Preface

The path from scientific discovery to impact on society has many steps. Today, new science and engineering approaches are being developed to facilitate that task of moving atomistic-scale discoveries and understanding into well-engineered products and processes based on electrochemical phenomena. However, people working on one particular application often find it difficult to recognize highly relevant new methods that were developed for entirely different applications. That is, especially at the atomistic scale, routine science and engineering methodologies are still in an early phase of development for use in assessing emerging business opportunities.

Therefore, the focus for each chapter in this volume includes not only the overarching science and engineering roadblocks that were faced, but also the reusable approaches that were developed to inform the technological/business applications with the underlying atomistic science. Many such reusable methods could be relevant beyond their initial use. Bringing together such approaches for diverse applications that span the nano-bio-photo-micro landscape will facilitate recognition and cross-fertilization between seemingly different applications and will lessen the need to "reinvent the wheel" for each.

Alivisatos and Osowiecki, in their Introductory Perspective, emphasize the central importance of the value to society of new candidate technologies. Whether a proposed breakthrough is valuable enough depends in large part on its theoretical performance limits as compared to the current state of the art. Also important for electrochemical applications are selectivity and control of the desired reaction. They illustrate these points with the example of quantum dots, once unusual materials that are today produced at the ton scale and used in commercial display technologies. They comment on several electrochemical applications where considerations based on limits-selectivity-control could provide guideposts on the path from discovery to product.

Brushett describes a new paradigm for battery research: tight integration of discovery science, battery design, research prototyping, and manufacturing collaboration within a single highly interactive organization. This new paradigm, pursued at the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (), seeks transformational change in transportation and the electric grid driven by next-generation, high-performance, low-cost electrochemical energy storage. Although JCESR focuses exclusively on "beyond lithium-ion batteries," the overall systems approach is portable and can be applied to other applications in order to accelerate the pace of discovery and innovation, while reducing the time from conceptualization to commercialization. To this end, the chapter presents JCESR's motivation, vision, mission, as well as outcomes and lessons learned in the development, execution, and refinement of this mode of operation.

Balsara and colleagues review the redox pathways that have been proposed for the cathode of a Li-S cell as it is charged and discharged. The use of various in situ spectral methods to identify the fingerprints of reaction intermediates is discussed. The electrode design required of such methods should guarantee unimpeded access to the species of interest and avoid transport bottlenecks. The basis for understanding the role of the electrolyte for achieving high specific energy is described. The general approach, based on in situ spectroelectrochemical methods, is reusable for other electrochemical systems where intermediate steps in the overall reaction are not yet resolved, such as in alkaline fuel cells and carbonate- or ether-based electrolytes.

Deligianni and coworkers describe the scientific and technological path from laboratory research to early industrial development of electrodeposition for inorganic solar cells. An overarching consideration is to design earth-abundant materials whose elements are amenable to massive-scale application. The chapter describes initial investigations on copper-indium-gallium-diselenide () solar cells, before turning to fabrication approaches used for electrodeposited precursor materials, associated fundamentals of electrodeposition, and development of solution chemistries for copper-based earth-abundant electrodeposited kesterite precursor materials such as Cu2ZnSn (Se,S). A comprehensive description of scale-up procedures is described from the laboratory scale of a rotating disk, to 15?×?15?cm glass plates, to 30?×?60?cm modules, and full-size 60-120?cm module, leading up to an industrial-scale production line for producing solar cells at the rate of 1?m2 min-1.

Ohashi describes the perspectives in Japan that guided evolution of the thin film head technology within the hard disk drive business sector. The technical issues included understanding the properties of candidate magnetic materials and their suitability for use in thin film heads, such as stress, thermal decay, and noise emanating from domain walls of finite thickness. The business issues included recognizing trade-offs between different candidate technologies whose suitability depended on the application. The fluid state of new technologies and new business opportunities creates "The Innovator's Dilemma," which occurs when a new technology brings a value proposition that is different from any ever proposed by existing customers, that is, choosing between sustaining a proven path forward and investing in a potentially disruptive technology.

Orazem and colleagues address the problem of separating water from clay suspensions generated as a waste stream in beneficiation of phosphate ores. The sequential development of a continuous electrokinetic separation process was accomplished with experimental and computational methods that moved atomistic-scale discoveries and understanding toward a well-engineered process. The approach involved empiricism guided by understanding how solids content depended on applied electric field and elapsed time. While electron microscopy and surface analyses provided insight into the structure of the clay, the design of successive prototypes relied on intuition, insights gained from previous prototypes and informed engineering judgment.

Taylor and coworkers investigate pulse reverse-current electroplating and surface-finishing operations. While there are well-establish traditional paradigms for such processes, the authors report various research and development activities carried out with a balance between current fundamental understandings combined with a willingness to pursue non-conforming observations that lead them to paradigm-breaking conclusions. Examples include copper electrodeposition with pulse-reverse cathodic current and decreased used of chemical additives, deburring of non-passive metals with use of forward-only anodic pulses, deburring of passive metals with reverse-pulse anodic and decreased hydrogen evolution, and pulse reverse voltage electropolishing of niobium that uses low concentration acid devoid of HF.

Tsukuhara describes development of a trace moisture sensor that was developed via a series of investigations, spanning several decades, of puzzling phenomena and blind alleys in their pursuit. The tortuous path from discovery to product included non-intuitive results, failed hypotheses, unexpected phenomena, and the need to rethink past observations. All of these roadblocks served to seed fresh ideas guided by background knowledge of laser ultrasonics, surface acoustic waves, propagation of waves in elastic spheres, hydrogen interaction with Pd/Ni films, deposition of amorphous silica, and chemical interaction of water with silica glass, among others. The guiding strategies that emerged from this project include the following: find the thermodynamic limit, do not dismiss something that is apparently wrong, think about observations many times over and be prepared to change you previous opinions, test experiments with numerical simulation, and look broadly into cumulative knowledge available in other fields.

Williams reports on development of low-cost sensors based on gas-sensitive semiconducting oxides. A key concept illustrated in this case is to focus on what limits the path forward. For example, the central technical requirement involved correct control of the sensor and sample, while the economic barriers included the cost of calibration, maintenance, and the cost of an erroneous or unreliable reading. These constraints, along with the knowledge of fundamental science aspects of high sensitivity and low selectivity, led to innovative design of catalyst layers and T-programmed desorption routines. The scientific and engineering threads brought together in this work included understanding surface reactions on semiconducting oxide, sensor development, instrument development, and big data associated with the application. These illustrate how deep scientific understanding led to well-engineered products and markets for them, which, in turn, generated questions that further stimulated the quest for knowledge in fields that were never in view at the start.

In the long run, the reduction to routine use of such methods as described in this volume will provide the foundation for next-generation science and engineering at the molecular scale. In this spirit, we take inspiration from Carl...