Energy Materials for Extreme Environments

This Special Topic will focus on next-generation energy materials capable of operating and performing under harsh conditions, such as exposure to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, extreme temperature cycling, vacuum, atomic oxygen, exposure to polar solvents, and mechanical stresses. There is an increasing demand for the development of new energy generation and storage concepts to address these challenges, particularly with the anticipated expansion of activities in near-Earth space. Emerging materials concepts, including metal-halide perovskites, organic semiconductors, colloidal quantum dots, and 2D materials, have demonstrated unique defect healing behavior, likely attributed to their low defect formation energies. Moreover, their scalability and relative ease of manufacturing have drawn considerable attention. This Special Topic aims to deepen our fundamental and technological understanding of these next-generation energy materials and assess the potential for leveraging their unique properties in extreme environments.

Topics covered include, but are not limited to:

Guest Editors:

Dr. Ahmad Kirmani, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, United States

Dr. Valeria Nicolosi, Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN) and Advanced Materials Bio-Engineering Research Centre (AMBER), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland