Dr. Kilner is a Senior Research Investigator, former BCH Steele Professor of  Energy Materials, former head of the Department of Materials and former Dean of the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College London).

He has been involved in research into ionic and mixed conducting ceramics for 30 years and has published over 250 papers in this and related fields of materials science.

He was appointed as European Editor for the Journal Solid State Ionics. He is the holder of a number of patents relating to fuel cells and gas separation devices and the co founder of a successful spinout company CeresPower Ltd.

Prof. Kilner is primarily interested in studying the exchange and diffusion of oxygen in oxide ceramic materials for applications in devices such as fuel cells, oxygen separators and sensors, and has been instrumental in the development of isotopic exchange SIMS techniques to study these phenomena.

Much of his work is now centered upon the development of the Intermediate Temperature Fuel Cell and improved understanding of surface and interfacial phenomena is crucial for further development of this device.