Vanessa K. Peterson and Gordon J. Kearley

Abstract Creating a global energy-system that is both environmentally and economically sustainable is one of the largest challenges currently facing scientific and engineering communities. Alternative energy-technologies and new materials have risen as a result of the combined needs for energy and environmental sustainability, with the focus moving increasingly away from fossil fuels. Neutron — based techniques of analysis play a role in almost all aspects of sustainable-energy materials research, and the chapters of this book will enlarge on these studies using examples and case studies to illustrate research approaches, methods, and outcomes.

1.1 Introduction

Research on renewable materials of relevance for environmentally benign energy — technologies is one of the most rapidly-growing research areas in materials science. The primary challenge in this research is the development of materials for such technologies that are viable in competition with existing energy-technologies, responding to application requirements such as efficiency, durability, and cost. Understanding the fundamental properties of materials and their functionality at the atomic and molecular level is crucial in addressing the global challenge of cleaner sources of renewable energy.

This book is divided into three main parts: materials for energy production, storage, and use. The central theme is identifying where the energy carrier is in the material and its interaction with its immediate environment so that these can be tailored to increase the concentration and/or transport of the carrier, which may be electrons, ions, atoms, or molecules. The theory of neutron scattering and analysis techniques, as well as the

V. K. Peterson (H) • G. J. Kearley

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation,

Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia e-mail: vanessa. peterson@ansto. gov. au

G. J. Kearley

e-mail: gke@ansto. gov. au

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 1

G. J. Kearley and V. K. Peterson (eds.), Neutron Applications in Materials for Energy, Neutron Scattering Applications and Techniques,

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-06656-1_1

associated instrumentation, are explained elsewhere in the “Neutron Scattering Applications and Techniques” book series [1] and we particularly refer the reader to Chaps. 2 and 3 , respectively, in the “Neutron Applications in Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences” edition of this series [2] which are available on-line [3].