Materials and Interfaces for Clean Energy

Currently, the reliance on fossil fuels raises concerns on the increasing global energy demand, the rapid anthropogenic climate changes and growing environmental problems. The grand challenge is to search for viable carbon-neutral sources of renewable energy. Nanomaterials are arguably the base that integrates nanotechnology, information technology, and biotechnology; the major drivers of technological development today. Over the past decades, the understanding of form-function relations surrounding nanomaterials has significantly brightened the prospects of the transition from fossil fuels to solar fuels.

This book introduces the latest developments in nanomaterials aimed at the applications in clean energy areas. It overviews the close link between nanomaterials development and energy applications from the experience and perspective of the authors. It discusses the bottom-up synthesis and interface engineering of new materials of different dimensions and describes their applications in future energy devices such as secondary batteries, novel solar cells, luminescent devices, and water splitting electrolyzers.

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Shihe Yang is a professor at the Peking University, Shenzhen Graduate School, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He studies molecules and materials as well as their transformations, and his current research interests include the understanding, manipulation, and applications of low-dimensional nanosystems and multiscale materials for energy conversion and information detection.

Yongfu Qiu is a professor at Dongguan University of Technology, China. He studies energy conversion and storage materials, and his current research focuses on the preparation and modification of energy-converted multiscale materials, especially electrochemical energy storage materials.