Challenges and Perspectives in Materials Chemistry—A Celebration of Prof. Sir Anthony K. Cheetham’s 75th Birthday

In the twenty-first century, advanced materials are critical for the development of cleaner energy, a more sustainable environment, smart electronic gadgets, and human health. Materials chemistry provides an essential gateway for understanding how advanced materials develop and function, including their syntheses, structures, and physical properties. Since the 1970s, Prof. Sir Anthony K. Cheetham has made enormous contributions to materials chemistry, ranging from the discovery of a host of important materials, the investigation of their mechanical, and electronic and magnetic properties, to pioneering a rich set of structural characterization methods. In addition, his remarkable contributions span oxides, carbon materials, metal-organic frameworks and hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites, in terms of both experimental and computational work. Furthermore, he has mentored and supervised many coworkers on a global scale who have grown on to become renowned materials scientists in a variety of domains.

We organize this Special Issue to discuss recent advances, current challenges and future perspectives in materials chemistry, and to celebrate Prof. Sir Cheetham’s many and groundbreaking contributions to the field.