Symposium EN15-Nanomaterials for Sensing and Control of Energy Systems—Processing, Characterization and Theory

Nanoscale materials enable unique chemical, physical, and optical properties which can be responsive to various environmental stimuli. Those responses can be harnessed for the purpose of sensing and energy harvesting when integrated with advanced device platforms. Exploitation of nanomaterials in practical energy collection, conversion and storage, as well as in environmental monitoring and control applications necessitates addressing the challenges presented by the nanomaterials integration with macro-systems or devices, as well as the relevant device/system reliability, safety and longevity. This symposium will focus on engineered nanomaterials for such applications, with a specific focus on material stability and high device efficiency in harsh environmental conditions (high temperature, corrosive, oxidizing / reducing, radiation, etc.). An emphasis will be placed on design, selection, synthesis/fabrication, and device integration and testing of advanced nanomaterials for applications in relevant working conditions such as electrochemical environments in batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors, high temperature and highly reactive atmospheres in catalytic converters and combustors of vehicles and aircraft, gas turbines, coal-gasifiers, nuclear reactors, and others. The ability to integrate energy-harvesting, conversion and storage functionalities of nanomaterials with environmental sensing capabilities on a single platform is also expected to result in devices that are simpler in design, energy efficient and/or self-powered, and are characterized by smaller size, weight, power and cost (SWPaC). Integration of engineered nanomaterials into device packaging/shielding structure and thermal management can also be exploited to enhance the structural and functional integrity of sensor devices under working conditions. This symposium will highlight recent advances in the design, synthesis, characterization, implementation, and understanding of nanomaterials (ceramics, metals and alloys, polymers, 2D materials, etc.) for various chemical and physical parameters sensing under working processes and conditions when integrated with advanced device platforms. It will specifically address opportunities, challenges and the potential impact of nanostructure based sensor materials and devices for sustainable energy and environmental devices and systems.

• Design and fabrication of sensors and functional nanomaterials with structural and functional stability under harsh environment working conditions
• Computation and modeling of nanomaterials and associated sensor device component behavior under device operation or processing environments
• Sensing and related functional (electrical, optical, thermal, etc.) properties of materials used in energy devices and processes (power generation, transmission, energy storage (batteries), energy infrastructure monitoring, etc.)
• Integration of energy harvesting and utilization using nanomaterials with environmental sensing and detection functionalities
• Enabling materials for improved packaging or reliability (electrical contacts and interconnects, structural and thermal management materials, etc)
• In-situ and Operando characterization, probing, and understanding of structural and functional (electrical, optical, thermal, etc.) properties of nanomaterial-based energy and environmental device and processes

• Jun Zhou (Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China)
• Beatriz Roldan Cuenya (Fritz Haber Institute of Max Planck Society, Germany)
• Xuedong Bai (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)
• Michael Carpenter (SUNY Polytechnic Institute, USA)
• Kevin Chen (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
• Mauricio da Cunha (Universit of Maine, USA)
• Junhang Dong (University of Cinncinnati, USA)
• Vinayak Dravid (Northwestern University, USA)
• Henry Du (Stevens Institute of Technology, USA)
• Gary Pickrell (Virginia Tech, USA)
• Oomman Varghese (University of Houston, USA)
• Hua Wang (Qufu Normal University, China)
• Xudong Wang (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA)
• Zhong Wang (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
• Jinghua Yu (University of Jinan, China)