The strong demand for portable electronics, electric vehicles, and safe/reliable power grid inspires intensive exploration of new materials and chemistry for high-performance electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems. Chalcogen elements particularly oxygen and sulfur play a critical role for next generation electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies such as Li-S batteries, Li-O2 batteries, metal-air batteries, fuel cells, electrolyzers, etc. In the past years, there has been significant effort on materials innovation and new chemistry discovery for each of these technologies, including i) fundamental insights into reaction mechanism and complex phase transformation behaviors in these chalcogens-based energy systems; ii) controlled synthesis and modification of novel chalcogen materials and understanding O- and S-related electrochemical reaction kinetics in batteries, fuel cells and electrolyzers; iii) developing new concepts and exploring novel high energy, high power systems based on chalcogens. However, great challenges still exist in association with performance, lifetime, efficiency and cost of these technologies, and there has been very limited synergy between the materials and chemistry study of each element. In this symposium, we aim to provide an interdisciplinary discussion forum about the current status and future perspective, including challenges and opportunities in this field, and to advance the research and development through promoting synergy and collaboration across the battery/fuel cell and aqueous/non-aqueous boundaries.

catalytic energy generation energy storage surface chemistry