Dear Colleagues,

Today, more than ever before, the development of suitable electrochemical systems to store electricity generated from renewable sources has a vital role to play in shaping the future of our societies. New and powerful materials are urgently needed to realize advanced rechargeable batteries; they will help us to cut our dependency on fossil fuels and, thus, to reduce CO₂ emissions. To increase the energy density and lifetime of the batteries materials, scientists are currently seeking to develop and characterize new materials, as well as to understand the associated interfacial phenomena the different components in a battery are subject to.

Amorphous and nanocrystalline materials offer various advantages over materials with crystallites having mean diameters in the µm range. In particular, they provide short diffusion lengths for both ions and electrons assisting in fast charging and discharging processes. This Special Issue aims to present latest findings in next-generation electrochemical energy storage systems benefiting from structurally disordered solids or nanocrystalline materials putting special emphasis on nanostructured ceramics.

Manuscripts presenting studies of the following topics are highly welcome: (i) new synthesis methods of both active materials and solid electrolytes, (ii) electrochemical performance, (iii) interfacial phenomena, or (iv) ion transport properties of the main charge carriers, covering both ions and electrons. In detail, the manuscripts can be, on the one hand, devoted to active materials for Li-ion, Na-ion, Mg-ion, or even F-ion batteries, and, on the other hand, also to novel solid electrolytes, such as highly ion conducting sulfides, oxides, fluorides, or hydrides. In regard to solid electrolytes, focus is put on bulk ion dynamics vs. transport across grain boundaries, chemical and electrochemical stability, bulk-type, and thin film all-solid-state batteries equipped with nanocrystalline electrolytes.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript (full papers, communications, or reviews) for the Special Issue, “Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage”.

Prof. Dr. Martin Wilkening
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• nanomaterials for next-generation batteries
• Li-ion and Na-ion cells
• novel synthesis methods
• solid electrolytes, ceramics
• electrochemical properties
• interfacial effects
• ion transport