Author: Verónica Savignano
(Português) Concurso para professor de Engenharia de Materiais – materiais cerâmicos – na UFPEL.
SBPMat newsletter. English edition. Year 2, issue 11.
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IUMRS-ICAM Best Poster Award to Brazilian work.
Among the nearly 1,300 papers accepted for presentation at the International Conference on Advanced Materials, IUMRS-ICAM 2015, held on the beautiful island of Jeju (Korea) in late October, eight studies were conducted in Brazil and one of them was awarded by the organization with the Best Poster Award.
The work, entitled “Flame Aerosol nanostructured titanium dioxide for coating: the control of crystallite size and phase by oxy-hydrogen flame” was presented as a poster by Mirella Nagib de Oliveira Boery, professor at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Bahia (IFBA). Mirella developed the research along with collaborators of the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and the State University of Campinas (Unicamp). “The idea of developing this research emerged during my master’s degree at Unicamp, in light of my concerns regarding the widespread use of TiO2, from paint to sunscreen,” she said. Mirella is currently continuing her studies at Unicamp, in the doctoral course of Mechanical Engineering.
Capes Doctoral Dissertation Award 2015: Interview with the author of the award-winning work in Materials area.
The scientific career of Edroaldo Lummertz da Rocha is permeated by two features of the area of Materials science and technology: interdisciplinarity and impact on people’s lives.
After graduating in Computer Science from Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense (UNESC), in the south of Brazil, Edroaldo got his master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), with a study on the transport of phonons in fractal geometry. In 2010, he began a doctoratal program in Materials Science and Engineering, also at UFSC. With the advised of Professor Carlos Renato Rambo and Professor Luismar Marques Porto, Edroaldo worked on the interface among Materials Science, Computer Science and Biology to study the interaction between biological cells and bio and nanomaterials. In 2012, Edroaldo submitted, as first author, a scientific paper on simulations of interactions between nanoparticles and cell membranes. His paper was published in the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (DOI: 10.1039 / C2CP44035K) in 2013 and was featured on the front cover.
From January to December 2013, Edroaldo remained in the United States developing a part of his doctoral research at Harvard University (United States), more precisely in the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, a multidisciplinary and multiinstitutional entity dedicated to the development of materials and devices inspired in nature, aimed at transforming medicine and building a more sustainable world. There he was advised by Professor Donald E. Ingber, founder and director of Wyss.
A second journal cover (DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2014.07 .020) increased Edroaldo´s curriculum in 2014 as a result of his participation, along with researchers at Harvard University and other institutions in the United States, in a Cell Engineering field study.This time the distinction was in Cell, the prestigious journal of Life Sciences, whose impact factor is 32.242.
In September 2014, Edroaldo obtained his PhD degree by defending his dissertation entitled “Nanoparticle-cell interactions and biomaterial-cells induce global changes in gene expression programs“. A year latter, the work was distinguished as the best dissertation defended in Brazil in 2014 by Capes, the government agency linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Education in charge of promoting high standards for post-graduate courses in Brazil. Edroaldo received the news of the award in the city of Rochester, in the United States, where he works in scientific activities as a postdoctoral fellow of the Mayo Clinic, an institution in the field of Medicine dedicated to research, education and patients´ care.
Interview with Edroaldo.
SBPMat Newsletter: – Could you tell us very briefly how did you become interested in science and in the Materials area, and what were the most important moments in your academic career so far?
Edroaldo Lummertz da Rocha: – My interest in science arose from the possibility of doing something important and helping people somehow. My interest in the Materials area arose due to the existence of a special class of materials, called nanomaterials, which can be used for the development of new therapies for a variety of diseases such as cancer, vascular and neurodegenerative diseases. However, the understanding of how nanomaterials interact with cells and biological tissues is extremely important for the development of safe and effective therapies.
The first most important event of my academic career was when Professor Carlos Renato Rambo, of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, agreed to be my advisor during my doctoral period. That’s where it all began. The second most important moment was when I had the opportunity to conduct part of my doctorate studies at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, which significantly contributed to the development of my academic career.
