Call for Papers

Please contact the symposium organizers with questions.

As the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is enabled by materials science discoveries, there is both an opportunity to advance and a responsibility to consider social and energy justice in materials science and engineering research. This symposium will specifically explore the relationship between energy justice and materials research, raising awareness of this topic within the broader materials community. We will consider both the up-stream (supply chain) and down-stream (disposal or recycling) impacts of sustainable energy technologies. Abstracts will be solicited focusing on the implications of energy technologies on societal justice and equity – including batteries, photovoltaics, H₂ and NH₃ production and use, soft materials (e.g., polymers, plastic recycling), catalysis, biotechnology, solar fuels, and clean water – and on the material life cycles – including extraction, processing, manufacturing, and disposal. Within each technological topic, this symposium will cover the impacts of materials research and development with an emphasis on groups that are disproportionately impacted as well as explore the interrelationship between materials science and social inequities such as racism, sexism, and classism. One goal of this symposium is for materials researchers to learn how to think about the social justice implications of our research and how to use social and energy justice concepts to inform R&D.

Topics will include:

• Energy storage, including battery recycling and supply chain
• Clean water and separation membranes
• Photovoltaic technologies, including recycling and toxic materials use
• H2 and NH3 production, transport, and use
• Soft materials (e.g. polymers, biotech), including polymer recycling
• Materials supply chain, including extraction, processing, manufacturing, and recycling/disposal
• Catalysis
• Solar and biofuels
• Life cycle assessment

Invited Speakers (tentative):

• Nikita Dutta (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA)
• Linda Gains (Argonne National Laboratory, USA)
• Emma Kendrick (University College London, United Kingdom)
• Arumugam Manthiram (The University of Texas at Austin, USA)
• Karthish Manthiram (California Institute of Technology, USA)
• Jeff Reimer (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
• Bethel Tarekegne (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA)
• Taylor Uekert (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA)
• Gerald Wang (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
• Jennifer Wilcox (University of Pennsylvania, USA)

Symposium Organizers