Papers by the community

Scientists from CNPEM, UFABC, and IFSC-USP have developed a photoelectrolyzer. The equipment generates hydrogen from the splitting of water molecules using only sunlight as an energy source, in a carbon-free process. The research was featured on the cover of the high-impact journal ACS Energy Letters. One of the main contributions of the work was the development of efficient and stable photoanodes, produced from abundant and low-cost raw materials using a scalable method. With these, the team assembled the electrolyzers, which were tested both in the laboratory and outdoors. The modular and self-sufficient system would be ideal for use in industries that need hydrogen at specific points, directly injecting the gas into industrial processes. Go to the paper.

A pair of scientists from UFSCar used an innovative computational strategy to conduct a fundamental study on crystallization, the process in which the atoms or molecules of a material organize themselves into an ordered structure. The accurate capture of the details of crystallization is challenging, mainly because the process involves nanometric sizes and extremely short timescales. To overcome this challenge, the researchers developed a machine learning model for aluminum and trained it exclusively with data from the liquid state, without any knowledge of crystalline structures. Even so, the model was able to correctly reproduce the crystallization dynamics of the material, showing how liquid aluminum evolved into an ordered crystalline state. This work opens up possibilities for the use of machine learning in computational materials science. Go to the paper.

A recently published article by a pair of researchers from USP (University of São Paulo) and a collaborator from Finland reports an advance in the production of fibers of PVDF, a polymer widely used as a biomaterial. The authors investigated the use of the electroblowing technique, which uses air pressure combined with electrical forces to produce a continuous and extensive mat of fibers from a liquid, and is characterized by its high production speed. To optimize the fibers in order to use them as biomaterials, the researchers incorporated precursors of hydroxyapatite (a material known for its bone bioactivity) into the polymer solution. The study opened up possibilities for using the method to manufacture fibers with greater morphological control and potentially more suitable for biomedical applications such as tissue regeneration. Go to the paper.

To share a prominent scientific article with significant participation of authors from the B-MRS community, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.

News from members

Former B-MRS president Monica Alonso Cotta (Professor at IFGW-Unicamp) is among the three new full members of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) in the area of ​​Physical Sciences. The result of the last election of full members was announced on November 19th. In total, nineteen scientists (ten women and nine men) joined ABC this year, after being nominated and positively evaluated by full members of the Academy. Monica is the Pro-Rector of Undergraduate Studies at Unicamp and was Director of IFGW, the university’s Physics Institute. In addition, she is the Executive Editor of the journal ACS Applied Nano Materials. At B-MRS, she served as President for two consecutive terms, from 2020 to 2023, and as Scientific Director from 2016 to 2019.

XXIV B-MRS Meeting
Curitiba (Parana, Brazil), Sepember 27 to October 1st, 2026

Website. The event website is up. Check here.

Venue. The event will be held at the convention center UP Experience, in the city of Curitiba, capital of the state of Parana. Visit the website of the center.

Plenary lectures. The names of six scientists from Australia, Brazil, Spain, Sweden, and the United States who will deliver plenary lectures at the event have already been confirmed. Check here.

Registration and abstract submission. The event system will be open to receive registrations and submissions starting January 20th.

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

Exhibitors. 15 companies and startups have already confirmed their participation in our booth exhibition. Organizations interested in booths and other forms of participation should contact us via comercial@sbpmat.org.br.

Upcoming events

– Materials Research Meeting (MRS2025). Yokohama (Japan). December 8 to 13, 2025. Site.

– 19th International Conference on Advanced Materials (ICAM). Accra (Ghana). December 9 to 12, 2025. Site.

– I Brazilian Neutron User Meeting. São Paulo (SP, Brazil). January, 26 to 28, 2026. Site.

– 52nd International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings & Thin Films (ICMCTF2026). San Diego (USA). April 19 to 24, 2026. Site.

– 7th International Conference on Applied Surface Science. Chengdu (China). June 1 to 4, 2026. Site.

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

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

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

To publicize an event for our community, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.

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B-MRS elections 2025: results

The slate that ran for the B-MRS Executive Board was elected with 99% of the votes. Therefore, in 2026 and 2027, Ivan Bechtold (UFSC) and Ieda Garcia (UFPB) will continue as President and Administrative Director, respectively, and the society will have a team of five Scientific Directors with good regional and gender representation: Ana Sofia Clímaco Monteiro D’Oliveira (UFPR), Felipe Bohn (UFRN), Ingrid Távora Weber (UnB), Lucas Fugikawa Santos (UNESP-Rio Claro), and Rossana Mara da Silva Moreira Thiré (UFRJ). In addition, four new members of the Deliberative Council were elected in the vote. Learn more.

