Implementing the infrastructure for universal access to sustainable energy is a critical scientific, technological and social challenge, which requires major efforts in developing and developed countries. This 3rd edition of the "Materials for energy conversion and storage" symposium will focus on the scientific and technological developments in materials for sustainable renewable energy challenge. Contributions regarding the development of organic, inorganic, hybrid, nano and meta materials applied to different forms of energy conversion and energy storage are expected. Research areas related to hydrogen storage, advanced batteries, solar cells, photo-electrochemistry, fuel cells, solar fuels, catalysis and electrocatalysis are interesting to this symposium. Contributions adopting experimental techniques and modeling and simulation of energy materials; devices for energy storage, saving and conversion, and smart grids, as well as Waste-to-Energy innovative technologies, are welcome. Special emphasis is devoted on advanced materials and nanostructures, advanced characterization techniques, non-conventional synthesis and processing routes, multiscale modeling of energy-related materials. This symposium aims to bring together Brazilian and foreign researchers interested in different aspects of energy-related materials, opening possibilities for valuable discussions of new concepts, trends and technologies for energy conversion and storage. In particular, the energy challenge will be addressed using the UNESCO Chair MATECSS (Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion, Saving and Storage) as platform and on-going international collaborations. We expect this symposium will be a valuable opportunity to strength on-going collaborations, prospect new ones and build-up multidisciplinary research networks to foster a collaborative atmosphere and multidisciplinary picture in addressing the sustainable renewable energy challenge.
This symposium will provide an interdisciplinary forum for the latest R&D activities on development of advanced functional materials for sustainable solar fuels and energy generation, environmental and electronic applications. It will address the latest advances regarding fundamental understanding of materials properties and their performance and stability by bringing together top worldwide academic scientists and engineers. The symposium aims to gather the most significant advancements in recent years for a sustainable generation of hydrogen and oxygen from solar energy conversion. Not limited to that, it will also be dedicated to the development of novel (nano)materials, new architectures, interfaces and contacts for new generation solar cells (perovskites, organic and hybrid, dye sensitized, modules and Tandem devices) and fundamental investigations on the physical-chemical properties of semiconductors.
Scope of the symposium: This symposium is dedicated to research contributions in harvesting of solar radiation for energy applications, in particular the development of novel materials and devices applied to the conversion of solar light energy into chemical, electrical, and/or thermal energy. Special emphasis is on the development of novel (nano)materials, novel architectures, interfaces and contacts for the next generation of solar cells (perovskite, organic, hybrid and quantum dots solar cells), and solar modules and Tandem. Focus will be on fundamental studies of the physical-chemical properties of this important class of semiconductors.
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS
Emilio Palomares (ICIQ, Spain)
Ivan Mora-Seró (St. Jaume University, Spain)
Kai Zhu (NREL, USA)
David Fenning (UCSD, USA)
Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena (Georgia Tech, USA)
Feng Gao (Linköping University, Sweden)
Diego Bagnis (CSEM-Brasil, Brazil)
Samuel D. Stranks (Cambridge - UK)
Claudia Barolo (Unito, Torin, Italy)
Giulia Grancini (Università degli studi di Pavia, Italy)
Yana Vaynzof (Technische Universitat Dresden, Germany)
The symposium is intended to bring together scientists and engineers interested in all aspects of experimental and theoretical research in magnetic and superconducting materials, as well as in their technological applications. Contributions are expected in topics ranging from basic properties to recent developments in magnetism and superconductivity at nanoscale. Emphasis will be given on new materials, properties and devices.
In this edition the Symposium will be held in honor of Prof. Sérgio Machado Rezende, in recognition to his contributions to the field of Magnetism and to the Brazilian Science.
