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Call for symposia for the XXV B-MRS Meeting is open until November 23
The Brazilian Materials Research Society (B-MRS) invites the scientific community to submit symposium proposals for the XXV B-MRS Meeting, which will be held in Fortaleza, the capital of the state of Ceará (Brazil), from September 12 to 16, 2027.
The B-MRS Meeting is the largest and most traditional scientific event in materials research in Latin America. The scientific program is structured around topical symposia proposed and organized by members of the community, covering all aspects of materials research — from fundamental discoveries to applied technologies.
The deadline for submitting symposium proposals is November 23, 2026.
Guidelines and the submission form for symposium proposals are available at: https://www.sbpmat.org.br/proposed_symposium/
XXIV B-MRS Meeting: comments from the organizers
Check out the comments from some of the organizers regarding their symposia, workshops, and short courses, as well as the remarks from the general chairs about the event.
About the meeting
Gregório Couto Faria (IFSC-USP), chair: For me, leading the XXIV B-MRS Meeting went far beyond the challenge of organizing a large scientific event: it was an opportunity to help create a space where a community I deeply admire could come together, exchange ideas, and share experiences. During those days in Curitiba, I saw ideas take shape, new collaborations emerge, and people from different generations and backgrounds share their enthusiasm for materials science. I came away not only with the satisfaction of having helped bring the meeting to life, but also with deep gratitude to everyone who made it possible, and with the joy of having shared the experience with Paula and so many others who are deeply committed to our community.
Paula Cristina Rodrigues (UTFPR), chair: One of the most special moments of the XXIV B-MRS Meeting was welcoming students from public school science clubs and experiencing their enthusiasm as they shared their projects with our community. For me, this exchange between researchers of different generations highlighted the importance of bringing the scientific community closer to schools as well as creating opportunities for young people to see themselves as key players in the construction of knowledge and to envision a future in science.
About the symposia
Symposium D – Frontiers in Advanced Photonic Materials and Nanostructures: From Synthesis to Optical Functionality
Luciana Reyes Pires Kassab (Fatec São Paulo), organizer: The symposium brought together researchers from different areas of materials science, physics, and chemistry to discuss recent advances in photonic materials and nanostructures. The works presented (oral and poster sessions) highlighted innovative approaches to the synthesis and characterization of emerging materials, with particular emphasis on luminescent materials and novel photonic sources. It was inspiring to see the excitement in the eyes of undergraduate students as they presented their work during the poster session. The symposium provided a stimulating environment for scientific exchange and collaboration, fostering new perspectives on the development of advanced photonic materials and devices for next-generation technologies.
Symposium G – High-Entropy Materials: Microstructure, properties and new perspectives
Ricardo Floriano (Unicamp) and Francisco Gil Coury (UFSCar), organizers: Symposium G was a very successful and dynamic forum for discussing recent advances in high-entropy and multicomponent materials. The symposium featured a strong scientific program, with several renowned invited speakers from Brazil and abroad, together with high-quality oral and poster contributions covering topics from fundamental aspects of alloy design and phase stability to structural, functional, energy, and other advanced applications. The excellent attendance and active participation of the audience promoted stimulating discussions and valuable scientific exchanges throughout the sessions. We were particularly pleased with the strong participation of young researchers and students, highlighting the vitality and continued growth of the high-entropy materials community.
Symposium L – Clay Minerals as Strategic Functional Materials for Sustainable Technologies
Raphaela de Oliveira (CNPEM), organizer: It was the first attempt in the last decade of B-MRS Meetings to bring together such a diverse community in terms of research fields and academic backgrounds around the topic of clay minerals, but in the end, we must cooperate since we all share the same central question: understanding how clay mineral properties affect our system behavior. In this sense, it is fruitful to learn from different points of view how intercalation processes, functionalization, and differences in surface charge are key aspects for tuning clay mineral properties for technological applications, ranging from cement to catalysts, membranes, 2D devices, water purification, and many others. Also, it is worth highlighting our efforts to promote gender equality, with 3 out of 4 invited speakers being women, two working at Brazilian institutions and one from Copenhagen, as well as an almost 1:1 balance among oral contributions. By fostering this multidisciplinary exchange, the symposium takes an important step toward strengthening collaborative networks aimed at accelerating the optimization of clay-based systems for applications that address global sustainability needs.