XXIV B-MRS Meeting: call for symposium proposals

The next B-MRS Meeting will be held from September 27th to October 1st, 2026 in the city of Curitiba (PR), at the UP Experience event complex. The event chairs are Professors Gregório Couto Faria (IFSC-USP) and Paula Cristina Rodrigues (UTFPR). Five prominent scientists from Australia, Brazil, Spain, Sweden, and USA have already confirmed their participation in the plenary lectures. As always, the program will be set around the thematic symposia proposed and organized by the international scientific community. The call for symposium proposals is open until November 30th. See the call.

Papers by the community

Researchers from Unesp – Bauru and UnB conducted a detailed computational study on a two-dimensional material synthesized for the first time earlier this year, tantalum carboselenide (Ta2Se2C). The material is the newest member of a family whose layered structure combines the electronic richness of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with the robustness of MXenes. Based on Density Functional Theory, this work investigated the potential of the new material for use as an anode in rechargeable batteries. The results showed that the two-dimensional version of Ta2Se2C is a competitive option for use in high-performance anodes for batteries with lithium- or sodium-based cathodes. This pioneering Brazilian study paves the way for further theoretical and experimental investigations into the possibilities of the new material. Go to the paper.

In heterostructures (“sandwiches” formed by layers of different two-dimensional materials), very interesting effects occur at the interfaces between the layers. In an article recently published in the prestigious scientific journal Nano Letters, researchers from UFSCar and CNPEM, along with collaborators from Germany, the USA, and the Netherlands, report a study on a two-dimensional magnetic heterostructure. In this structure, the researchers observed, for the first time, a specific energy transfer effect, controlled by the magnetic field, with the potential to be used to manipulate optical and magnetic properties in quantum technologies. Go to the paper.

To share a prominent scientific article with significant participation of authors from the B-MRS community, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.

XXIII B-MRS Meeting: report from the event

The event, held from September 28th to October 2nd of this year in Salvador, the capital of Bahia state, set a new record for participants, with over 2,100 people. The event also surpassed previous editions in the number of short courses offered and hosted an official BRICS meeting on materials and nanotechnology research. Bahian culture was present at the opening ceremony and the conference party. Furthermore, during the event, B-MRS awarded two distinctions to scientists from the Northeast region, 42 prizes for the best works presented by students, one prize for the best oral presentation by an early career woman, and four prizes for the best science outreach videos produced by participants. See the report.

Community: interview

We interviewed Professor Dulce Maria de Araújo Melo (UFRN), a prominent scientist in the community who was awarded the José Arana Varela Award from B-MRS this year. The scientist was fundamental in introducing materials research at UFRN. Furthermore, she has built a prolific scientific career that has resulted in approximately 300 articles published in international journals, nearly 200 completed supervisions, and 20 patents filed or granted. At the XXIII B-MRS Meeting, she received a commemorative plaque and gave a lecture on her recent work developing a sustainable method for producing hydrogen from biogas. Read the interview and learn more about Professor Dulce.

Advocacy

– A manifesto signed by B-MRS, published on October 9th, expresses concern about the low number of junior postdoctoral fellowships made available through the Call for Proposals No. 49/2024 of the Brazilian federal science agency CNPq. In the areas of Physics, Chemistry, and Materials Engineering, the number is equivalent to 10% of the applications received. The text emphasizes the need to increase the number of fellowships offered. On October 13th, B-MRS and the scientific societies of Chemistry, Physics, and Astronomy sent a joint letter on the same subject to the President of CNPq.

Opportunities

– Discover Materials (Springer Nature) launched a call for papers for the special issue “Additive Manufacturing of Emergent Functional Materials”. The editors of this issue are organizers of a symposium held within the XXIII B-MRS Meeting about the design of functional materials for additive manufacturing. Submissions are open until December 31st. Learn more.

To publicize an opportunity for our community, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.

Upcoming events

– 11th International Symposium on Sensor Science (I3S 2025). Barcelona (Spain). November 17 to 19, 2025. Site.

– Brazilian Young Researchers in Soft Matter. Campinas (SP, Brazil). November 21, 2025. Site.

– XI Workshop de Pesquisa e Tecnologia em Ciência dos Materiais & I Simpósio Internacional em Materiais e Biomateriais. Sorocaba (SP, Brazil). December 2 to 4, 2025. Site.

– Materials Research Meeting (MRS2025). Yokohama (Japan). December 8 to 13, 2025. Site.

– 19th International Conference on Advanced Materials (ICAM). Accra (Ghana). December 9 to 12, 2025. Site.

– I Brazilian Neutron User Meeting. São Paulo (SP, Brazil). January 26 to 28, 2026. Site.

– 52nd International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings & Thin Films (ICMCTF2026). San Diego (USA). April 19 to 24, 2026. Site.

– 7th International Conference on Applied Surface Science. Chengdu (China). June 1 to 4, 2026. Site.

– XXIV B-MRS Meeting. Curitiba (PR, Brazil). September 27 to October 1, 2026. Call for symposium proposals.

– 13th International Conference of the African Materials Research Society (AMRS 2026). Nairobi (Kenya). December 5 to10, 2026. Site.

To publicize an event for our community, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.

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