There is a large demand for the development of novel photonic materials with improved properties for technological applications. The rapid growth of new photonic materials is due to the availability of new strategies for synthesis and characterization techniques. On the other hand, laser-based processing of materials is a key technology, able to open significant markets for photonic technologies. The aim of this Symposium is to bring together scientists and engineers working on the physical properties and applications of photonic materials and intends to present an overview of advances in new platforms design, concepts of materials, manufacturing techniques and promising applications. It will cover emerging topics in photonic materials, as organic, inorganic and hybrid systems, including plasmonic, metamaterials, two-dimensional materials, among others, which aim to overcome existing limitations that prevent the development of practical photonic devices. In addition, laser-based manufacturing processes on macro, micro and/or nano-meter scales addressing the current scientific and technological advances will be considered
The Symposium intends to bring together chemists, materials scientists, biologist, physicists, and engineers from both academia and industry to share information on the broad field of conjugated organic materials and their interface with biological systems. Both fundamental studies and applied research towards device applications and emerging technologies will be welcome. It includes all types of organic or hybrid organic/inorganic functional materials, as well as their electronic, photonic and optoelectronic properties. The research topics comprise all types of synthesis, processing techniques (molecular crystals, multilayers, self-assemblies, printing techniques, and thin films), compounds (polymers, small molecules, composites, blends, nanoparticles, liquid crystals, hybrid), micro- and nano-fabrication, interfaces, spectroscopic characterization (linear and non-linear), surfaces (conducting, flexible, transparent substrates), electronic, and photonic properties. In addition, the symposium is equally open for any type of electronic, photonic and hybrid devices, such as: light-emitting diodes (LEDs), field-effect transistors (FETs), MIS capacitors, diodes, LASERS, electrochemical cells and transistors, photovoltaics (PVs), thermoelectrics, supercapacitors, integrated circuits, non-volatile memories, batteries, sensors, actuators & detectors, including their interface with biological materials. In this context, the Symposium aims to discuss the future of Organic Electronics, Photonics and Bioelectronics to discuss our current understanding and to define future trends of this exciting field.
Electroceramics is an important interdisciplinary research area involving mainly physicists, chemists and engineers. Electroceramics is a very attractive area in Materials Science. It is large the number of journals and meetings with publication of many papers with potential technological impact. New materials with outstanding properties and potential technological applications together with old materials presenting actual technological applications and enhanced properties offer a broad field of research opportunities. This symposium, organized by the Brazilian-MRS intends to be a forum for all researchers and students (undergraduate, M. Sc., PhD and Pos-Docs) on electroceramics. The state-of-the-art of R&D on electroceramic materials will be focused with reviews of the present knowledge and forecasts for future developments. Emphasis will be put on the opportunities for experiences exchange and discussions among researchers. Several features of R&D on electroceramics, including novel processing, experimental procedures and technological applications will be considered.
Our proposed symposium will highlight research and development of nanomaterials and nanoengineered systems for use in oil and gas recovery ? upstream oil and gas. Through the engagement and participation of academic and industrial leaders, this symposium will provide a forum for the applications of nanoparticles as they relate to high performance oil well construction, production enhancement and reservoir management materials. A key focus of the symposium will be the development of systems engineered at the nanoscale to provide performance enhancements under the often extreme temperature and pressure environments encountered within wells.
The symposium will have a wide range of topics addressing the active areas of investigation for nanomaterials in the oil and gas industry. The first half of the symposium will be dedicated to step-change innovation in the industry through advances in nanomaterials in sensors, energy storage and power systems. The second half of the symposium will be dedicated to nanoparticles as they are used in fluids and composites for well construction, production, and enhanced oil recovery.
