The term electrochemical capacitor (EC) describes a diverse class of energy-storage devices that incorporate a variety of active materials, electrolytes, and device configurations. Such diversity and design flexibility are important advantages that make clear why ECs cover such a broad region on the power vs. energy density plane, and bridge the critical performance gap between the high power densities offered by conventional capacitors and the high energy densities of batteries. In the present issue of Interface,guest edited by Jeff Long, we appraise the status of ECs, from scientific aspects to real-world applications. Editor Krishnan Rajeshwar was in a reflective mood in “Scaling the Heights;” and Tech Highlights continued to offer a free sampling of the best articles in the ECS journals.
Pennington Corner
What's New
ECS Executive Director Roque Calvo recently made a presentation at the E-Journal Summit, an event sponsored by the National Academy of Science (NAS) in Washington, DC. His role as a discussion leader at the Summit was to address the question, “Why should and how can a scientific society broaden its global reach?” In his Pennington Corner column (Interface, spring 2008), Calvo addressed the “how” by saying, “…this is an important subject for me because ECS is one of the few not-for-profit society publishers at the forefront of the electronic publishing revolution, and our progress in this activity has been critical for our success…” As to the “why,” Calvo said, “ECS has acknowledged our important stewardship role in electrochemistry and we have accepted the responsibility to engage scientists and publish research from anywhere in the world that the work has been done. Our statistics show our success: our database indicates that scientists and engineers in approximately 80 different countries are pursuing research activities in our discipline; 53% of the ECS membership now resides outside of the U.S.; and a more noteworthy 80% of our journal manuscripts submitted last year were from authors outside the U.S.”
The ECS Bookstore has been upgraded and improved. For the first time ever, ECS books dating back to 1967 have been organized in an easy-to-search database.
The Chinese Society of Electrochemistry (CSE) has agreed to be a technical co-sponsor of the upcoming PRiME 2008 meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. As part of their sponsorship role, CSE will select two students to receive a grant to attend the meeting and present a paper in one of the 57 different symposia.
