B-MRS Newsletter: Year 13, issue 3

Papers by the community

Researchers from the federal Brazilian universities UFRN and UFPB have just presented a new and promising catalyst for electrolysis – the process that splits the water molecule and can be used to produce green hydrogen. The material developed by the Brazilian team makes the most challenging stage of the process viable, the so-called “oxygen evolution reaction” (OER), allowing it to occur in less time and with less energy consumption. Formed by titanium niobate nanoparticles, the new catalyst is based on two elements abundant in Brazil: niobium, of which our country has the largest reserve in the world, and titanium. To optimize the material’s performance as an OER catalyst, the authors of the research carried out defect engineering work. To do this, they heated groups of nanoparticles to 950 ºC over different time intervals and tested the performance of each group. The sample calcined for 2 hours achieved the best performance in OER. Go to the paper.

A team of scientists from the Brazilian federal universities UFPE and UFV, along with a researcher from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, have made an important contribution to the development of orbitronics. Orbitronics is a new area of ​​knowledge that seeks to use a quantum property related to how electrons orbit atomic nuclei (the orbital angular momentum) in order to develop information transport and storage technologies. In the new study, the authors conducted a series of experiments with metallic and semiconductor materials that demonstrated the generation and detection of orbital current. The results provide a basis for the development of devices that use orbital angular momentum as an efficient and versatile information carrier. Go to the paper.

Superconducting materials hold promise for sustainable technologies with applications in sectors such as transportation, energy, health, and computing. In this review, a scientific team from the Brazilian universities UNESP and UFSCar, and institutions in Germany and Russia, used bibliometric tools to study the relationship between superconductivity and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The authors analyzed 33,756 articles on superconductors and their applications published between 1980 and 2025, focusing on the period of SDG implementation (from 2015 onwards). The analysis revealed that superconductivity research is still poorly represented in databases that classify scientific production according to the SDGs, such as the Web of Science. The results indicate that this low visibility is largely associated with the fact that the authors themselves do not usually use keywords or terms that link the field to the global effort towards a more sustainable society. Go to the paper.

XXIV B-MRS Meeting
Curitiba (state of Paraná), September 27 to October 1st, 2026

Record number of submissions. For the first time, the B-MRS Meeting surpassed 3,000 submitted abstracts!

Important upcoming dates. Authors who need to modify their abstracts may submit the corrected versions until June 12th and will receive final approval notification on June 26th.

Program. Program at a glance is available, here.

Registration. The registration fee can now be paid with an early registration discount. See the prices by category and the special rates for active B-MRS members, here.

Student Awards. The best oral and poster presentations given by undergraduate and graduate students will be recognized with awards from B-MRS (Bernhard Gross), ACS Publications, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. To be eligible for the awards, an extended abstract must be submitted by July 10th. Learn more.

Early-career Woman Award. Sponsored by MDPI’s Electronic Materials journal, this award will recognize a young female researcher who presents outstanding contribution in an oral session. To participate, scientists must submit an extended abstract by July 10th. Learn more.

Science Popularization Award. This contest challenges event participants to produce a short video for a general audience about their research. The award is sponsored by the startup Arqueatec. Participants must submit their videos by June 30th. Learn more.

Accommodation. We have provided a list with some hotel options in Curitiba, here.

Venue. The event will be held at the Cruzeiro do Sul Conecta Convention Center (formerly UP Experience), located on the Positivo University campus in Curitiba. Address: Rua Prof. Pedro Viriato Parigot de Souza, 5300.

Plenary lectures. See the names of the renowned scientists from Australia, Brazil, Spain, Sweden, and the United States who will deliver plenary lectures at the event, here.

Chairs. The chairs of this edition are Prof. Gregório Couto Faria (IFSC-USP) and Prof. Paula Cristina Rodrigues (UTFPR).

FAQ. If you have questions about the event, please consult the frequently asked questions or write to 24encontro@sbpmat.org.br.

ATTENTION: The XXIV B-MRS Meeting does NOT have an authorized travel agency. Protect yourself against scams and fraud.

Opportunities

– Postdoctoral opportunities (12 fellowships of 36 months each) for the FutureChips program at Tampere University (Finland) for researchers from all countries holding a PhD in fields related to photonics, advanced materials, future electronics, and chip design. Learn more.

If you wish to publicize opportunities in the materials area, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.

Upcoming events

– 25th International Conference on Photochemical Conversion and Storage of Solar Energy (IPS-25). Seoul (South Korea). July 12 to 17, 2026. Site.

– International Conference on Science and Technology of Synthetic Electronic Materials (ICSM). Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). July 19 to 24, 2026. Site.

– Feira e Congresso Internacionais de Materiais Avançados FEIPLAR & FEIPUR 2026. São Paulo (Brazil). August 5 to 27, 2026. Site.

– 20th International Conference on Plasma Surface Engineering (PSE). Erfurt (Germany). August 31 September 3, 2026. Site.

– XXIV B-MRS Meeting. Curitiba (Brazil). September 27 to October 1st, 2026. Site.

– 12th International Workshop on High Resolution Depth Profiling. Bento Gonçalves (Brazil). October 5 to 9, 2026. Site.

– 13th International Conference of the African Materials Research Society (AMRS 2026). Nairobi (Kenya). December 5 to 10, 2026. Site.

– XXV B-MRS Meeting. Fortaleza (Brazil). September 12 to 16, 2027.

If you wish to publicize materials science events, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.

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