This may be the author’s version of a work that was submitted/accepted for publication in the following source: Motta, Nunzio (2015) Nanostructures for sensors, electronics, energy and environment II. Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, 6, pp. 1937-1938. This file was downloaded from: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/203532/ c© Consult author(s) regarding copyright matters This work is covered by copyright. Unless the document is being made available under a Creative Commons Licence, you must assume that re-use is limited to personal use and that permission from the copyright owner must be obtained for all other uses. If the docu- ment is available under a Creative Commons License (or other specified license) then refer to the Licence for details of permitted re-use. It is a condition of access that users recog- nise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. 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If there is any doubt, please refer to the published source. https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.6.197 https://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Motta,_Nunzio.html https://eprints.qut.edu.au/203532/ https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.6.197 1937 Nanostructures for sensors, electronics, energy and environment II Nunzio Motta Editorial Open Access Address: School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering and Institute for Future Environments, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St., Brisbane 4001, Australia Email: Nunzio Motta - n.motta@qut.edu.au Keywords: electronics; energy; environment; nanostructures; sensors Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1937–1938. doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.197 Received: 08 September 2015 Accepted: 12 September 2015 Published: 23 September 2015 This article is part of the Thematic Series "Nanostructures for sensors, electronics, energy and environment II". Guest Editor: N. Motta © 2015 Motta; licensee Beilstein-Institut. License and terms: see end of document. 1937 This Thematic Series, “Nanostructures for sensors, electronics, energy and environment II”, is a continuation of the series re- leased three years ago and again presents articles in this highly dynamic field. The fields of nanoscale science and technology are rapidly emerging, with a focus on the design, fabrication, and characterization of functional objects. The existing energy crisis could be mediated not only by new and more efficient methods of collecting sunlight, but also by saving resources by applying developments in storage, electronics and sensors. Conventional energy sources are limited and most of them generate greenhouse gases that pollute the environment. Photo- voltaic technology is a potentially viable solution to produce clean energy; however, its production costs are still too high due to the materials and process techniques involved. Moreover, because the sun is an intermittent energy source, the further development of energy storage systems is necessary in order to allow photovoltaic-based power generation to be independent from the grid. Carbon, one of the most abundant materials found on earth, is the key atomic species in the compounds responsible for green- house gas emission and pollution. However, it can also be used to offset these effects, acting as a valuable material for energy generation, storage, carbon sequestration [1] and sensing [2,3]. Carbon can be employed in one or more of its allotrope forms (e.g., graphene, carbon nanotubes, fullerene) in devices such as organic and inorganic solar cells and supercapacitors [4]. These devices can be produced in large quantities with inexpensive synthesis and process methods based on printing and roll-to-roll techniques, establishing the basis of a new green technology. Currently, most of the research effort in the field is focused on the synthesis of large quantities of high quality carbon nanoma- terials in order to use them for industrial scale production of energy generation and storage devices. However, other interest- ing advances are appearing and are covered in this series. Graphene and graphene oxide exhibit interesting properties that can be exploited in room temperature gas sensing devices. The plasmonic effect, generated by the inclusion of metallic nanoparticles, can be used to overcome certain limitations of the carbon materials, especially in organic solar cells [5]. http://www.beilstein-journals.org/bjnano/about/openAccess.htm mailto:n.motta@qut.edu.au http://dx.doi.org/10.3762%2Fbjnano.6.197 Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1937–1938. 1938 The optical properties of nanomaterials can also be exploited to produce new, powerful devices such as nanolasers, light emit- ting devices [6] and optical nanosensors. Nanomaterials continue to intrigue researchers with new prop- erties discovered every year in such low dimensional structures, generating an incredible field of basic and applied research with the expectation of achieving a better, cleaner and more sustain- able world. Nunzio Motta Brisbane, September 2015 References 1. de Silva, S. W.; Du, A.; Senadeera, W.; Gu, Y. Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 413–418. doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.49 2. Piloto, C.; Notarianni, M.; Shafiei, M.; Taran, E.; Galpaya, D.; Yan, C.; Motta, N. Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1073–1081. doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.120 3. Li, D.; Pang, Z.; Chen, X.; Luo, L.; Cai, Y.; Wei, Q. Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 346–354. doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.39 4. Liu, J.; Mirri, F.; Notarianni, M.; Pasquali, M.; Motta, N. J. Power Sources 2015, 274, 823–830. doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.10.104 5. Notarianni, M.; Vernon, K.; Chou, A.; Liu, J.; Motta, N. Adv. Device Mater. 2015, 1, 27–32. doi:10.1179/2055031614Y.0000000006 6. Liu, J.; Notarianni, M.; Rintoul, L.; Motta, N. Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 485–493. doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.56 License and Terms This is an Open Access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The license is subject to the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology terms and conditions: (http://www.beilstein-journals.org/bjnano) The definitive version of this article is the electronic one which can be found at: doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.197 http://dx.doi.org/10.3762%2Fbjnano.5.49 http://dx.doi.org/10.3762%2Fbjnano.5.120 http://dx.doi.org/10.3762%2Fbjnano.5.39 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jpowsour.2014.10.104 http://dx.doi.org/10.1179%2F2055031614Y.0000000006 http://dx.doi.org/10.3762%2Fbjnano.5.56 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 http://www.beilstein-journals.org/bjnano http://dx.doi.org/10.3762%2Fbjnano.6.197 References