Leading lead-acid battery electrochemist Paul Rüetschi has passed away aged 98. Born 3 September 1925 near Zurich, Switzerland, he was author of over 70 scientific publications and held more than 30 patents.
A message from Juergen Garche and Eberhard Meissner to members of the Alpha-Beta Society, a grouping of scientists studying the impact of new applications on lead battery science, said: “We have to deliver the sad message that Paul Rüetschi, Senior Member of the Alpha-Beta Society, has passed away on April 19, 2024.”
He first went to the US as a post-doctoral researcher and then served as manager of electrochemical research at the Electric Storage Battery Company (ESB) in Philadelphia from 1955. In 1964, he returned to his home country to work as technical director at battery manufacturer Leclanché SA in Yverdon-les-Bains until retiring in 1993. In the same year he was awarded the Gaston Planté Medal (the batteries equivalent of an Oscar) by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Garche and Meissner said from the 1950s and for more than 50 years, Rüetschi made important contributions to various electrochemical topics and battery science, well beyond lead-acid batteries. “His work is documented in more than 100 journal publications, patents and books, and in our memories with his lively presentations at battery conferences.
“As a scientist working in industry, already in the 1960s Paul had highlighted the trinity of the ‘3 Es’: Energy + Economy + Environment.”
According to the book ‘Innovators in Battery Technology – Profiles of 93 Influential Electrochemists’ by K Desmond (published in 2016), Rüetschi made a number of scientific contributions, including the discovery of a lead oxide in corrosion films formed on lead and lead alloy at high anodic potentials.
He was deeply involved in lead-acid battery research. One of his first studies was in developing fuel-cell type auxiliary electrodes for gas consumption in sealed lead-acid cells. He went on to gain a PhD for his research into corrosion.
In 1957, he was awarded the Young Author Award of the Electrochemical Society and in 1980 was presented with the Frank Booth Medal.
As a member of the Alpha-Beta Society, Rüetschi was credited with helping work out how to defeat premature capacity loss in batteries whose lives are shortened during deep cycling.
After retirement, he published prose and poetry.
Photo: Paul Rüetschi in retirement. Juergen Garche
