Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Supporting our community through Covid-19

While our publishing services are running as usual, we also know that this is a very challenging time for everyone, for many different reasons. If any aspect of the publishing process is worrying you – for example you think you may struggle to meet a pre-determined deadline – please let us know, and we will work out an answer together.

Setting up remote access to RSC content

You can find details about how to access information remotely in this step-by-step guide. The guide will also help if for any reason you have difficulty accessing the content you want.

Impact factor: 11.301*
Publishing frequency: 48 issues per year
Editor-in-chief: Anders Hagfeldt
Time to first decision: 25 days**

Scope

Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B & C cover high quality studies across all fields of materials chemistry. The journals focus on those theoretical or experimental studies that report new understanding, applications, properties and synthesis of materials. The journals have a strong history of publishing quality reports of interest to interdisciplinary communities and providing an efficient and rigorous service through peer review and publication. The journals are led by an international team of Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors who are all active researchers in their fields.

Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B & C are separated by the intended application of the material studied. Broadly, applications in energy and sustainability are of interest to Journal of Materials Chemistry A, applications in biology and medicine are of interest to Journal of Materials Chemistry B, and applications in optical, magnetic and electronic devices are of interest to Journal of Materials Chemistry C. More than one Journal of Materials Chemistry journal may be suitable for certain fields and researchers are encouraged to submit their paper to the journal that they feel best fits for their particular article.

Example topic areas within the scope of Journal of Materials Chemistry A are listed below. This list is neither exhaustive nor exclusive.

Artificial photosynthesis
Batteries
Carbon dioxide conversion
Catalysis
Fuel cells
Gas capture/separation/storage
Green/sustainable materials
Hydrogen generation
Hydrogen storage
Photocatalysis
Photovoltaics
Self-cleaning materials
Self-healing materials
Sensors
Supercapacitors
Thermoelectrics
Water splitting
Water treatment

Editorial board

Editor-in-chief

Anders Hagfeldt , EPFL, Switzerland

Associate editors

Curtis Berlinguette, University of British Columbia, Canada

Viola Birss, University of Calgary, Canada

Goutam De, Satyendra Nath Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, India

Mohamed Eddaoudi, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia

Ghim Wei Ho, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Yun Jeong Hwang, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea

Kisuk Kang, Seoul National University, South Korea

Zhiqun Lin, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

David Lou, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Yi-Chun Lu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Frank Osterloh, University of California, Davis, USA

Shizhang Qiao, University of Adelaide, Australia

Jennifer Rupp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Stephen Skinner, Imperial College London, UK

Magdalena Titirici, Imperial College London, UK

Miriam Unterlass, Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Li-Zhu Wu, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, China

Yusuke Yamauchi, The University of Queensland, Australia

Zhen Zhou, Nankai University, China

Philipp Adelhelm, Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany

Rajeev Ahuja, Uppsala University, Sweden

Conchi Ania, CNRS Orleans, USA

Jong-Beom Baek, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Korea

Kanishka Biswas, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, India

Edith Bucher, University of Leoben, Austria

Michael Chabinyc, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

Arun Chattopadhyay, IIT Guwahati, India

Jie-Sheng Chen, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Will Chueh, Stanford University, USA

Serena Corr, University of Sheffield, UK

Tomas Edvinsson, Uppsala University, Sweden

Xinliang Feng, Dresden University of Technology, Germany

Ana Flavia Nogueira, University of Campinas, Brazil

Jurgen Fleig, Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Mihaela Florea, University of Bucharest, Romania

