Nanocrystalline Metals and Oxides

Nanostructured materials have at least one dimension in the nanometer range. They have become a very active research area in solid state physics and chemistry with anticipated applications in various domains, including solar cells, electronics, batteries and sensors. Nanocrystalline metals and oxides are dense polycrystalline solids with a mean grain size below 100 nm. This book is intended to give an overview on selected properties and applications of nanocrystalline metals and oxides. The first three chapters provide a theoretical treatment of thermodynamics and atom/ion transport for nanocrystalline materials. The following chapters express views on the development of experimental characterization techniques for nanocrystalline solids with emphasis on electroceramic materials. This book should be of interest to chemists, physicists and materials scientists.