Preface—Focus Issue on Processes at the Semiconductor-Solution Interface

Abstract

This focus issue addresses some of the cutting edge research themes in many processes that occur at the interface between a semiconductor and a solution. This interface, a pH and redox potential-controlled liquid analog to the metal-semiconductor interface, is where semiconductor electrochemistry occurs. With the advent of alternative approaches to lower cost and more efficient hydrogen production, to the energetics of the electrolyte-material interface for batteries, the physics and electrochemistry of solar photovoltaics, and transistor-based technologies that monitor liquid-based biological interactions and so much more, this interface remains central to the underlying mechanisms for so many multidisciplinary topics. Energy storage and conversion, materials design and characterization, environmental science and technology, and much more, rely on this critical interface as part of the scientific search for a sustainable energy future.