Symposium M – Advanced Materials for Na- and Li-Based Batteries: From Fundamentals to Device Integration
Ana Candida Martins Rodrigues (UFSCar), organizer: The symposium brought together a large part of the community working on battery technology in Brazil, even revealing groups I hadn’t known about before. Researchers working across various fronts participated—some linked to industry and others dedicated to modeling. The sessions consistently drew good audiences; in fact, in one session the room was full, with attendees left standing.
Symposium N – Frontiers in Computational Surface Science: Reactivity, Interfaces, and Material Design
Miguel San-Miguel (Unicamp), organizer: Our symposium N at the B-MRS Meeting in Curitiba attracted many experimental researchers interested in how atomistic simulations can support their work. Their participation sparked engaging discussions on how simulations can help interpret experimental results, clarify underlying mechanisms, and guide further experiments.
About the workshops
Workshop on Science Communication and Outreach
Ingrid Távora Weber (UnB), organizer: The 1st B-MRS Workshop on Science Communication and Outreach, held during the B-MRS Meeting 2026, was a source of great satisfaction. It is highly rewarding to follow the evolution of these activities within the Society: we began with a roundtable in 2024; moved on to a roundtable and the inaugural edition of a video award in 2025; and reached 2026 with a workshop that featured two oral sessions, two invited talks, a poster session, and the second edition of the video award. I was particularly pleased with the level of participation, the audience turnout for the sessions, and the quality and creativity of the work presented. There was a rich exchange of experiences, including inspiring accounts—such as the one shared by Prof. Cazé from UNESP (Presidente Prudente). Another significant aspect was the strengthening of the University Chapters, which enhanced their visibility and interaction with the community. I truly hope this agenda is here to stay and that we can continue to grow in the coming years, further cementing science communication and outreach as an increasingly integral part of B-MRS’s activities.
About the short courses
Functional Materials for Energy, Electronics, Healthcare, and Intelligent Surfaces: Processing Technologies and Applications
Daniela Gomes (NOVA, Portugal), organizer: This short course highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of Functional Materials for Energy, Electronics, Healthcare, and Intelligent Surfaces. It provided an overview of processing methodologies for the development of sustainable and functional materials, ranging from physical vapor deposition and lithography to solution-based synthesis and ink formulation for maskless printing. These processing approaches were discussed in the context of emerging applications, including energy storage, photocatalysis, bioelectronics, and memristive devices, highlighting how materials processing and design can enable next-generation technologies across multiple fields.
Introduction and Perspectives of High Entropy Alloys and Materials
Francisco Gil Coury and Isabela Dainezi (UFSCar), organizers: One of the main goals of our short course was to show how much the field of high-entropy alloys has evolved over the past two decades. We discussed the transition from early, simplified alloy design concepts toward a more realistic understanding of thermodynamics, microstructural complexity, and the mechanisms governing material properties. It was a great opportunity to share recent developments and discuss the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in this rapidly evolving field.
Modelagem computacional aplicada à remediação ambiental
Ihosvany Camps (UNIFAL-MG), organizer: The course’s standout feature is its use of accessible computational tools to explore carbon nanomaterials for greenhouse gas detection and capture. Simulations under realistic conditions provide a valuable link between molecular insights and practical environmental applications.
Single crystal growth and their technological applications
Manuel Henrique Lente (Unifesp), organizer: The short course on single-crystal growth and its applications, held during the B-MRS Meeting, proved highly productive. The students participated very actively, posing a number of interesting questions throughout the course. It was possible to present the core concepts involved in single-crystal growth and to demonstrate how these materials are utilized in a wide array of high-tech devices. Beyond imparting technical knowledge, the short course also aimed to promote this field of research and development—an area that has experienced a significant decline in our country over the last few years—and to encourage young scientists to pursue it.
