Materials Challenges In Alternative And Renewable Energy: Ceramic Transactions Volume 224

Materials Challenges in Alternative & Renewable Energy (Energy 2010) was an important meeting and technical forum held in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on February 21- 24, 2010. The current Energy Conference- 2010 included 223 participants from more than 25 countries and included more than 160 presentations, tutorials and posters. The meeting brought together leaders in materials science and energy, to facilitate information sharing on the latest developments and challenges involving materials for alternative and renewable energy sources and systems.

Energy 2010 marked the first time that three of the premier materials organizations in the US have combined forces, to co-sponsor a conference of global importance. These organizations included The American Ceramic Society (ACerS), ASM International, and the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), representing each of the materials disciplines of ceramics, metals and polymers, respectively.

Energy 2010 was highlighted by nine "tutorial" presentations on leading energy alternatives provided by national and international leaders in the field. In addition, the conference included technical sessions addressing state-of-the art materials challenges involved with Solar, Wind, Hydropower, Geothermal, Biomass, Nuclear, Hydrogen, and Batteries and Energy Storage.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

HYDROGEN.

Hydrogen Storage Technologies—A Tutorial with Perspectives from the US National Program (Ned T. Stetson and Larry S. Blair).

Structural Study and Hydrogen Sorption Kinetics of Ball-Milled Mg-10 wt% Ni Alloy Catalysed by Nb (Sima Aminorroaya, Abbas Ranjbar, Younghee Cho, Hua Liu, and Arne Dahle).

Mechanical Processing—Experimental Tool or New Chemistry? (Viktor P. Balema).

Production of Hydrogen and Carbon Monoxide from Water and Carbon Dioxide through Metal Oxide Thermochemical Cycles (Eric N. Coker, Andrea Ambrosini, Mark A. Rodriguez, Terry J. Garino, and James E. Miller).

Ultrasmall Angle X-Ray Scattering (USAXS) Studies of Morphological Changes in NaAlH₄ (Shathabish Narase Gowda, Scott A. Gold, Jan llavsky, and Tabbetha A. Dobbins).

Carbon Building Materials from Coal Char: Durable Materials for Solid Carbon Sequestration to Enable Hydrogen Production by Coal Pyrolysis (John W. Halloran and Zuimdie Guerra).

Thermal Decomposition of t-Butylamine Borane Studied by In Situ Solid State NMR (Jordan Feigerle, Norm Smyrl, Jonathan Morrell, and Ashley C. Stowe).

The Performances of Ceramic Based Membranes for Fuel Cells (Uma Thanganathan, and Masayuki Nogami).

Microcrack Resistant Polymers Enabling Lightweight Composite Hydrogen Storage Vessels (Kaushik Mallick, John Cronin, Paul Fabian, and Mike Tupper).

A Study of the Thermodynamic Destabilization of Sodium Aluminum Hydride (NaAlH₄) with Titanium Nitride (TiN) using X-ray Diffraction and Residual Gas Analysis (Whitney Fisher Ukpai and Tabbetha A. Dobbins).

BATTERIES AND ENERGY STORAGE MATERIALS.

Rapid Synthesis of Electrode Materials (Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ and LiFePO₄) for Lithium Ion Batteries through Microwave Enhanced Processing Techniques (K. Cherlan, M. Kirksey, A. Kasik, M. Armenta, X. Sun and S. K. Dey).

Lithium Storage Characteristics in Nano-Graphene Platelets (S. L. Cheekati, Y. Xing, Y. Zhuang, and H. Huang).

In-Situ Impedance Spectroscopy of LiMn_1.5Ni_0.4Cr_0.1O₄ Cathode Material (Kahna Asmar, Rahul Singhal, Rajesh K. Katiyar, Ram S. Katiyar, Andrea Sakla, and A. Manivannan).

Cu₂(ZnxSn_2-x)(SySe_1-y)₄ Monograin Materials for Photovoltaics (E. Mellikov, M. Altosaar, J. Raudoja, K. Timmo, O. Volobujeva, M. Kauk, J. Krustok, T. Varema, M. Grossberg, M. Danilson, K. Muska, K. Emits, F. Lehner, and D. Meissner).