Hybrid materials and inorganic and/or polymeric nanocomposites demonstrate great promise in addressing and offering solutions to key issues in the strategic priority areas of Composite, Energy, Environment and Human Health. Also, they enable integration, miniaturization and multi-functionalization of devices. The main objective of this symposium is to bring together, at a truly international level, researchers sharing interest in hybrid materials and their applications, including:
? Polymer chemists, physicists and engineers
? Biomaterials chemists, physicists and engineers
? Organic chemists
? Inorganic chemists
? Solid state chemists
? Sol-gel chemists
? Composites scientists
? Colloid chemists and physicists
? Zeolite, meso- and microporous materials scientists
? Broad nano- and materials scientists
? Bioscientists and biotechologists
Depending on the composition, Quantum Materials may act as conductors, insulators, semiconductors or even as superconductors. In quantum materials, new particles or pseudo particles are created that have completely new characteristics. Quantum materials is a wide ranging term in condensed matter; it refers materials that present strong magnetic or electronic correlation and/or some type of electronic order (superconducting, magnetic order), or materials whose electronic properties are linked to non-generic quantum effects, such as emergent topological insulators, skyrmions, Dirac fermions, Kondo effect, and spin-polarization effects. The symposium on quantum materials intends to cover experimental and theoretical works on these subjects (but not limited to them), meanly focused on novel quantum materials candidates as well as their predictions and fundamental understanding. Quantum materials offer a new regime with new rules and new capabilities that open up possibilities for completely nonconventional devices. We can rethink the basics of electronics and photonics and introduce functionality that was previously impossible. Combinations of different quantum materials are of high interest to explore new phenomena and act as the foundation for future electronic, spintronic, and valleytronic devices at the nanometer scale. The foundation of quantum materials follows from materials that are ideally suited to layered atomic-scale structures that control the flow of charge and spin such as shown in graphene and the class of materials known as Topological Insulators. The exploration and synthesis constitute only one aspect of the challenges in the development of new topological materials, another challenge is their characterization. Since the phenomena appear at very restricted and dedicated conditions, the characterization method must have very high sensitivity, resolution, localization and precision. The analysis of quantum materials presents new challenges on how to minimize surface and sample damage while imaging and analyzing structures at or beyond the direct atomic level. New approaches are considered in order to correlate materials properties with structure. The symposium will address challenging aspects of characterization of quantum materials, as well as offer some insight into future research considerations.
The last few years, material scientists have focused a lot of their effort in studying the properties of bi-dimensional materials (2D material). Indeed, since the first experimental studies on graphene (2004), it has been shown that lots of other materials can be confined into two dimensions: transition metal dichalcogenides, hexagonal van der walls exfoliated materials or more recently hybrid organic inorganic perovskites. The research in this area is atypically active, resulting in more than 32.000 papers published since 2010. (web of science, keyword: 2D material), and almost half of those works were published since 2015 till now.
This research topic is also extremely active in Brazil. Indeed, the proponents of the symposium have the full support a network created in 2018 and receiving financial support from the Minas Gerais state funding agency (FAPEMIG). This thematical network is composed of 6 federal universities and 36 university professors (membros da Rede PQ-CNPq scholarship: 2 1A, 1 1B, 4 1C, 5 1D e 10 2). Obviously, this symposium would also bring some outstanding research from all over the country, for instance: Antonio Gomez de Souza (PQ 1A) Filho titular member of the Brazilian academy of sciences since 2018, Marcus Pimenta Assunção (PQ 1A) actual president of the Brazilian Physics Society, Fernando Lázaro Freire Junior (PQ 1A) main advisor of the capes physics and astronomy comity, Doulgas Soares Galvão titular member of the Brazilian academy of science, among other high, among others
Due to innumerous applications of such materials we believe that this symposium should cover a wide range of theoretical and applied sciences in physics, chemistry and biological applications. Thus we expect that this symposium should bring to the conference some new conferee that are not yet attending the SBPMat.
The ever-increasing demand for enhanced material performance and reduction of the use of the same materials demands the exploitation of outstanding materials at a nanoscale, which also requires the exploiting different process technologies. Moreover, a refined microstructure provides improvements in mechanical, chemical, optical, and electrical properties.
Due to the outstanding performance of metal-oxides at a nano-scale, they have been attracting a growing exponential interest mainly in novel innovative devices, products and systems cross cutting different application areas, highly challenges for the sustainability of our planet such as energy, water and air pollutant control, health, food industry and electronics interfaces for communication and data transmission.
