Introduction to the 15th international symposium on intercalation compounds

This is a brief report on the 15th International Symposium on Intercalation Compounds (ISIC15), which was held in Tsinghua University, Beijing, May 11-15, 2009. More than 210 experts from 19 countries and regions presented 294 contributions in ISIC15. The presentations covered 15 topics, including the mechanism, synthesis and applications of intercalation compounds and related materials. As with the previous ISIC conferences, scientists with a physical background were invited to present their research, which provided new insights into the intercalation phenomena and materials. Moreover, several new layered materials were highlighted in the conference, such as the highly crystalline graphene ribbons, and metalorganic frameworks.