Battery technology and sustainable energy storage and conversion as a new energy resource replacing fossil fuels

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges facing our world today is climate change, brought about by the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in large part due to the massive use of fossil fuels to satisfy our society's ever-increasing energy demands. The transition to clean energy resources requires the development of new, efficient, and sustainable technologies for energy conversion and storage. Several low carbon energy resources will contribute to tomorrow's energy supply landscape, including solar, wind, and tidal power, yet rechargeable batteries will likely remain the dominant technology for storing this energy and using it in an economic and efficient manner for decades to come. For instance, the gradual replacement of internal combustion engine vehicles powered by petroleum or diesel by electric vehicles and photovoltaic power charging stations is one way we can lessen our reliance on fossil fuels. Improving the performance of energy storage and conversion devices toward higher energy and power density, and greater efficiency, durability, and safety, hinges on the development of new materials and processes, specifically, on tuning the properties of the component materials by modulating their crystal structure and microstructure, and on optimizing materials processing and device assembly protocols. Today, there is a clear need for a dedicated publication platform to cover high-impact and multidisciplinary scientific contributions that will pave the way to the next generation of energy conversion and storage devices. We expect this journal to grow in the coming years, as part of the fourth industrial revolution featuring the efficient use of renewable energies, in addition to navigating a digital world and accelerated by the current pandemic. Battery Energy is co-published by Wiley and Xijing University, China. Battery Energy covers diverse scientific topics related to the development of high-performance energy conversion/storage devices, including the physical and chemical properties of component materials, and device-level electrochemical properties. Battery Energy is a high-quality, interdisciplinary, and rapid-publication journal aimed at disseminating scholarly work on a wide range of topics from different disciplines that share a focus on advanced energy materials, with an emphasis on batteries, energy storage and conversion more broadly, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis, heterocatalysis, and so on. The journal features cutting-edge research covering many forms of electrochemical and photochemical energy, including battery processes, and spanning from conventional electrical energy to the type that catalyzes chemical and biological transformations. This journal is also interested in work that prompts new technologies and processes leading to the green production of battery materials. Upcoming issues of Battery Energy will be composed of research papers, review articles, editorials, and research highlights. We recommend contributors to read through the authors' guidelines (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/27681696/homepage/author-guidelines). This journal adopts an open-access publishing model, and so all published articles are freely accessed through the Wiley Online Library. The editorial team of Battery Energy is composed of world-renowned scientists in the field of energy materials. The Editor-in-Chief is Prof. Yong-Mook Kang from Korea University, Republic of Korea, who has been tackling various important issues for battery technologies. Prof. Anmin Cao (Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China), Prof. Raphaële Clément (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA), Prof. Shu-Lei Chou (Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China), Prof. Sang-Young Lee (Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea), Prof. Zongcheng Miao (Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China) are all invested in the successful launch of the journal and in ensuring the publication of research works of the highest quality in Battery Energy. The editorial board is composed of prominent scientists from academia and industry, to consolidate the ties between fundamental understanding and large-scale implementation of energy devices within this journal. We firmly believe that our diverse insights and viewpoints will provide our authors and reviewers a smooth peer review and publication processes. Yong-Mook Kang (Editor-in-Chief) Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Anmin Cao (Associate Editor) Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Raphaële Clément (Associate Editor) University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, USA. Shu-Lei Chou (Associate Editor) Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China. Sang-Young Lee (Associate Editor) Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Zongcheng Miao (Associate Editor) Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China.