Members books

Perovskite Solar Cells

by Prof. Shahzada Ahmad, Prof. Samrana Kazim, and Prof. Michael Grätzel

Presents a thorough overview of perovskite research, written by leaders in the field of photovoltaics

The use of perovskite-structured materials to produce high-efficiency solar cells is a subject of growing interest for academic researchers and industry professionals alike. Due to their excellent light absorption, longevity, and charge-carrier properties, perovskite solar cells show great promise as a low-cost, industry-scalable alternative to conventional photovoltaic cells.

Perovskite Solar Cells: Materials, Processes, and Devices provides an up-to-date overview of the current state of perovskite solar cell research. Addressing the key areas in the rapidly growing field, this comprehensive volume covers novel materials, advanced theory, modelling and simulation, device physics, new processes, and the critical issue of solar cell stability. Contributions by an international panel of researchers highlight both the opportunities and challenges related to perovskite solar cells while offering detailed insights on topics such as the photon recycling processes, interfacial properties, and charge transfer principles of perovskite-based devices.

– Examines new compositions, hole and electron transport materials, lead-free materials, and 2D and 3D materials

– Covers interface modelling techniques, methods for modelling in two and three dimensions, and developments beyond Shockley-Queisser Theory

– Discusses new fabrication processes such as slot-die coating, roll processing, and vacuum sublimation

– Describes the device physics of perovskite solar cells, including recombination kinetics and optical absorption

– Explores innovative approaches to increase the light conversion efficiency of photovoltaic cells

Perovskite Solar Cells: Materials, Processes, and Devices is essential reading for all those in the photovoltaic community, including materials scientists, surface physicists, surface chemists, solid state physicists, solid state chemists, and electrical engineers.

Fracture and Complexity

by Carpinteri Alberto

The book explores the two opposite natural trends of composite systems: (i) order and structure emerging from heterogeneity and randomness, and (ii) instability and chaos arising from simple nonlinear rules. Providing insights into the rapidly growing field of complexity sciences, the book focuses on the role of complexity in fracture mechanics. It firstly discusses the occurrence of self-similarity and fractal patterns in deformation, damage, fracture, and fragmentation of heterogeneous materials and the apparent scaling of the nominal mechanical properties of disordered materials, as well as of the time-to-failure after fatigue and creep loading. Then the book addresses criticality in the acoustic emissions from damaged structures and tectonic faults. Further, it examines the snap-back instability in the structural behavior of relatively large composite structures in the framework of catastrophe theory, and lastly describes the transition toward chaos in the dynamics of cracked elements.

Brouwer Degree

The Core of Nonlinear Analysis

by George Dinca and Jean Mawhin

This monograph explores the concept of the Brouwer degree and its continuing impact on important areas of nonlinear analysis.The authors define the degree using an analytical approach proposed by Heinz in 1959 and further developed by Mawhin in 2004,linking it to the Kronecker index and employing the language of differential forms.Special attention is paid to the computation of the degree,as well as to the wide array of applications,such as linking,differential an partial differential equations,difference equations,variational and hemivariational inequalities,game theory,and mechanics.

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-63230-4

Earth, Our Living Planet

The Earth System and its Co-evolution With Organisms

by Philippe Bertrand and Louis Legendre

Earth is, to our knowledge, the only life-bearing body in the Solar System. This extraordinary characteristic dates back almost 4 billion years. How to explain that Earth is teeming with organisms and that this has lasted for so long? What makes Earth different from its sister planets Mars and Venus?

The habitability of a planet is its capacity to allow the emergence of organisms. What astronomical and geological conditions concurred to make Earth habitable 4 billion years ago, and how has it remained habitable since? What have been the respective roles of non-biological and biological characteristics in maintaining the habitability of Earth?

This unique book answers the above questions by considering the roles of organisms and ecosystems in the Earth System, which is made of the non-living and living components of the planet. Organisms have progressively occupied all the habitats of the planet, diversifying into countless life forms and developing enormous biomasses over the past 3.6 billion years. In this way, organisms and ecosystems “took over” the Earth System, and thus became major agents in its regulation and global evolution. There was co-evolution of the different components of the Earth System, leading to a number of feedback mechanisms that regulated long-term Earth conditions.

