Author Description

This proceedings volume contains articles that were presented at the symposium on Polymer Composites for Energy Harvesting, Conversion and Storage, at the 245th meeting of the American Chemical Society in 2013. The symposium brought together experts from the different areas of polymer composite research to address the scientific, engineering, economic, environmental, and health issues involved in the production and use of polymer composites. The symposium also provided a forum for researchers to introduce the high-performance, low-cost, and environmentally friendly polymer composites and techniques for energy applications into the marketplace. The volume explores polymer composites in terms of their chemical synthesis, characterization, and applications in the energy field, from photovoltaics to fuel cells, from thermoelectrics to energy harvesting and storage. The articles include state-of-art synthesis, characterization, and measurement techniques applied to polymer composites. Such methods addressed the key challenges involved in the processing of polymer composites, such as structural and morphological control, interface characterization, property optimization, and the identification of potential candidates for desired performance, etc. The order of the articles in the proceedings volume is different from that of their presentations at the meeting. This volume contains updates to existing polymer composite publications with the newest research work in energy applications, as well as reviews that present new evaluation and analyses of published research. In summary, all the articles in the proceedings volume reveal the latest research on polymer composites, and are available source material for researchers and managers working in this field.