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This book provides a succinct account of the ways in which nanotechnology is being applied to improve energy efficiency. The coverage includes current scanning probe techniques for electrical energy storage, energy harvesting systems, and local electrochemistry as well as emerging techniques of relevance to diverse materials and devices, including advanced scanning probes for nanofabrication and nanotribology. The tools of nanotechnology, such as scanning probe microscopes and micromachines, can provide important information about the fundamental nature of space, especially the zero-point electromagnetic field. An exciting aspect of this subject is that a better understanding of the force that arises from the zero-point field, i.e., the Casimir force, may enable its control to some extent, impacting on the development of nanoelectromechanical systems. Readers will find this book to be a clear and concise summary of the state of the art in nanophysics and nanotechnology as they relate to energy efficiency.

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Local Probes in Energy Storage.- Introduction.- Aging Studies of Electric Energy Storage Devices by Scanning Probe Microscopy Techniques.- Scanning Probe Techniques in Energy Storage.- Scanning Probe Techniques in Energy Harvesting and Local Electrochemistry.- Emergent Local Probe Techniques.- Scanning Probes in Electrochemistry.- Scanning Probes for Nanofabrication.- Advanced Scanning Probes and Nanotribology.

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Rui Filipe dos Reis Marmont Lobo, MSc, PhD, is Associate Professor with Habilitation and Director of Research, Nanophysics and Energy Labs (GNCN-CTS), Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon - Caparica, Portugal. His main research interests include nanotechnology for energy, sustainable energy, functionalization of nano structures, hydrogen storage, photodynamics and nanophotonics, carbon nanotechnology, and near-field spectroscopy. Dr. Lobo has been a member of the International Molecular Beams Symposium since 1995 and a member of the Nanometer Scale Division of IUVSTA since 1996. He is a Founder and signatory of the Lisbon Statement for Hydrogen and Clean Energies. Dr. Lobo is the author of more than 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

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