Materials for Sustainable Energy and Development

The world's ever-growing demand for power has created an urgent need for new efficient and sustainable sources of energy and electricity. Today's consumers of portable electronics also demand devices that not only deliver more power but are also environmentally friendly. Fuel cells are an important alternative energy source, with promise in military, commercial and industrial applications, for example power vehicles and portable devices. A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that directly converts the chemical energy of a fuel into electrical energy. Fuel cells represent the most efficient energy conversion technologies to-date and are an integral part in the new and renewable energy chain (e.g., solar, wind and hydropower). Fuel cells can be classified as either high-temperature or lowtemperature, depending on their operating temperature, and have different materials requirements. This book is dedicated to the study of high temperature fuel cells. In hightemperature fuel cells, the electrolyte materials are ceramic or molten carbonate, while the electrode materials are ceramic or metal (but not precious metal). High operation temperature fuel cells allow internal reforming, promote rapid kinetics with non-precious materials and offer high flexibilities in fuel choice, and are potential and viable candidate to moderate the fast increase in power requirements and to minimize the impact of the increased power consumption on the environment. 'Materials for High Temperature Fuel Cells' is part of the series on Materials for Sustainable Energy and Development edited by Prof. Max Q. Lu. The series covers advances in materials science and innovation for renewable energy, clean use of fossil energy, and greenhouse gas mitigation and associated environmental technologies.

Membranes have emerged over the last 30 years as a viable water treatment technology. Earth's population is growing and the need for alternative ways to generate potable water is rising. The recent advent of nanotechnology opens the door to improving processes in membrane technology, which is a promising step on the way to solving the earth's potable water problem. Current performance is enhanced and new concepts are possible by engineering on the nanoscale. This book presents key areas of nanotechnology such as fouling tolerant and robust membranes, enhanced destruction of pollutants and faster monitoring of water quality. 'Functional Nanostructured Materials and Membranes for Water Treatment' is part of the series on Materials for Sustainable Energy and Development edited by Prof. G.Q. Max Lu. The series covers advances in materials science and innovation for renewable energy, clean use of fossil energy, and greenhouse gas mitigation and associated environmental technologies.

Supercapacitors are a relatively new energy storage system that provides higher energy density than dielectric capacitors and higher power density than batteries. They are particularly suited to applications that require energy pulses during short periods of time, e.g., seconds or tens of seconds. They are recommended for automobiles, tramways, buses, cranes, fork-lifts, wind turbines, electricity load leveling in stationary and transportation systems, etc. Despite the technological maturity of supercapacitors, there is a lack of comprehensive literature on the topic. Many high performance materials have been developed and new scientific concepts have been introduced. Taking into account the commercial interest in these systems and the new scientific and technological developments now is the ideal time to publish this book, capturing all this new knowledge. The book starts by giving an introduction to the general principles of electrochemistry, the properties of electrochemical capacitors, and electrochemical characterization techniques. Electrical double layer capacitors and pseudocapacitors are then discussed, followed by the various electrolyte systems. Modelling, manufacture of industrial capacitors, constraints, testing, and reliability as well as applications are also covered. 'Supercapacitors - Materials, Systems, and Applications' is part of the series on Materials for Sustainable Energy and Development edited by Prof. G.Q. Max Lu. The series covers advances in materials science and innovation for renewable energy, clean use of fossil energy, and greenhouse gas mitigation and associated environmental technologies.

Water is one of the essential resources on our planet. Therefore, fresh water and the recycling of waste-water are very important topics in various areas. Energy-saving green technologies are a demand in this area of research. Photocatalysis comprises a class of reactions which use a catalyst activated by light. These reactions include the decomposition of organic compounds into environmental friendly water and carbon dioxide, leading to interesting properties of surfaces covered with a photocatalyst: they protect e.g. against incrustation of fouling matter, they are self-cleaning, antibacterial and viricidal. Therefore, they are attractive candidates for environmental applications such as water purification and waste-water treatment. This book introduces scientists and engineers to the fundamentals of photocatalysis and enlightens the potentials of photocatalysis to increase water quality. Also, strategies to improve the photocatalytic efficacy are pointed out: synthesis of better photocatalysts, combination of photocatalysis with other technologies, and the proper design of photocatalytic reactors. Implementation of applications and a chapter on design approaches for photocatalytic reactors round off the book. 'Photocatalysis and Water Purification' is part of the series on Materials for Sustainable Energy and Development edited by Prof. G.Q. Max Lu. The series covers advances in materials science and innovation for renewable energy, clean use of fossil energy, and greenhouse gas mitigation and associated environmental technologies.

There are a large number of books available on fuel cells; however, the majority are on specific types of fuel cells such as solid oxide fuel cells, proton exchange membrane fuel cells, or on specific technical aspects of fuel cells, e.g., the system or stack engineering. Thus, there is a need for a book focused on materials requirements in fuel cells. Key Materials in Low-Temperature Fuel Cells is a concise source of the most important and key materials and catalysts in low-temperature fuel cells. A related book will cover key materials in high-temperature fuel cells. The two books form part of the "Materials for Sustainable Energy & Development" series. Key Materials in Low-Temperature Fuel Cells brings together world leaders and experts in this field and provides a lucid description of the materials assessment of fuel cell technologies. With an emphasis on the technical development and applications of key materials in low-temperature fuel cells, this text covers fundamental principles, advancement, challenges, and important current research themes. Topics covered include: proton exchange membrane fuel cells, direct methanol and ethanol fuel cells, microfluidic fuel cells, biofuel cells, alkaline membrane fuel cells, functionalized carbon nanotubes as catalyst supports, nanostructured Pt catalysts, non-PGM catalysts, membranes, and materials modeling. This book is an essential reference source for researchers, engineers and technicians in academia, research institutes and industry working in the fields of fuel cells, energy materials, electrochemistry and materials science and engineering.