As far as devices and products are concerned, we would highlight its use in transistors, solar cells, diodes, sensors, biosensors, energy converters and storage, photocatalysis, among others. Moreover, nanostructured metal oxides have been also growing its application in controlling the photodegradation of pollutants, reducing dramatically the final cost of wastewater purification.
Another aspect is its suitable characterization that is imperative for the development and upgrading of such advanced nanomaterials and devices to access their precise intrinsic assets. However, the characterization of materials is as diverse as the variety of existing nano-scaled metal-oxides and its further applications.
Moreover the proper selection of the technology to be used, going from physic methods to chemical methods, impacts on the final properties of the nanostructures obtained, besides being relevant to turn them affordable and green.
This symposium is aimed to give an overview on nanostructured metal-oxides and devices with nanoscale or atomic resolution, processing methods to obtain the same as well as to present the recent material characterization techniques used to analyse such nanomaterials. Furthermore, highlight the competences and novelties of the material characterization techniques in order to access and understand the principal material properties and their behaviour. Metal oxide-based nanostructures such as diverse nanoparticles, nanowires, nanorods, nanorings, nanocages will be the main focus of this symposium, together with their wide field of applications.
Perovskite-based nanostructures rapidly evolved to a hot topic in the nanomaterials community over the last few years due to their remarkable optoelectronic properties. They present highly stable structure, that accommodate a large number of compounds; additionally, when compared with their traditional semiconductor nanocrystal counterparts, these materials offer high photoluminescence quantum yields, very rapid carrier dynamics, and high tolerance to surface defects. These properties promoted this class of materials as prime candidates in light and photovoltaic applications.
The novelty of such materials is accompanied by a plethora of challenges in their preparation and characterization: they tend to be sensitive to air and humidity, requiring extra steps in the fabrication environment and nanostructure encapsulation; Their tetragonal and orthorhombic crystal lattice render unusually intricate symmetries for nanomaterials, reflecting in the difficulty on interpreting and simulating their electronic dynamics, level structure and optical features. These challenges generate intense discussion in the literature with a still steep growth tendency in publication, expressing the relevance of this hot topic.
The importance of Perovskite-based nanostructures in current material science is plenty to have a symposium at B-MRS + IUMRS devoted to it. Such symposium will discuss the latest advances on the synthesis of novel perovskite-based nanostructures, their optical, magnetic, structural, and electronic characterization/properties, and applications, considering innovative device architectures.
Nanomaterials and nanotechnologies development come with the promise of cleaner, smaller, lighter and more efficient technologies for energy harvesting, storage, and consumption, as well as environmental monitoring and depollution. It is well known that many commercially available products include or are nanomaterials, but still there is a lack of regulation on how to dispose or recycle them. Thus, environmental issues keep steadily increasing, urging us to discuss how materials scientists could more rapidly respond to the worldwide concerns. Cutting-edge strategies with close collaboration of industry and academia towards materials and technology development are fundamental needs toward economic development and climate stability. This symposium supports a global and interdisciplinary communication among experts about the challenges and opportunities for a sustainable advance of nanomaterials and technology. The aim of this symposium is to focus on what nanomaterial- and nanotechnology-based solutions can offer and how rational design can lead to a sustainable environment. The main goals of this symposium are (i) to look at the scientific and technological development and challenges towards
sustainable environment, economy and society; (ii) to advance the communication between interdisciplinary fields towards good sustainable global practices;
(iii) to strengthen academia-industry collaboration through scientific talks towards faster materials and technology development.
Additionally, we plan to have a panel discussion at the end of the symposium and to implement the novel format of ?rapid fire presentations? of posters.
A complimentary tutorial is tentatively planned (4h) on nanotechnology regulation.