For millennia, and especially since the Industrial Revolution nearly 300 years ago, humans have gradually transformed the Earth System. Technological developments combined with the large increase in human population have led, in recent decades, to major changes in the Earth’s climate, soils, biodiversity and quality of air and water. After some successes in the 20th century at preventing internationally environmental disasters, human societies are now facing major challenges arising from climate change. Some of these challenges are short-term and others concern the thousand-year evolution of the Earth’s climate. Humans should become the stewards of Earth.

More info:

https://www.earthlivingplanet.info/

Proceedings of the Third international Conference on Theoretical, Applied and Experimental Mechanics

by Emmanuel E. Gdoutos, Maria Konsta Gdoutos

This volume contains sixty seven six-page papers/two-page abstracts presented at the “Third International Conference on Theoretical, Applied and Experimental Mechanics,” (ICTAEM_3) held in Athens, Greece, June 14-17, 2020. The papers/abstracts are arranged in three topics and two special symposia. The three topics are: “Materials: Properties, Manufacturing, Modelling” with sixteen contributions, “Fracture” with five contributions and “Miscellaneous (Computational Mechanics, Dynamics, Nanomaterials, Plasticity, Wave Propagation)” with fourteen contributions. The two symposia are: “Symposium on Theoretical and Experimental Approaches in Mechanics of Solids with Nonhomogeneities and Defects”, by Roman Kushnir with twenty six contributions and “Fracture Nanomechanics, Fatigue and Fracture at Small Scales (experiments and simulations)” by Pasquale Gallo with six contributions. The papers of the tracks have been contributed from open call, while the papers of the two symposia have been solicited by the organizers, to who we are greatly indebted. ICTAEM_3 will focus in all aspects of theoretical, applied and experimental mechanics including biomechanics, composite materials, computational mechanics, constitutive modeling of materials, dynamics, elasticity, experimental mechanics, fracture, mechanical properties of materials, micromechanics, nanomechanics, plasticity, stress analysis, structures, wave propagation. The attendees of ICTAEM_3 will have the opportunity to interact with the most outstanding world leaders and get acquainted with the latest developments in the area of mechanics. ICTAEM_3 will be a forum of university, industry and government interaction and exchange of ideas in an area of utmost scientific and technological importance. We are sure that besides the superb technical program, the attendees of ICTAEM_3 will enjoy the city of Athens. It is considered as the ancient capital of the world with a long fascinating history dating from the Neolithic age, the city of the goddess of wisdom Athena, a center for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, the birthplace of democracy and of Western civilization, of the most intellectual and artistic ideas, the cradle of democracy, the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and the Summer Olympics in 2004. More than a hundred participants attended ICTAEM_3. The participants of ICTAEM_3 came from 1111 countries. Roughly speaking 1111% came from Europe, 1111% from the Far East, 1111% from the Americas and 1111% from other countries. We are happy and proud to have welcomed in the historic city of Athens well-known experts who came to discuss problems related to the analysis and prevention of failure in structures. Presentation of technical papers alone is not enough for effective scientific communication. It is the healthy exchange of ideas and scientific knowledge, formal and informal discussions, together with the plenary and contributed papers that make a fruitful and successful meeting. Informal discussions, personal acquaintance and friendship play an important role. We very sincerely thank the authors who have contributed to this volume, the symposium/sessions organizers for their hard work and dedication and the referees who reviewed the quality of the submitted contributions. The tireless effort of the members of the Organizing Committee as well as of other numerous individuals, and people behind the scenes is appreciated. We are deeply indebted to Dr. Stavros Shiaeles for his hard work and dedication in the organization of the conference. Finally, a special word of thanks goes to Dr. Maria Shiaeles for her continuous collaboration and support.

