During the past year, we have edited a special issue titled “Nanocrystals-Related Synthesis, Assembly, and Energy Applications” for the Journal of Nanomaterials. This special issue attracted much attention and became the annual issue in the Journal of Nanomaterials, aiming to provide the readers with the latest development of synthesis, assembly, and energy applications of nanocrystals. The ever-growing energy demand places an urgent emphasis on the exploration of clean energy and highly efficient energy use. Switching from the conventional lighting to efficient lighting can reduce the consumption of energy. During such a switching, nanocrystals have been demonstrated to contribute significantly in the energy applications, including solid-state lighting, solar cell, and energy conversion. To fulfill the energy application based on nanocrystals, the primary and important task is to design appropriate routes for their synthesis and assembly. Without the maturity of nanocrystal synthesis and assembly, there is no chance for the related energy applications to advance rapidly.

This annual special issue will continue focusing on the basic and applied research of nanocrystals, intending to cover a wide range of nanocrystals-related research in synthesis, assembly, characterization, functionalization, processing, films, and devices for energy applications. We solicit research and review papers that address the above-mentioned research topics. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Synthesis and assembly
• Characterization and functionalization
• Size- and surface-related features
• Theoretical analysis and modeling
• Nucleation and growth mechanism
• Processing and films
• Devices for energy applications

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnm/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: