Increased energy prices and the growing attention on global warming are motivating the creation of economically viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Nanotechnologies have been recognized as one effective approach to solve energy problems. Therefore, to promote the improvement of research and to foster professional collaboration among researchers in energy-related nanotechnologies, we organized a symposium on "Nanotechnology for a Sustainable Energy Economy" as a part of the 243rd American Chemical Society National Meeting, which took place March 25-29, 2012 in San Diego, California, USA. Forty-four contributors from 12 countries presented their research works from industrial, university, and national laboratories in nanotechnology areas related to energy and fuel technologies. This ACS Symposium Series book was developed from this symposium. This book presents a very useful and readable collection of reviews and research papers in nanotechnologies for energy conversion, storage, and utilization, offering new results which are sure to be of interest to researchers, students, and engineers in the field of nanotechnologies and energy. The book focuses on the following topics: Li batteries (Chapters 1-4), supercapacitors (Chapter 5), dye-sensitized solar cells (Chapter 6), photocatalysis (Chapters 7-9), fuel cells (Chapter 10), electrocatalysis (Chapter 11), and electron beam lithography (Chapter 12). All 12 chapters were recruited from oral presentations at the symposium.

Gerrie Radlof se gewilde Oloff die Seerowerreeks is oorspronklik tussen 1957 en 1961 uitgegee en het daarna reeds vier uitgawes beleef. Die verhale, wat in die 1740's afspeel aan die Kaap de Goede Hoop en die seewee daarom heen, is verwerk om aan te pas by die moderne taalgebruik en aan te sluit by die hedendaagse tiener, maar niks van die oorspronklike sjarme en spanning het in die verwerking verlore gegaan nie. Ook geskik as leesstof vir Afrikaans tweede taal vir ouer leerlinge.

The conditions of our overpopulated planet with ever-growing energy needs, fossil fuels in limited supplies, and inefficient energy use world-wide, are creating a global crisis. Science has a responsibility, as well as a grand opportunity, to solve these energy-based problems of society. Science's new nanotechnologies, and the creativity they bring, are particularly appropriate to solve these problems. For example, energy-saving lighting, coupled with improved harvesting and conversion of sunlight into electric energy, will have a great impact on society's energy needs. Also, development of energy efficient and low cost fuel cells, which could eventually replace car engines, has a potential to improve everyday life greatly. Nanomaterials offer an opportunity to develop new low-cost materials as environmentally friendly solutions and renewable energy sources, in order to meet society's energy needs. Fortunately, a wide spectrum of the scientific community has become interested in developing these nanomaterials in order to solve the above energy challenges. Nanomaterials offer unique mechanical, catalytic, electronic, and optical features, which are different from those of the analogous bulk material (1). This is because nanomaterials have scale-dependent properties, due to quantum size effects, which means the nanomaterial size (10 - 100 nm) is smaller than the mean free path of their electrons. Thus, nanomaterials have great promise for use in harvesting solar energy, hydrogen production and storage, fuel cells, catalysis, chemical, optical sensors, drug delivery systems (such as liposomes), and nanothermite reactions (2-4). Fluorine-containing nanomaterials generally have certain unique properties which are often improved relative to the analogous non-fluorinated nanomaterials, and which therefore could be engineered. Although fluorine has the highest electronegativity of all the elements, which means that bonds to fluorine are generally quite polar, it is also in the second period of the periodic table, so it also has a small atomic radius and forms strong bonds. This produces the following properties, which also are characteristic of and bring great advantages to fluorine nanomaterials: high thermal and chemical stability, resistance to degradation by solvents, low flammability, low moisture absorption, low surface tension or energy, low dielectric constant, and serving as a strong oxidant under high energy conditions (5). However, little attention has been given to fluorine-containing organic and inorganic nanomaterials, which are predicted to have these unusual characteristics. This book presents examples of four diverse classes of these nanomaterials.