SBPMat Newsletter: – What, in your opinion, is the main contribution of your award-winning thesis?
Edroaldo Lummertz da Rocha: – The main contribution of my thesis was the development of computational approaches to systematically understand how cells interact with nanomaterials and respond to external stimuli. This can serve as a basis for future studies in the field of development of new drug delivery systems and lead to a better understanding of how gene expression programs change when nanomaterials interact with cells.
SBPMat Newsletter: – Which criteria guided you to make a quality research highlighted at national level (the award-winning thesis)? To what factors do you attribute this achievement?
Edroaldo Lummertz da Rocha: – Dedication, discipline, creativity and a good team and co-workers are essential to progress in any area. Family support is essential, above all. From the point of view of the thesis, under the guidance of Professor Carlos Renato Rambo, I had the opportunity to work in a variety of projects and this contributed to the multidisciplinary nature of my thesis.
SBPMat Newsletter: – We invite you to leave a message for our readers who are conducting scientific research in the Materials area.
Edroaldo Lummertz da Rocha: – It is a long road, so you might as well enjoy the way. Being a scientist is something really rewarding, with new challenges and opportunities every day. The hope of discovering something important and providing a significant contribution is the driving force that guides my research. The effort is never in vain and there is always hope where there is perseverance.
More award-winners in the Materials field.
Several other works related to Materials Science and Engineering were awarded this year with the Capes Thesis Award, which was awarded to the best doctoral theses in 2014 in each of the 48 areas of knowledge recognized by Capes in postgraduate courses. The announcement of the winners was made on August 31 and the awards event will take place on December 10 in Brasilia city, the capital of Brazil. Here follow some examples related to Materials area:
– Honorable Mention in the Materials area. Thiers Massami Uehara. Study of the interaction of nanomaterials with models of cell membranes and neural stem cells. Advisor: Valtencir Zucolotto. Postgraduate Program in Science and Engineering of Materials – USP/SC. Dissertation file: http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/18/18158/tde-27102014-134646/pt-br.php
– Capes Award in Chemistry. Rodrigo Villegas Salvatierra. Thin Films of Conjugated Polymer and Carbon Nanostructures obtained in Liquid-Liquid Interfaces: Synthesis, characterization and application in photovoltaic devices. Advisor: Aldo José Gorgatti Zarbin. Postgraduate Program in Chemistry – UFPR. Dissertation file: http://dspace.c3sl.ufpr.br:8080/dspace/handle/1884/37915
– Honorable mention in Chemistry. Anderson dos Reis Albuquerque. Quantum-Chemical Study of the Ti(1-x)CexO2-δ in the Anatase Phase. Advisors: Ieda Maria Garcia dos Santos (DQ-UFPB) and Júlio Ricardo Sambrano (DM-UNESP Bauru). Postgraduate Program in Chemistry – UFPB. Thesis file: http://tede.biblioteca.ufpb.br/handle/tede/7154?locale=pt_BR. Report on CDMF website: http://www.nanotecnologia.com.br/trabalho-orientado-por-professor-do-cdmf-recebe-mencao-honrosa-no-premio-capes-2015/
Featured paper: Vibrations of manipulated nanotubes.
[Paper: Strain Discontinuity, Avalanche, and Memory in Carbon Nanotube Serpentine Systems. Muessnich, Lucas C. P. A. M.; Chacham, Helio; Soares, Jaqueline S.; Neto, Newton M.; Shadmi, Nitzan; Joselevich, Ernesto; Cancado, Luiz Gustavo; Jorio, Ado. Nano Lett. 2015, 15 (9), pp 5899–5904. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01982]
Vibrations of manipulated nanotubes.