Giulia Galli, University of Chicago, USA

Nuria Garcia-Araez, University of Southampton, UK

Jiaxing Huang, Northwestern University, USA

Hiroshi Imahori, Kyoto University, Japan

Tatsumi Ishihara, Kyushu University, Japan

Saiful Islam, University of Bath, UK

Feng Jiao, University of Delaware, USA

Emma Kendrick, University of Birmingham, UK

Dong Ha Kim, Ewha Womens University, Korea

Bumjoon Kim, KAIST, Korea

Ulrike Kramm, TU Darmstadt, Germany

Yun Jung Lee, Hanyang University, Korea

Jing Li, Rutgers University, USA

Baohua Li, Tsinghua University, China

Bettina Lotsch, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Germany

Jingshan Luo, Nankai University, China

C. Buddie Mullins, University of Texas at Austin, USA

Arun K. Nandi, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, India

Linda Nazar, University of Waterloo, Canada

Markus Niederberger, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Chinedum Osuji, University of Pennsylvania, USA

Steve Parker, University of Bath, UK

Zoe Schnepp, University of Birmingham, UK

Zongping Shao, Curtin University, Australia

Yuichi Shimakawa, Kyoto University, Japan

Mihaela C. Stefan, University of Texas at Dallas, USA

Cheng-Yong Su, Sun Yat-Sen University, China

Shi-Gang Sun, Xiamen University, China

Venkataraman Thangadurai, University of Calgary, Canada

Seung Uk Son, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea

Eva Unger, Lund University, Sweden

Rose-Noelle Vannier, ENSC Lille, France

Mengye Wang, Sun Yat-Sen University, China

Min Wei, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China

Emily Weiss, Northwestern University, USA

Charlotte Williams, University of Oxford, UK

Yi-Jun Xu, Fuzhou University, China

Meidan Ye, Xiamen University, China

Qiang Zhang, Tsinghua University, China

George (X. S.) Zhao, University of Queensland, Australia

Gengfeng Zheng, Fudan University, China

Michaela Mühlberg, Executive Editor ORCID 0000-0002-3468-280X

Lynn Murphy, Deputy Editor

Rose Wedgbury, Development Editor ORCID 0000-0002-7192-5401

Jonathon Watson, Editorial Production Manager

Lucy Balshaw, Publishing Editor

Matthew Blow, Publishing Editor

Robin Brabham, Publishing Editor

Tom Cozens, Publishing Editor

Chris Dias, Publishing Editor

Ed Gardner, Publishing Editor

Joseph Gibson, Publishing Editor

Emma Gorrell, Publishing Editor

Ellie Griffiths, Publishing Editor

Sam Howell, Publishing Editor

Fiona Iddon, Publishing Editor

Carole Martin, Publishing Editor

Kirsty McRoberts, Publishing Editor

Rebecca Plant, Publishing Editor

Ella Wren, Publishing Editor

Ruth Zadik, Publishing Editor

Jane Chan, Editorial Assistant

Julie Ann Roszkowski, Publishing Assistant

Sam Keltie, Publisher

Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship

This Lectureship recognises early career researchers, typically within 10 years of attaining their PhD or equivalent degree, who have made significant contributions to the field of materials chemistry in their independent academic career.

Find out more about eligibility, how to nominate and deadlines for nomination and announcement.

Find out more

Article types

Journal of Materials Chemistry A publishes:

Full papers
Communications
Reviews
Highlights
Perspectives
Comments

See more information about these article types

Communications

Communications contain novel scientific work of such importance that rapid publication is desirable. Authors should briefly indicate in a covering letter the reasons why they feel that publication of their work as a Communication is justified. The recommended length is three printed journal pages.

Full papers

Full papers contain original scientific work that has not been published previously.

Reviews & Perspectives

These are normally invited by the Editorial Board and editorial office, although suggestions from readers for topics and authors of reviews are welcome.

Reviews and Perspectives must be high quality, authoritative, state-of-the-art accounts of the selected research field. They should be timely and add to the existing literature, rather than duplicate existing articles, and should be of general interest to the journal's wide readership.

All Reviews and Perspectives undergo rigorous peer review, in the same way as regular research papers.

Reviews should report a detailed, balanced and authoritative current account of the existing state of knowledge on a particular facet of materials chemistry research for energy and sustainability. Simple literature surveys will not be accepted for publication. Reviews should not contain unpublished original research.

