Discovery of new functional materials has always been at the forefront of energy technologies. While tremendous R&D efforts are needed for the long journey from the early material discovery to the use in real devices, they often rely on the tools and techniques for material diagnostics and synthetic design. Over the last decade, much progress has been made in developing electron, X-ray and neutron based in situ diagnostic techniques enabling the investigation of time dependent structural and chemical changes within materials, at interfaces and in devices under real working conditions. In particular, the recent development in sample environment and in situ capabilities open new opportunities for probing electron, proton, lithium, oxygen, and other charge/mass carriers, and tracking their transport in liquid, solid and across liquid-solid/solid-solid interfaces. This symposium focuses on advances in electron, X-ray and neutron scattering, spectroscopy, spectro-imaging techniques of improved spatial/temporal resolution and chemical sensitivity and their use in characterizing materials, interfaces and devices relevant to energy sciences. Applications include electrochemical energy storage, fuel cells, photocatalysis, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics and nuclear energy systems.

chemical composition energy generation energy storage extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) neutron scattering x-ray diffraction (XRD)