Carbides, Nitrides and Related Materials in Earth, Planetary, and Materials Science

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Carbon, carbides, and nitrides are among the earliest crystalline phases in the solar nebula. There is increasing interest in carbides and nitrides as minor accessories in the Earth's mantle as retainers of refractory elements and as participants in the global carbon and nitrogen cycles. At the same time, amorphous materials containing Si, C, O, N and other elements (e.g. polymer derived ceramics) are a promising new class of materials with possible applications from spark plugs to batteries. A workshop on carbides, nitrides and related materials in geological, planetary, and materials science, and solid state chemistry could catalyze research in this field and establish the links between these communities, bundled by their growing interest in these materials. Until now, in spite of their importance, the diverse communities who work on these materials have not communicated well with each other, especially across the materials science-geoscience frontier. This team hopes to bring these diverse communities together to promote longer-term collaboration and to determine directions for future research. The workshop will give students and postdocs a first-hand experience of nascent frontier research across borders of disciplines. A short term outcome might be a scientific review in a broad journal such as Science or Nature, summarizing exciting new commonalities, findings and opportunities. A longer term outcome will be joint research and a cadre of young people conversant in basic concepts of both materials science and geoscience. Such crossover is needed to address broader problems of energy, sustainability, critical resources, and climate change. Impact on new technological materials could be substantial.