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a growing range of technologies that allows the production of components with functionalities that were otherwise not possible to achieve. Much has been discussed on the ability of building metallic parts with complex geometries without the use of expensive tooling taking advantage of additive techniques. However, it is mandatory to understand processing, microstructure and performance relationship of metallic AM parts. Typically, each layer goes through localized melting, rapid solidification and multiple heating-cooling cycles. As a consequence, metallic AM materials can exhibit unique microstructures and properties. Furthermore, alloys development to build a property gradient and to better suit additive processes are also the target of researchers that aimed to enhance the understanding and benefit from the gains offer by AM parts.
Characterization of different type of materials are the subject of study in different areas of knowledge, including physics, mechanical engineering, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry, etc. Among others, X-ray characterization techniques, such as imaging (topography, microtomography/nanotomography, topo-tomography coherent diffraction imaging, ptycography diffraction contrast imaging, chemical bond contrast imaging) , diffraction (XRD), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), spectroscopy (fluorescence - XRF, X-ray absorption spectroscopy - XAS, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy - EDS, inelastic X-ray scattering - IXS) are widely accessible for obtaining information about the materials. For example, the porosity of the synthesized materials can characterized by XRD, microtomogragphy/nanotomography and SAXS, electronic materials, such as SiC and GaN single crystals can be characterized by X-ray topography and resonant IXS can be used to characterize in operando batteries. This symposium aims to bring together researchers and students involved with characterization of materials based on broad spectrum of X-ray characterization techniques.
This symposium aims to discuss research frontiers and joining studies in theoretical and experimental areas in the control and understanding of intrinsic and extrinsic properties of functional materials. The main idea is to promote discussions involving fundamental and technological aspects of materials systems that may lead to the improvement, understanding and foreseeing of the properties of technological devices. It will be desirable to gather researchers actively working in Materials Science focusing on nanomaterials with functional properties and using both theoretical methods or experimental techniques to characterize electronic, magnetic, optical, and structural properties. This meeting intends to open up new opportunities to collaboration between experimentalists and theoreticians improving the ways to gain insights into the atomistic understanding of the nanomaterials. The list of invited speakers includes several world leaders in computational simulations showing how the theoretical contributions can significantly aid the experimental observations to gain a better knowledge in Materials Science. Several participants for oral contributions will be selected among the best abstracts.
The ongoing development of biomaterials semi-synthetic, nanomaterials, and soft materials offers innovative, biological, dental, and medical applications. These ?materials for life? express the challenge the field of biomaterials is currently facing: to provide effective and affordable biomaterials-based methods to repair and regenerate damaged and diseased tissues and organs and/or interact with the specific biological target. This challenge can only be overcome by converging breakthrough developments from chemistry, physics, materials science, biology, and engineering to address real clinical needs while also considering the translational pathway from bench to bedside. Surface modifications techniques are currently used to tailor the surface of materials to obtain desired properties for several applications, special to biological, dental, and medical. Thus, materials that possess excellent bulk properties can be used in the aggressive environment in service with an appropriate surface. The symposium focuses on developing new materials for biological, dental, and medical applications and on the fundamental understanding of biological and biomimetic-solid interfaces as well as their implementation into biological, dental, and medical applications. Interfacing biological molecules predictably with solid materials at the nanoscale is the key to hybrid materials design leading to innovative functional properties. Exploiting such properties towards developing functional materials and devices depends on a better understanding and control of the interfacial interactions at the atomic to the nanoscale.
Biopharmaceutical drawbacks of therapeutic agents such as poor aqueous solubility, physicochemical instability in the biological environment, low bioavailability in the target tissue/organ, and inconvenient biodistribution and off-target toxicity challenge the treatment of disease. The design of advanced drug delivery systems based on the combination of active agents with biomaterials of fine-tunable features such as chemical composition (e.g., ceramics, polymers, and composites) and structure, biodegradability, size, shape and morphology has revolutionized the field of pharmaceutical R&D and improved the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The ability to localize the release by capitalizing on the presence of biological barriers (e.g., mucus), control the release rate and target drugs to specific body sites are key challenges that under development. This translation of innovative biomaterials-based pharmaceutical products from the laboratory to the market is just emerging to appear. The understanding of the relationship between the structural properties of the biomaterials and the biological effects of the resulting innovative products is critical to rationalize their design and production. In addition, the implementation of advanced scalable and standardized processing technologies that ensure maximum quality and stability is fundamental for regulatory approval and to enable production in an industrial setting and thus, to pave the way for their clinical translation.