Scientists from Brazilian institutions, in collaboration with researchers from Israel, “manipulated” carbon nanotubes of 1 nm diameter deposited on quartz surfaces and analyzed strain and displacements produced by this nanointervention. The team identified some behavior patterns in the nanotubes – quartz system and formulated a mathematical model applicable to systems formed by one- and two-dimensional materials over various substrates. The results of the study were recently published in Nano Letters.
To perform the experiments, the Brazilian investigators used samples idealized and produced in the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), in which the nanotubes are serpentine-shaped (composed of parallel segments connected together by U-shaped curves).These samples offered a desirable complexity, fostered by both the nanotubes format and the anisotropic character of quartz, which makes adhesion of nanotubes to the substrate not the same at all points.
In order to “manipulate” the system, the researchers used the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) built in the laboratory, which allows to change the position of nanometric particles and even of atoms, and to measure in situ the optical spectrum of nanostructures. In each sample, the tip touched a point of the quartz substrate and pushed toward the nanotube, and then proceeded to the optical analysis.
Before and after nanomanipulation, the scientists analyzed a number of points in the nanotube using the technique of Raman spectroscopy, which provides information about the frequency in which the atoms vibrate in the area being studied. More specifically, researchers focused on the frequency of the “G band”, which is used to infer the strain measurements of a considered point, since changes in the frequency of the “G band” are proportional to changes in strain.
Thus, scientists were able to identify and analyze different behavior of the nanotubes after nanomanipulation; for example, the detachment of the substrate and the intense displacement of a full stretch of the nanotube that had received two manipulations at the same point.
In addition to performing the experimental work, the authors of the article in Nano Letters managed to condense the complexity of behaviors they observed in a mathematical model (an equation) capable of explaining them theoretically and predicting these phenomena in similar systems. “The paper proposes a relatively simple model to describe complex effects of nanostructures adhesion in support media,” says Ado Jório, professor in the Department of Physics of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) signing the letter as corresponding author.
The research that led to the Nano Letters article was developed within the master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral work of three authors of the letter, in the context of the Brazilian Network for Research and Instrumentation in Optical Nano-Spectroscopy, a project funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and coordinated by Ado Jório. “This is the result of a broad scientific instrumentation project, which aims at reaching the level of manipulating nanostructures and measuring, accurately, the effect of this process at the nanoscale,” says Jório.
The figure shows one of the 34 serpentine-shaped nanotubes on crystalline quartz substrate studied by the authors of the article. To the left of the reader is the nanotube before manipulation. To the right, following the sequence, the same nanotube after the intervention, with the consequent evident strain. The central segment of the nanotube, where the nanomanipulation occurred, was colorized, the gray scale indicating the frequency of the G band in that place. Finally, farther to the right, the chart displays the frequency of G band measured by Raman spectroscopy in successive points of this nanotube (graphical representation of gray hues): the black circles refer to non-manipulated nanotube and the gray colored circles, to the manipulated ones.
(Português) Concurso para professor no departamento de Físico-Química da UFRGS (RS).
(Português) Concurso para professor no Instituto de Química da Unicamp.
Papers that received the Bernhard Gross Award at the XIII SBPMat Meeting (João Pessoa, 2014) were published in open access by IOP Publishing.
The special issue of IOP Conference Series dedicated to winners of the Bernhard Gross Award 2014 is already published on the web, with free and open access.
Through the Bernhard Gross Award, a prize for undergraduate and graduate students, the Brazilian Society for Research in Materials (SBPMat) annually distinguishes the best papers (one oral presentation and one poster, at the most) of each of the symposia of the society annual meetings. In 2014, the award highlighted twenty papers presented during the XIII SBPMat Meeting, which took place in the city of João Pessoa (PB) from September 28 to October 02, 2014.
The award-winning authors were invited by SBPMat to submit to peer review their works in the form of scientific articles, aiming at publishing them in the IOP Conference Series, dedicated to the publication of papers presented at scientific meetings. Among the articles submitted, 8 were accepted for publication and comprise this special issue.
See the volume dedicated to the Bernhard Gross Award 2014: IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, Volume 97, conference 1.