This manuscript originates from the different contributions presented in the Scientific Meeting of the Materials Institute throughout its first 10 years of existence. The Materials Institute "Instituto Universitario de Materiales de Alicante" (IUMA) organizes a scientific meeting each year (Scientific Meeting of the IUMA) with the objective of gathering outstanding researchers in the field of Materials Science in Spain, and get to know and discuss on the main research guidelines in this field. In the year 2014 these meetings reached their tenth edition with an international perspective.

The book content is organized in five sections which represent current strategic research sectors in the field of Materials Science: Materials for Energy Applications, Nanomaterials, Materials Modeling, Catalysis, Functional Materials and Biomaterials. The thirty-six contributions presented here, distributed in these five relevant áreas of materials field make this book a suitable consultation manual, which will allow knowing in depth both physical and chemical aspects of different materials, as well as processes for their application.