Determination of the Diffusion Coefficient of Lithium Ions in Graphite Coated with Polymer-Derived SiCN Ceramic (Andrzej P. Nowak, Magdalena Graczyk-Zajac, and Ralf Riedel).

Nano-Aggregate Synthesis by Gas Condensation in a Magnetron Source for Efficient Energy Conversion Devices (E. Pauliac-Vaujour, E. Quesnel, V. Muffato, O. Sicardy, N. Guillet, R. Bouchmila, P. Fugier, H. Okuno, and L. Guetaz)

Modeling Nanoparticle Synthesis by Gas Condensation in a Nanocluster Source for Applications in Photovoltaic and Hydrogen Fuel Cells (E. Pauliac-Vaujour, E. Quesnel, and V. Muffato).

Carbon Encapsulated-Iron Lithium Fluoride Nanocomposite as High Cyclic Stability Cathode Material in Lithium Batteries (Raju Prakash, Christian Kübel, and Maximilian Fichtner).

The Ortho-Phosphate Arrojadite as a New Material for Cathodes in Li-Ion Batteries (C. Kallfaß, C. Hoch and H. Schier, Wituchowski, O. Görke, and H. Schubert).

SOLAR.

A Novel Purification Method for Production of Solar Grade Silicon (Shaghayegh Esfahani and Mansoor Barati).

Metallurgical Refining of Silicon for Solar Applications by Slagging of Impurity Elements (M. D. Johnston and M. Barati).

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion: Heat Exchanger Evaluation and Selection (Manuel A.J. Laboy, Orlando E. Ruiz, and José A. Martí).

Synthesis of Solar-Grade Silicon from Rice Husk Ash—An Integrated Process (K. K. Larbi, M. Barati, A. McLean, and R. Roy).

Suitability of Pyrolytic Boron Nitride, Hot Pressed Boron Nitride, and Pyrolytic Graphite for CIGS Processes (John T. Mariner).

Materials Selection and Processing for Lunar Based Space Solar Power (Peter J. Schubert).

Cu₂ZnSnSe₄ Thin Films Produced by Selenization of Cu-Zn-Sn Composition Precursor Films (O. Volobujeva, E. Mellikov, S. Bereznev, J. Raudoja, A. Opik, and T. Raadik).

HYDROPOWER.

Martensitic Stainless Steel 0Cr₁₃Ni₄Mo for Hydraulic Runner (D. Z. Li, Y. Y. Li, P. Wang, and S. P. Lu).

Advanced Composite Materials for Tidal Turbine Blades (Mike Hülse, John Cronin, and Mike Tupper).

NUCLEAR.

Immobilization of Tc in a Metallic Waste Form (W. L. Ebert, J. C. Cunnane, S. M. Frank, and M. J. Williamson).

Development of Iodine Waste Forms using Low-Temperature Sintering Glass (Terry J. Garino, Tina M. Nenoff, James L. Krumhansl, and David Rademacher).

WIND.

Nanostrength Block Copolymers for Wind Energy (Robert Barsotti, John Chen, and Alexandre Alu).

Development of Multifunctional Nanocomposite Coatings for Wind Turbine Blades (Fei Liang, Yong Tang, Jihua Gou, and Jay Kapat).

BIOMASS.

Volatility of Inorganics during the Gasification of Dried Sludge (C. Bourgel, J. Poirier, F. Defoort, J-M Seiler, and C. Peregrina).

Catalysts and Sorbents for Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Renewable Biofuels—Material Development Needs (Singfoong Cheah, Stefan Czernik, Robert M. Baldwin, Kimberly A. Magrlni-Bair, and Jesse E. Hensley).

Material Characterization and Analysis for Selection of Refractories used in Black Liquor Gasification (James G. Hemrick and James R. Keiser, and Roberta A. Peascoe-Meisner).

Addressing the Materials Challenges in Converting Biomass to Energy (Cynthia Powell, James Bennett, Bryan Morreale, and Todd Gardner).

GEOTHERMAL.

Experience with the Development of Advanced Materials for Geothermal Systems (Toshifumi Sugama, Thomas Butcher, and Lynne Ecker).

Novel High-Temperature Materials Enabling Operation of Equipment in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (Matthew W. Hooker, Craig S. Hazelton, Kimiko S. Kano, Larry G. Adams, Michael L. Tupper, and Steven Breit).

Author Index.