Fast Ion Transport in Solids

In 1972 the town of Belgirate, Italy, played host to the first international meeting on solid state ionics (published under the title of "Fast Ion Transport in Solids"). This anniversary Advanced Research Workshop invited leading researchers and the best students to present and evaluate the present achievements and to compare them with the goals set at the first meeting. The invited speakers covered almost all the most relevant aspects of solid states ionics, including presentations on materials and concepts for electrochemical devices, oxygen intercalation electrodes, multivalent cations in polymers and beta-aluminas, optical properties of transition metal and rare earth ions in beta aluminas, intercalation compounds and oxides, fuel cells and solid electrolytes, glasses and thin films, applications and future trends. The students were encouraged to discuss the areas in which theory is most needed, crystalline versus non-crystalline materials, the major contributions of solid state ionics to technology, the experimental status of solid state ionics, and what they would like to understand better.