Materials and processes for energy: communicating
current research and technological developments

• Extraction of biomass materials
• Development/Improvement/Performance of materials for biomass systems/plants for
  heat and power and biofuels production (combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, anaerobic
  digestion, fermentation and composting)
• Materials/Coatings of biomass combustion chambers
• Materials for capturing CO₂
• Second generation of biofuels
• Corrosion resistant materials for biofuel processing
• Materials, processes and systems for water filtration and desalination in biofuels production
• Materials for biofuels storage

...

• Development/Improvement of processing techniques for thin film
• Materials and techniques to increase capture of the full spectrum of sunlight
• Suitable coatings and coating techniques. Encapsulation methods
• Characterization of materials degradation due to sunlight. Novel methodologies for
  characterization of defects in solar cells
• Recycling of solar system materials at end-of-life
• Solar cells based on low-cost and nontoxic materials

 Solar cells based on silicon (Si) (amorphous silicon, protocrystalline silicon nanocrystalline
 silicon)
  - Improvements/Advances in silicon refinement and silicon growth and modeling
  - Gettering and passivation processes
  - Silicon nanowires and nanodots
   ...

 CdTe-based and CIGS-based thin-film solar cells
 Multijunction cells
 Single crystal solar cells
 Organic/polymer solar cells
 Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC)
 Nanocrystalline solar cells
 Low-cost solar cells

Concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) and high concentration photovoltaics (HCPV)

• Manufacture and durability of lenses for high efficient optic concentrators. Assessment of
  optical errors of optics concentrators
• Techniques to decrease the alignment error between the cell and the optic and to improve
  the efficiency
• Thermal management of the module
• Methods to avoid thermal dilatations, deformations of the materials and defects in the tracking control.

  ...

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) and Solar Thermal

• Development/Improvement of (key) materials (silica, iron and steel, concrete, plastic,
  aluminium, molten salts…) and coatings used in concentrating solar power systems:
  collectors, mirrors/reflectors, steam generator, heat storage systems and other components
• Materials for solar thermal collectors and storage tanks
• Methods/materials to improve solar absorbance. Heat transfer.
• Development of thermal energy storage materials with improved heat capacity

...

• Novel high-performance materials for components and systems in PEM, solid oxide,
  microbial, alkaline, direct methanol, phosphoric acid, molten carbonate and regenerative
  fuel cells
• Anode, cathode and electrolyte materials
• Development of new materials for fuel cell catalyst. Nanotechnology. Nanocomposite catalyst
• Degradation of fuel cell components. Identification of fundamental corrosion mechanisms
• Recycling of fuel cell materials

...

• Materials for hydrogen production and purification
• Characterization and analysis of high capacity materials for hydrogen storage
• Carbon nanostructures. Metal hydrides…
• Low-cost materials resistant to hydrogen embrittlement
• Materials for hydrogen vehicles
• Materials for hydrogen infrastructure: pipeline transport, tanks...
• Biohydrogen

...

• Development/Improvement of advanced materials for high-speed, high volume processing,
  increasing gearing efficiency and harsh environments
• Materials/Coatings/Methods to reduce fatigue and erosion-corrosion in constituent
  materials,sub-components and major structures
• Rare earth metals in wind turbines
• Nanoreinforcements

...

• Development/Improvement of materials resistant to hot corrosion, for drilling hard rock…
• Nanotech materials for geothermal energy

...

• Development/Improvement of materials resistant to high pressure, abrasion and corrosion
  for water turbines
• Construction materials in dams, hydroelectric power plants

...

• Materials/Coatings/Methods to reduce fatigue and corrosion in constituent materials,
  sub-components and major structures
• Construction materials in dams, hydroelectric power plants

...

• Development/Improvement of structural materials capable of operating at high
  temperatures, resistant to radiation damage, corrosion, environmental degradation…
• Development of advanced ceramics and coatings for fuels
• Development/Improvement of materials to contain nuclear waste
• Radioactive elements used in nuclear power plants. Uranium mining and processing
• Radiation detector materials
• Advanced materials developed by computational modeling tools

...

• Materials for fossil fuel extraction
• Research into advanced materials and coating techniques to increase the efficiency of power
  plants
• Materials for construction of advanced ultra-supercritical plants
• New methods and materials for CO₂ storage and sequestration

...

  Piezoelectric, thermoelectric and pyroelectric materials (ceramics, single crystals, polymers,
  composites...)

 Materials for energy transmission and distribution. Relevant topics:

• Materials/components of smarts-, green- and micro-grids
• Superconductors:

   - Superconducting materials. LT and HT superconductors. Iron-based superconductors
   - Real and promising future applications: medical physics, power grid, cryogenic
      technologies,materials for liquid energy carriers (liquid natural gas and hydrogen), hydro
      and wind power generators…
   - Cooling
  

Storage

• Materials for mechanical storage (compressed air storage, flywheel energy storage...)
• Materials for electrical storage:

   - Ultracapacitors - Supercapacitors— Nanostructured carbon electrodes, graphene or other
      electrode materials
   - Superconducting Magnetics Energy Storage (SMES)
  

• Materials for electrochemical storage:

   - Batteries: lithium-based batteries, improved lead acid batteries, nickel-metal hydride
      batteries
   - Flow batteries
   - Fuel cells
     ...

• Materials for thermal storage
• Materials for chemical storage: hydrogen storage, biofuels storage...

• Materials for energy-efficient lighting. Relevant topic:

  - Solid-state lighting: Improvements in LEDs. OLEDs, Phosphor-based LEDs...
  ...

• Integration of renewable energy systems in buildings, phase-change materials for walls,
  floors and roofs, insulation materials, smart windows, energy-efficient lighting systems,
  appliances with Energy Star ratings