Oceans

evolving concepts

by Guy Jacques, Paul Tréguer, Herlé Mercier

Since the HMS Challenger expedition of 1872–1876, our vision of the ocean has changed completely. We now understand that it plays a key role in biodiversity, climate regulation, and mineral and biological resources, and as such, the ocean is a major service provider for humanity. Oceans draws on data from new oceanographic and satellite tools, acquired through international interdisciplinary programs. It describes the processes that control how the ocean functions, on different spatial and temporal scales. After considering the evolution of concepts in physical, chemical and biological oceanography, the book outlines the future of a warmer, acidified, less oxygenated ocean. It shows how a view of the ocean at different scales changes how we understand it. Finally, the book presents the challenges facing the ocean in terms of the exploitation of biological and mineral resources, in the context of sustainable development and the regulation of climate change.

Fracture Mechanics

by Emmanuel E. Gdoutos

This book discusses the basic principles and traditional applications of fracture mechanics, as well as the cutting-edge research in the field over the last three decades in current topics like composites, thin films, nanoindentation, and cementitious materials. Experimental methods play a major role in the study of fracture mechanics problems and are used for the determination of the major fracture mechanics quantities such as stress intensity factors, crack tip opening displacements, strain energy release rates, crack paths, crack velocities in static and dynamic problems. These methods include electrical resistance strain gauges, photoelasticity, interferometry techniques, geometric and interferometry moiré, and the optical method of caustics. Furthermore, numerical methods are often used for the determination of fracture mechanics parameters. They include finite and boundary element methods, Green’s function and weight functions, boundary collocation, alternating methods, and integral transforms continuous dislocations. This third edition of the book covers the basic principles and traditional applications, as well as the latest developments of fracture mechanics. Featuring two new chapters and 30 more example problems, it presents a comprehensive overview of fracture mechanics, and includes numerous examples and unsolved problems. This book is suitable for teaching fracture mechanics courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. A “solutions manual” is available for course instructors upon request.

Atomic-Scale Dynamics at Surfaces

Theory and Experimental Studies with Helium Atom Scattering

by G. Benedek and J.P. Toennies

ISBN: 978-3-662-56441-7                                                                     Edition: Springer

ISBN (e-book): 978-3-662-56443-1

Otto Stern 1929 helium-atom scattering (HAS) experiments from a crystal surface filled two needs with one deed: proving the quantum particle-wave duality for atoms, as well as the ordered structure of crystal surfaces. The development of supersonic monocromatic beams of He atoms, with an energy spread no larger than 1%, although motivated by other needs in aero- and astronautics, endowed experimentalists with a new tool to investigate the dynamics of solid surfaces on the atomic scale. HAS, besides providing the surface structure from diffraction, was demonstrated to provide, through inelastic scattering, a high-resolution spectroscopy of low-energy elementary excitations of the surface, allowing for the determination of their dispersion curves: more and more needs can nowadays be fulfilled than envisaged by Stern! The book presents the experimental and theoretical fundamentals of HAS spectroscopy up to the most recent achievements.

Dynamic Analysis of Structures

by John T. Katsikadelis

Edition: Elsevier

ISBN: 9780128186435

Description: Dynamic Analysis of Structures reflects the latest application of structural dynamics theory to produce more optimal and economical structural designs. Written by an author with over 37 years of researching, teaching and writing experience, this reference introduces complex structural dynamics concepts in a user-friendly manner. The author includes carefully worked-out examples which are solved utilizing more recent numerical methods. These examples pave the way to more accurately simulate the behavior of various types of structures. The essential topics covered include principles of structural dynamics applied to particles, rigid and deformable bodies, thus enabling the formulation of equations for the motion of any structure.

More information: edition Elsevier website

Solar Cells and light Management

Materials, Strategies and Sustainability

by Francesco Enrichi, Giancarlo Righini

Wave-optical structures have shown amazing possibilities as photonic solutions to improve the performance of photovoltaic technology, allowing the reduction of the devices’ thickness while improving their generated photocurrent, thereby enabling high-efficient, low-cost and mechanically flexible solar cells. Besides, when applied as front coatings in emergent technologies as perovskite solar cells, such structures can also enhance their operational stability.

Find out more about these exciting advances in this book chapter recently published by Manuel J. Mendes and co-workers at CENIMAT-i3N and CEMOP-UNINOVA:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780081027622000094