鈥淢aterials Today Physics鈥� Will Focus on Emerging Materials, Physics
Zhifeng Ren, a 葫芦影业 physicist and a principal investigator with the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH, has launched a new academic journal, 鈥淢aterials Today Physics,鈥� which will focus on new and emerging materials.
The journal, to be published by Elsevier, was announced this week at the annual meeting
of the American Physical Society in New Orleans. It will initially focus primarily
on thermoelectric and photovoltaic materials, although Ren said he expects it to quickly
evolve to encompass other emerging materials.
Ren, who is MD Anderson Chair Professor of Physics in UH鈥檚 College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, will serve as the editor-in-chief.
The journal, to be published under Elsevier鈥檚 鈥淢aterials Today鈥� umbrella, is expected to become the flagship high-impact journal for both materials science and physics, Ren said. It is accepting manuscripts for peer review now, and Ren said papers will be reviewed within three weeks and published online after they are accepted. The first print edition of the journal is expected this summer.
Paul Chu, founding director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity, will serve on the editorial board, along with scientists from around the world. He said there is a clear need for a high-quality journal for the rapidly evolving multidisciplinary field of materials science and physics.
鈥淢aterials Today Physics will speed the dissemination of crucial information about materials from their discovery to synthesis, from characterization to understanding, and ultimately to application,鈥� Chu said. 鈥淩en is well qualified to be the editor-in-chief, based on his 30 years of experience in discovering exciting materials and their physics, in materials such as superconductors, carbon nanotubes, semiconducting nanowires, thermoelectrics, flexible transparent conductors and efficient catalysts.鈥�
Ramanan Krishnamoorti, interim vice president for research and technology transfer at UH, said the journal is a good fit for Ren and the University, which has a strong research focus on materials science.
鈥淒r. Ren is known internationally for his work with thermoelectric and other energy-related materials,鈥� Krishnamoorti said. 鈥淗is work has been published in high-impact journals for more than two decades, and I look forward to seeing this new journal evolve to reflect the growing global interest in the physics of emerging materials that will define the cutting-edge of science and technology development over a broad cross-section of applications.鈥�
Ren, who was recruited to UH from Boston College in 2013, received the Edith and Peter O鈥橠onnell Award in Science from The Academy of Medicine, Engineering & Science of Texas in 2014.
Thermoelectric materials produce electricity as energy moves from a warmer area to a cooler one 鈥� capturing the waste heat from an industrial smokestack, for example, would allow the generation of electricity using a thermoelectric material. The field is growing at a significant pace, but there has been no academic journal that focuses largely on thermoelectrics, and Ren said important papers are published in a wide array of journals. He predicts that 鈥淢aterials Today Physics鈥� will publish some of the most important findings in thermoelectrics, along with other fields.
Several papers already have been submitted, and Ren said he expects to publish between 200 and 300 papers a year. For more information, see .
鈥淚n the beginning, we want to put an emphasis on thermoelectrics and any emerging topics that come up,鈥� he said. That will include photovoltaic materials, superconductors, topological insulators, efficient catalysts, flexible transparent conductors and emerging materials for use under extreme conditions.
- Jeannie Kever, University Media Relations