Understanding Electrochemical Interfaces at the Atomic Scale

Energy is one of the most important problems that we are facing. The limited fossil fuel reserves and the air pollution caused by the consuming of fossil fuels force the governments, industries and academia to look for renewable energies and their conversion-storage devices. Some novel concepts based on the electrochemical reactions have been considered as promising solutions to help solve energy problem and improve the quality of our lives. The low efficiency, high cost and short lifetime have prevented the wide adoption of these energy conversion and storage technologies, such as fuel cells, electrolyzers, advanced batteries, supercapacitors, etc. One of the main reasons for the low performance is due to our extremely limited understanding on the interfacial reactions, which are the hearts in these technologies. This new GRC on "Electrochemical Interfaces in Energy Conversion and Storage" will create a new forum for discussion at the frontiers of energy conversion and storage. It will focus on the new understanding of interfacial phenomena including both experimental and theoretical advances in both aqueous and non-aqueous solvents, and solid electrolytes at the atomic level.