Abstract

The development of nanotechnology in the past two decades has generated great capability of controlling materials at the nanometer scale and has enabled exciting opportunities to design materials with desirable photonic, electronic, ionic, chemical and mechanical properties, which are important for advanced energy conversion and storage and for addressing the environmental issues. Here I will show exciting examples on how we design materials at the nanoscale for energy and environment, including: 1) Nanocone solar cells with advanced photon management and nanowire transparent electrodes. 2) High-energy batteries for portable electronics and electric vehicles. 3) Novel environmental technologies such as water desalination batteries, thermal batteries, microbial batteries, water disinfection and air particle filters.