SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF ADVANCED MATERIALS, 2017VOL. 18, NO. 1, 704
https://doi.org/10.1080/14686996.2017.1379729

OPEN ACCESSFOREWORD

Downloaded by [77.158.89.188] at 17:14 17 December 2017

Focus on overview of innovative materials for energy
Innovative materials for energy play an important rolein major fields of science and technology, including lifeand environmental sciences and many interdisciplinary
fields. This focus issue contains several reviews andprimary research articles devoted to materials for energy
conversion (photovoltaic, lighting, solid oxide fuel cells,etc.) and energy harvesting applications. This focus issue
was organized within a collaboration between Japan andFrance. Half of its articles originate from joint researchstructures, such as the International Joint Research Unit
(UMI 3757 ELytMax, UMI 3629 LINK) and the AssociatedInternational Laboratory (LIA NextPV). This issue also
features works carried out in close partnership between
French and Japanese research teams in areas related tomaterials for energy. It clearly demonstrates the dynamic
exchange in this field between these two countries, frombasic to applied science.
This Foreword includes the encouraging words ofLaurent Pic, the Ambassador of France to Japan. We would
like to thank him and the Embassy of France in Japanfor their support. We are also grateful to all the involved
authors and reviewers, as without their help this focus issue
would not have been published on time.
Fabien Grasset
Laboratory for Innovative Key Materials and Structures,
UMI 3629 LINK, NIMS-Saint Gobain-CNRS, National
Institute for Material Science, Tsukuba, Japanfabien.grasset@univ-rennes1.fr http://orcid.
org/0000-0002-4911-0214

Introduction by Laurent Pic, Ambassador ofFrance to Japan
In the context of the Paris Agreement on Climate
Change, France and Japan are seeking an optimal energy
mix that combines conventional and alternative pathways
and is able to meet the demand for energy while protecting the environment. Secure, competitive, and sustainable,
the optimal energy mix requires significant research andinnovation efforts to ensure the improvement of thermalenergy technologies and the development, integration, andstorage of reliable renewable energies.

Striving for tomorrow’s energy mix thus requires technologies using increasingly efficient materials that are sustainable and usable under potentially extreme conditions,while improving the reliability and safety of structures andfacilities. The success of research and development activities, as measured by their ability to provide sustainable
technology solutions, relies on the design of new materials
adapted to environmental constraints.
In order to achieve the optimal energy mix, France andJapan have thus placed great emphasis on materials forenergy, a field in which both countries boast world-classexpertise driven by flagship research institutions and companies. France and Japan have also developed extensive
cooperation in this field, as illustrated by the establishmentof three major joint laboratories within the French National
Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). This focus issue,
dedicated to the subject of innovative energy materials,
features high-quality contributions from each of theselaboratories.
The Embassy of France in Japan strongly supports
French–Japanese cooperation on materials for energy
through numerous scientific seminars and events suchas the French–Japanese Seminar on Materials for Energy,organized in 2014 in collaboration with the Science Councilof Japan. The France–Japan Innovation Year, launched in2015 by the prime ministers of both countries, also provided a framework for several events, including a French–
Japanese Symposium on Green Hydrogen Production andStorage held in Osaka in 2016.
This focus issue shows the diversity and significance ofFrench–Japanese cooperation in the field of materials forenergy and provides a wonderful opportunity for me toreaffirm the desire of the Embassy of France in Japan to
fully support this cooperation. It is my hope that it willcontinue to grow and become a breeding ground for tomorrow’s sustainable energy technologies.
Laurent Pic
Ambassador of France to Japan
Ambassade de France, Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku,Tokyo, Japan© 2017 The Author(s). Published by National Institute for Materials Science in partnership with Taylor & Francis.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.