SSPC (Solid State Proton Conductors 15 Meeting

The field of solid state protonics has had a small but dedicated following for the past several decades. The collection of papers compiled in this special issue of Solid State Ionics were presented at the most recent international conference focused specifically on this topic, the 15th International Conference on Solid State Proton Conductors (SSPC-15) held in Santa Barbara, California, United States, August 15-20, 2010. Early recognition of the importance of proton transport in solids led to the establishment of the first meeting in this series in 1981, held in Paris in the form of a Danish-Frenchworkshop. The subsequent thirteen meetingswere all held inWestern Europe,with increasing participation from Asian, Eastern European and North and South American researchers. In recognition of the growing international interest in the field, SSPC-14 was held in Kyoto, Japan. SSPC-15, the first North American meeting in this series, built on the momentum of internationalization achieved in SSPC-14, ensuring that the best and brightest minds continue to contribute to the important problems still facing the understanding and manipulation of proton transport in solids. This occasion warrants an update to the SSPC history, and is given. Overall, the oxide proton conductors were the topic of greatest interest, reflecting the deep history of Japanese involvement in these materials. Critical advances were described in both the understanding of the transport properties and the fabrication of technological devices, with particular emphasis on fuel cells. Interest in polymer and oxyacid proton conductors was also high, as with previous meetings. Again, advances in fundamental mechanistic understanding of proton transport pathways were reported in parallel with advances in device development. While only a subset of papers presented at SSPC-15 are included in this special issue, the articles reflect the breadth of topics covered. The reader is encouraged to browse the papers beyond his or her area of expertise to experience directly the remarkable breakthroughs reported at SSPC-15