This symposium will serve as a forum for the discussion of the new advances in the field of biomaterials for drug delivery applications with a translational vision. It aims to make a significant contribution to the understanding of the main challenges faced by the field in the years to come. The symposium will gather experts from academia, industry and regulatory agencies and promote the discussion on the fundamental milestones to realize innovative delivery systems into products.
Nanomaterials have been proven efficient theranostic agents to disease detection and diagnosis. Their
unprecedented properties over biological applications are mainly due to their prolonged blood circulation
and reduced side effect.
For example, there is a large body of scientific works and interest in the use of nanotechnology for
cancer therapy. The accumulation of nanomaterials in tumours by the Enhanced Permission Effect (EPR)
has triggered the development of a battery of materials for cancer therapy and diagnosis. Some of these
development have been successful applied. Nanotechnology offers indeed multiple possibilities for drug
formulation, controlled delivery, targeting and the combination of therapeutic approaches.
Nevertheless, understanding the bio-nano interface is of key importance to guide the design of drug
delivery systems with the better therapeutic outcomes. In this context, functionality, and safety is considered
an integrated way from the earliest phases of the research and innovation of the nanoproduct, which opens
up the focus on safety, making agencies around the world to supply specific regulatory guidelines for such
materials before their commercialization. The latter is an openness of toxicology studies which can give
information to guide regulatory decisions toward developing a safety net to enable the marketing of products
before commercialization.
We propose the symposium "Nanomaterials in Medicine, Nanotoxicology and Nanoregulation",
which will bring together a state-of-the-art discussion on the safe-by-design nanomaterials to be used in
medicine as well as their toxicological aspects, a topic which is increasing over the world, and has been
covered by important international conferences. The symposium welcomes all researchers in the field of
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology that is interesting in the nanomaterials applied to medicine and Nanotox
field. Brazilian and Europeans researchers, in particular, are invited to participate in the symposium as a way
of identifying partners and potential collaborative projects between Brazil and EU, following the
collaborative research program launched in 2014 by Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and
Communication of Brazil (MCTIC) and Inmetro. The symposium will create opportunities for participants
to present and share experiences, explore new directions and to debate topics with experts from across the
globe in the fields of Nanomedicine and Nanotoxicology. This symposium has been offered since 2015 in
SBPMat.
Bio-based materials can be used to take advantage from natural resources (e.g. biomass) to develop sustainable products and processes that are environmentally friendly and energetically efficient. In the same context, biomaterials are designed to interact with biological systems for medical and dental purposes in either therapeutic or diagnostic applications. The emerging fields of bio-based and biomaterials have a growing relevance in terms of functionalities both scientifically and economically due to concerns related to climate change, sustainable development and human health.
Functional bio-based and biomaterials need to fulfill requirements with regard to mechanical performance, cost-efficiency, and sustainability in order to be introduced into the market. Moreover, when dealing with the interaction of materials with biological systems the issues of bioadhesion, bioactivity, biotoxicity, and biocompatibility are extremely important. To address these challenges, innovative and multidisciplinary approaches involving chemistry, physics, biology, materials science, and engineering are required.
This symposium aims to provide a place for discussion and exchange of current and future challenges, as well as the latest breakthroughs in the fields of bio-related materials. Topics covering the design, synthesis, characterisation and applications of bio-based materials and biomaterials are strongly welcome.
