State-of-the-art materials science in Belgium 2017

This book is a collection of both review and original research papers which appeared in a Special Issue of the open access journal, Materials, “State-of-the-Art Materials Science in Belgium 2017”. It covers a wide range of selected material topics, currently under investigation at universities throughout Belgium. As a country, Belgium has hardly any physical resources which can be exploited in materials research and development or industry. However, the resource drawback is compensated by focussing on highly technological fields of research, not requiring vast amounts of raw material. This ‘high-tech’ approach includes the development of new analytical methods for the characterization of materials, research into new advanced functional materials, as well as defining new industrial processes for existing materials. As such, the book presents a contemporary view on materials research activities in Belgium.