GEI–ERA is the annual joint meeting between the Electrochemical Division of the Italian Chemical Society (SCI) and the Working Party on Green Electrochemistry of the Italian Association of Chemical Engineering (AIDIC). In 2012 (GEI–ERA 2012), the conference was held in the village of S. Marina Salina, Aeolian Islands, Messina (Italy). Salina is the second largest island in the archipelago of Aeolian Islands and is included on the World Heritage List of UNESCO. GEI–ERA 2012 was co-organized by the Institute for Advanced Energy Technologies “Nicola Giordano” of Messina, Italy, which has more than 30 years of research experience in the field of electrochemistry applied to energy conversion and storage.

The aim of this meeting was to encourage contacts between the Italian experts involved in the fields of energy conversion and storage, environmental protection and remediation, sensors and electro-analytical methodologies, and materials science, establishing future collaborations. The conference program included plenary lectures (given by international experts), oral presentations, poster sections, and a prize session devoted to young and promising researchers.

GEI–ERA 2012 was an opportunity to testify that electrochemistry is a subject of large interest among researchers and industries in different scientific areas. Although often these topics are developed in different geographical and cultural areas, the relevant knowledge and skills can merge together through exchange and cooperation, and thus give impetus to new actions and policies for the important challenges of our modern society.

Following the successful initiatives of the past few decades on the occasion of other GEI–ERA conferences, this Special Issue of the Journal of Applied Electrochemistry hosts a selection of papers on subjects ranging from materials to devices. These papers have undergone a rigorous peer-review process and as such, meet the high standards of quality expected of this journal. We would like to express our sincere thanks to all of the reviewers and authors, who participated in this process. Without them, this special issue would not have been possible. As guest editors and members of the organizing committee, we are profoundly indebted to all the people that contributed to the success of the meeting, and to this special issue, including Prof. Gerardine Botte, Prof. Bruno Scrosati, and the editorial staff of the journal.