Highlight articles are short articles that highlight important new developments. Unlike Review articles, these are intended to cover developments made over the past year or so. They should explain the significance of these developments and may also identify where further work is urgently required or where challenges are still faced. These articles should discuss emerging areas of relevance to materials. Highlights should not contain unpublished original research.

Perspectives are short readable articles covering current areas of interest. They may take the form of personal accounts of research or a critical analysis of activity in a specialist area. By their nature they will not be comprehensive reviews of a field of materials chemistry. Some new unpublished research may be included.

Comments/Replies

Comments and Replies are a medium for the discussion and exchange of scientific opinions between authors and readers concerning material published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

For publication, a Comment should present an alternative analysis of and/or new insight into the previously published material. Any Reply should further the discussion presented in the original article and the Comment. Comments and Replies that contain any form of personal attack are not suitable for publication.

Comments that are acceptable for publication will be forwarded to the authors of the work being discussed, and these authors will be given the opportunity to submit a Reply. The Comment and Reply will both be subject to rigorous peer review in consultation with the journal’s Editorial Board where appropriate. The Comment and Reply will be published together.

Submission and assessment process

On submission to the journal, all manuscripts are initially assessed by a team of professional Publishing Editors who have a wide range of scientific backgrounds. They make an assessment of whether the manuscript may be suitable for the journal, based on the scope and very high significance and broad general interest criteria required for publication. Publishing Editors are supported in this decision making by our academic Associate Editors who are members of our Editorial Board. Only manuscripts that successfully pass these initial assessments will be sent for full peer review, which may be with an Associate Editor. Full details of the initial assessment process can be found with our processes and policies.

The journal follows a single-blind peer review process and articles are typically sent to at least two independent reviewers for evaluation. Professional Publishing Editors and academic Associate Editors are equally responsible for peer review and associated editorial decisions. The team are guided by our Editorial Board who set the scientific standards and guidelines for the journal. Our Editorial Board are all leading scientists who together have expertise across the breadth of materials science.

Journal specific guidelines

The following guidelines are journal specific. For general guidance on preparing an article please visit our Prepare your article page, the content of which is relevant to all of our journals.

Reporting efficiencies of solar conversion devices

Guideline statement

Authors and referees should note the following guidelines for articles reporting the efficiency of solar conversion devices. Authors should ensure the following information is provided in the main manuscript or supplementary information as appropriate.

A full, conventional error analysis should be carried out and reported. This should consist of both random and systematic/bias analyses of values to support the main claims presented in the article, and information on how the error analysis was carried out.

Efficiencies should be reported to an appropriate number of significant figures, along with a standard deviation. This also includes presenting error bars on graphs.

A sufficient number of samples should be tested, and a sufficient number of trials performed.

The 1 Sun AM 1.5G reference spectrum should be used as standard for testing power conversion efficiency and a justification provided where this is not used.

Full experimental conditions under which the efficiency is measured should be declared. Special attention should be paid to documenting the active area of the device, the calibration protocol and properties of the illumination including spectral irradiance and intensity. This may also include as appropriate, but is not limited to, air temperature, use of a glove box, properties and characteristics of the test cell and standardized cell used for calibration, including dimensions and spatial non-uniformity, and calibration and measurement protocols.

Independent certification of the photovoltaic performance of the device being reported is encouraged when the main claims rely on the absolute efficiency value being reported.

If incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE), also referred to as external quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements are performed, the results should be integrated to a resulting short circuit current that can be compared with 1 Sun AM 1.5G power conversion efficiency data. The details of how this calculation is done and any correction factors should be clearly defined.

If hysteresis is observed, details on timescale and stability of the efficiency should be provided.

Readership information

Journal of Materials Chemistry A is a core journal for academic and industrial scientists involved in materials research.

Subscription information

Journal of Materials Chemistry A is part of collections RSC Gold, Core Chemistry and Materials Science

Online only 2021: ISSN 2050-7496 £1,937 / $4,021

*2019 Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate Analytics, 2020)

**Average time from receipt to first decision for peer reviewed manuscripts in 2019