Symposium K: Hierarchically Structured Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage

2012 MRS Fall Meeting

Hierarchically Structured Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage

This symposium will focus on assembly and fabrication strategies for the creation of hierarchically structured inorganic and organic materials. Hierarchical structures are materials that comprise multiple length scales, with geometries and feature sizes that are tailored to enhance specific functionalities and performance integration. The symposium will explore the state-of-the-art micro- and nanoscale structuring methodologies, such as self-assembly, unconventional patterning, and advanced fabrication in which various unit motifs (e.g., particles, fibers, wires, etc.) can constitute hierarchical structures. This symposium will highlight potential applications of these hierarchical structures toward bridging properties of various length scales, with an emphasis on improving materials properties and creating new functionalities for efficient energy technologies. These will include, but will not be limited to, photovoltaics, photocatalysis, thermoelectrics, and fuel cells utilizing hierarchically structured nanoparticle superlattices, colloidal crystals, photonic crystals, nanowire or nanotube arrays, and block-copolymer-based nanocomposites. New experimental developments in hierarchical material assembly, device design and fabrication, materials properties, and device-performance measurements will be emphasized. Theoretical studies on associated multiscale phenomena will be addressed, such as transport, optical, chemical, and device properties.

Session topics will include:

New synthesis and fabrication methods 

  • Advanced fabrication strategies in combining nano- and microscale structures
  • New self-assembly and synthesis approaches for creation of hierarchically structured materials
  • Composite materials with hierarchical structures
  • Fundamental understanding of hierarchical assembly processes

Materials properties and device applications 

  • Experimental characterization and analysis of synergistic properties in hierarchical structures: electron transport, mass transport, photonics, chemical reactions, etc.
  • Innovative design and fabrication of hierarchically structured energy conversion/harvesting/storing devices, and evaluation of their device performance
  • Theoretical modeling of properties in multiscale structures associated with energy-device characteristics

Invited Speakers Include:

Harald Ade (North Carolina State Univ.), Paul Braun (Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign),  Bruce Dunn (Univ. of California, Los Angeles), Ali Javey (Univ. of California, Berkeley), Seokwoo Jeon (Korea Advanced Inst. of Science and Technology, Korea), Nam Gyu Park (SungKyunKwan Univ., Korea), Debra Rolison (Naval Research Lab), Henry Snaith (Oxford Univ., United Kingdom), Mukundan Thelakkat (Univ. of Bayreuth, Germany), Zhong Lin Wang (Georgia Inst. of Technology), Luping Yu (Univ. of Chicago).

Symposium Organizers

Jun Hyuk Moon
Sogang University
Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Seoul 121-742, R. O. Korea
Tel 82-2-705-8921
junhyuk@sogang.ac.kr

Pu-Xian Gao
University of Connecticut
Institute of Materials Science
Dept. of Chemical, Materials and Biomolecular Engineering
Storrs, CT 06269
Tel 860-486-9213
puxian.gao@ims.uconn.edu

Chang-Yong Nam
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Center for Functional Nanomaterials
Upton, NY 11973
Tel 631-344-7066
cynam@bnl.gov

Seth B. Darling
Argonne National Laboratory
Center for Nanoscale Materials
Argonne, IL 60439
Tel 630-252-4580
darling@anl.gov 

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