021 Class of ECS Fellows.

ECS is proud to share the following new members for April, May, and June 2021.

In this issue of Student News we hear updates from three student chapters. We also present two newly chartered student chapters approved by the ECS Board of Directors.

Learn about the program for the 241st ECS Meeting, to be held in Vancouver May 29-June 2, 2022

Some articles in this issue were originally published with invalid DOI numbers. These articles have been replaced with the correct data, details of the changes in this issue are given here.