UPDATED The IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology (TNANO) seeks original manuscripts for a Special Section on: “Beyond Nano: Smart Nanomaterials, Nanotechnologies and Metamaterials for Plasmonics and Advanced Energy Systems” 

The metamaterial paradigm, was articulated in 1959 by R. Feynman, stating “Up to now, we have been content to dig in the ground to find minerals. What would happen if we could arrange the atoms one by one the way we want them? When we have some control of the arrangement of things on a small scale we will get an enormously greater range of possible properties that substances can have, and of different things that we can do”. Metamaterials (“meta” from the Greek μετά, “beyond”) are a novel class of “artificial” materials with a complex architecture comprising features spanning over multiple length scales, from “nano” and even below up to “macro”, and featuring a wide range of “exotic” properties, as e.g. the negative refraction, that cannot be found in other structures and materials platforms. Complex metamaterials and nano-assemblies have already been shown to have the potential to substantially extend the properties of existing materials and advance existing robust engineering materials to respond to the demands of emerging technologies.

At the same time, the utilization of nanomaterials in technologies for renewable energy and sustainability applications is an important area of academic and commercial research.

There are numerous mechanisms by which the integration of nanomaterials can improve device performance. These include, for example, facilitation of increased harvesting and conversion efficiencies, simplified and rapid manufacturing processes for novel device architectures, and improved energy storage properties.

This Special section of the IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology solicits contributed articles that will report the most recent developments in the field of metamaterials, smart nanomaterials and nanotechnologies for highly efficient, novel devices relevant to applications in plasmonics, renewable energy and sustainability, high efficiency energy systems, energy accumulation, energy harvesting or very special energy conversion applications. This section will also serve as the basis to chart out future research directions. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Metamaterials/Smart Nanomaterials development, synthesis, and fabrication for renewable energy applications;
  • Synthesis and Characterization of Plasmonic Nanomaterials
  • Novel micro/nanofabrication technologies for efficient energy devices;
  • Design and preparation of novel nanotextured/nanostructured surfaces for improved energy harvesting and conversion efficiencies;
  • Low-dimensional nanomaterials or nanocomposites for renewable energies;
  • Green techniques for energy-related nanomaterials processing;
  • Nanomaterial-based technologies for sustainability and environmental issues;
  • Other studies of nanoscience and nanotechnology associated with renewable energy and sustainability.

Follow the guideline (http://site.ieee.org/tnano/author-info/), and submit your paper to ScholarOne Manuscripts at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tnano, indicating in the cover letter that you wish the paper to be considered for “IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology (TNANO) Special Section on “Smart Nanomaterials, Nanotechnologies and Metamaterials for Plasmonics and Advanced Energy Systems”. Please note that the type of submissions is Regular Manuscripts, i.e., 4 to 6 pages in the two-column IEEE format, which includes figures, tables, and references. On submission to TNANO, authors should select the “Special Issue” manuscript type instead of “Regular Paper”.

Manuscripts will be subject to the standard competitive and constructive peer-review TNANO criteria with no article publishing charges. Accepted papers are published on the web in IEEE Xplore as soon as they are submitted in final form. Web-published papers have a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), and are fully citable and downloadable.

Important Dates

  • Extended Submission deadline: October 15, 2021
  • First decision (accept/reject/revise): January 15, 2022
  • Revised papers submission: March 15, 2022
  • Final decision: May 15, 2022

Guest Editors (Alphabetical Order)

  • Michele Giocondo, Institute of Nanotechnology, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy, Email: michele.giocondo@cnr.it
  • Eden Mamut, Institute for Nanotechnologies and Alternative Energy Sources, “Ovidius” University of Constanta, Romania, Email: emamut@univ-ovidius.ro (Leading Guest Editor)
  • Guang Tao Fei, Institute of Solid State Physics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, P. R. China, Email: gtfei@issp.ac.cn

Responsible T-NANO Senior Editor: Prof. Sorin Cotofana