ABSTRACT
It is interesting that challenge #2 speaks explicitly about the human need for sustainable energy, while most of the other challenges provide a means by which this challenge can be met. For example, nanostructures (challenge #5) provide a means for independent variation of the parameters that control the thermoelectric (TE) ›gure of merit, and large-scale modeling requires advances in information technology (challenge #6) which are needed to make predictions for the convergent optimization of the parameters that control TE performance. Most of the composite materials used for high TE performance are conceived via processes that are far from equilibrium (challenge #4), while living systems
1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Nanocomposite Preparation ........................................................... 1-4
1.4 Phonon Transport in Nanocomposites ....................................... 1-38 1.5 Conclusions and Outlook ..............................................................1-42 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................1-43 References ....................................................................................................1-43
(challenge #3) give us examples of how nature provides us with systems that achieve energy sustainability during their lifetimes. še inorganic world tells us how the interactions between the constituents of matter (electrons, atoms, and ions) interact with each other so that their collective behavior can be different from that of their individual behavior (challenge #1), thereby giving us a means that can be used to design and constrain systems that mimic what nature can achieve. šus we can expect the science of the world around us to furnish us with the necessary tools to provide the energy needed annually for sustainability (15 TW) from the much larger annual amount supplied by the sun (36,000 TW) to the land surface of the world.