This symposium is motivated by the strong collaboration between German and Brazilian researchers and institutions from various collaboration initiatives. However, students, scientists and researchers from any country are warmly invited to take part in the symposium.
Selected papers will be published in a special issue of the journal Applied Adhesion Science from Springer.
Hydrogels are based on hydrophilic polymers that are cross-linked either chemically or physically to yield a three dimensional (3D) matrix with high water retention like the highly aqueous environment of the native extracellular matrix (ECM). The current ongoing development of hydrogels is primarily based on synthetic and/or natural-based materials as well as various sol phase transition schemes and peptide conjugated polymers. A wide range of applications from tech- and agro-industries, tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, biomedical to soft electronics also involve hydrogels due to their versatile nature. In tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, hydrogels exhibit innovative possibilities for repairing and regenerating diseased and injured tissues and organs; mainly, when self-healable hydrogels are involved; as they are capable of recapitulating the dynamic remodeling phase in tissue regeneration. Moreover, hydrogels manufactured via conductive polymers or embedded with conductive nanomaterial's are being investigated for the replacement of electrically active and elastic tissues, as well as key components in bioelectronics, bioactuators and soft-robots application. Specifically, breakthrough developments are being achieved from synergetic multidisciplinary efforts involving the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, materials science and engineering. The symposium focuses on the development, characterization, processing and applications of hydrogels, from basic research to more advanced applications.
Abstracts will be focused on, but not limited to the following areas:
- Tissue engineering hydrogels for promoting healing and restoring homeostasis;
- Self-healing hydrogels;
- Hydrogels for 3D printing;
- Mechanically tough and electrically active hydrogels for various biomedical and bioelectronics applications;
- Hydrogels with bio-functionalities capable of interfacing between living cells and tissues;
- Wearable, flexible and soft electronics;
- Implantable electronics and soft robots.
BIOINTERFACES (or Biological surfaces and interfaces), are generally defined as the field where synthetic materials and biological systems interact with each other - a topic that constitutes one of the most innovative, dynamic and expanding fields in Science and Technology. Designed biointerfaces are vital elements for the functionality of bio-related processes and devices in fields as diverse as biotechnology, biosensors & diagnostics, biomimetic materials, stem cell technology, drug-delivery systems, additive biomanufacturing, regenerative medicine.
BIOMINERALS are minerals accumulated by organisms especially into biological tissues or structures forming organic/mineral biocomposites. Normal biomineralisation is frequently characterised by a high degree of specificity and control, which is exerted during the interaction between the mineral and the organic constituents on different hierarchical levels and directs the nucleation, growth and morphology of ?normal? biomaterials such as bone and teeth.
BIOMATERIALS are defined as a substance that has been engineered to take a form which, alone or as part of a complex system, is used to direct, by control of interactions with components of living systems, the course of any therapeutic or diagnostic procedure, in human or veterinary medicine.
Thus, it appears that the 3 fields we propose to explore in our symposium offer a common theme that is the crossing of disciplinary boundaries affording an opportunity to dissect fundamental physical-chemical mechanisms at interfaces, unravel functional significance of interfaces, identify practical challenges, and explore new scientific and technological opportunities.
Sponsored by the B3lab CNRS international research project.
The B-MRS Universities Chapters (UC´s) enroll the next generation of professionals in materials science and engineering, providing them the opportunity to develop important skills and competencies while exchanging ideas in a collaborative environment and network. The UC?s organize and execute activities such as outreach projects for science popularization, hosting events, exchange workshops, etc. to develop leadership, teamwork ability, proactivity, responsibility, commitment, flexibility, and many others. All of these abilities are keystones for young researchers to achieve a fulfilling professional position which can move forward materials science, from academia to industry. The present symposium intends to bring together members of the B-MRS UC´s, providing the students with the opportunity to share their experience among themselves as well as with experienced invited speakers from both enterprise and academia. Therefore, this workshop could trigger increased synergy among B-MRS University Chapters around the country.
