| Scope |
Interfaces such as free surfaces, phase boundaries and grain boundaries are essential features of most technologically relevant material systems. The interplay between interfaces and the environment frequently plays a key role in the functionality of materials. This symposium invites contributions that address the thermodynamics and kinetics of interfaces in the presence of different external fields (electric, magnetic, stress, thermal, etc) and diverse environmental media (gas, liquid, vacuum, etc). Of particular interest are the fundamentals of interface structure, chemistry, evolution and properties in functional settings such as those in batteries, fuel cells, ferroelectrics, photovoltaics, catalysts and sensors during processing or operation, but other classes of materials and other aspects of interface phenomena are considered as well.
Topics of this symposium include but are not limited to:
- Advanced (in-situ) characterization techniques applied to interfaces in functional environments.
- Theoretical, modeling, data analysis and informatics methodology for predicting interface structure and structure-property relations across length and time scales.
- Interface complexion transitions (chemical, structural, morphological) under external stimuli.
- Thermodynamic vs kinetic stability of interfaces in nanoscale materials.
- Interface engineering through controlled material processing
- Fundamental aspects of defect-interface interactions in functional materials; e.g. space charge effects, defect emission and absorption at interfaces.
- Impact of interfacial properties on macroscopic material’s properties
- Interfacial anisotropy
- Surface-gas interaction in sensor materials
- Fundamentals of catalysis
- Hetero-interfaces between different classes of materials (oxide-metal, ceramic-metal etc.) |