Promoting energy efficiency and renewable power is critical to meeting mankind's future needs. The demand of world energy is increasing but the major sources of energy still come from the Earth's reserves of fossil fuels particularly oil, coal and natural gas. Besides the commonly used steam or dry methane reforming from natural gas, water splitting appears to be a very promising solution to produce hydrogen in the pursuit of carbon-free and environmentally friendly energy. In addition, many studies have been performed about advanced nanomaterials and processes for water purification and to produce clean and renewable hydrogen fuel by photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic water splitting, and the photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to fuels, with low cost, efficiently, and with less energy. In recent years there has been increasing interest in the use of transition metal oxides (Ti4+, Zr4+, Nb5+, Ta5+, Mo6+, W6+, Ga3+, Fe3+, In3+, Ge4+, Sn4+, Sb5+, etc) for a variety of energy system applications ranging from solar energy conversion systems to catalysts and electrocatalysts. These metal oxide systems are all derived from elements that are significantly more abundant than for example the platinum group or other noble or semi-precious metals. Therefore, the focus of this symposium is on the advances in developing novel nanostructured materials for the eco-friendly conversion and storage of solar energy, mainly photocatalytic materials for the solar water splitting for hydrogen production, conversion of CO2 to fuels, solar fuels, and environmental and health applications including water treatment and disinfection, air purification, self-cleaning surfaces for the built environment, and the disinfection of surfaces for healthcare applications.