Young Researchers’ School
Valtencir Zucolotto (IFSC-USP), organizer: The Young Researchers’ School attracted more than 60 participants, highlighting the strong interest in developing scientific writing and publishing skills. The short course featured a lecture by Prof. Dr. Valtencir Zucolotto on scientific writing and a session led by Ana Claudia Garcia, Elsevier, on scientific publishing. Key topics included strategies for writing high-impact scientific papers, developing competitive research projects, navigating the peer-review and publication processes, and using artificial intelligence ethically and effectively in scientific communication. The strong participation reinforced the importance of these skills in enhancing research quality, visibility, and international impact.
XXIV B-MRS Meeting: the event in numbers
Attendees
2,177 – New record!
Gender of attendees
- Male: 56.1%
- Female: 43.4%
- Other: 0.5%
Position of attendees
- Undergraduate: 19.7%
- Graduate: 39.5%
- Professional researcher: 40.8%
Countries of attendees
31 countries from South America, Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia.
Attendees from Brazil
From 24 states, representing all regions.
Sessions
2,278 contributions presented
- 6 plenary lectures
- 1,533 poster, 566 oral and 149 invited within 27 thematic symposia
- More than 60 oral, invited and poster presentations within 2 workshops
More than 110 researchers from 14 countries organized the symposia and workshops
Sunday short courses
10 short courses
Tuesday special sessions
10 special sessions
- 2 discussion pannels (Woman in Science and Sustainability)
- 1 talk on Entrepreneurship and Deep Techs
- 2 talks on Scholar Publishing
- 5 technical lectures on Characterization Techniques
Young scientists showcase
10 stands with public high school students showing their Science Club works
Exhibition
35 exhibitors in the fair
Awards and prizes
60 awards and prizes presented to event participants
- 1 José Arana Varela Award for a researcher from a Brazilian institution wirh and established career
- 1 Early Career Woman Scientist Prize
- 40 Bernhard Gross Student Awards for the best oral and poster contributionns in each symposium
- 6 ACS Publications and 6 RSC Student Prizes for the best student contibutions of al the event
- 2 Physica B Prize for Young Researchers and 1 honorable mention for the best undergraduate presentations of all the event
- 3 Science Popularization Awards for the best short videos for social media
In Memoriam – Professor T. Randall Lee
[Text sent by a B-MRS member]
It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing—on October 6—of Professor T. Randall Lee, or, for those fortunate enough to know him personally, simply Randy.
Randy was a professor at the University of Houston, but he developed a close connection with Brazil through his work as Deputy Editor of the journal ACS Applied Nano Materials. I met him in 2018 when he invited me to join the editorial team of the then-newly launched journal. Our professional relationship grew into a close friendship, and over the years, Randy became a frequent and beloved presence at B-MRS Meetings.
He was impressed by the quality of the science showcased at Brazilian events and always had a kind word for students and researchers alike. He served as a plenary speaker at the Santos conference and enthusiastically championed the idea of a special issue of the journal dedicated to South American authors—a project launched last year. It was his way of recognizing and highlighting the scientific work being done in the region.
His passing is a deeply painful loss for all of us who had the opportunity to know him. Randy was not only an outstanding scientist and researcher but, above all, an exceptional human being. He was a professor deeply cherished by his students, who took turns caring for him while he was isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was a generous person who shared his knowledge and experience without reservation, always ready to mentor, support, and open doors for those around him.
Personally, I learned a great deal from Randy—about science, about academic life, and, above all, about the importance of treating people with generosity and respect.
ACS Applied Nano Materials will publish a commemorative editorial in his honor, celebrating his contributions to the journal and his scientific legacy. It will be a small way to preserve his memory and acknowledge the legacy he left among us. Yet, certainly, no tribute can fill the void Randy will leave in all our lives.
Prof. Monica Cotta (UNICAMP)
Statement of solidarity regarding the fires at UFPE
The Brazilian Materials Research Society (B-MRS) deeply regrets the recent fires at the Brazilian Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), which affected buildings and scientific research laboratories.
Beyond the undeniable material loss of research equipment, this tragedy impacts scientific work through the irreparable loss of samples accumulated over decades.
B-MRS supports all investigations aimed at clarifying the causes of the fires, stands in solidarity with the affected researchers and students, and hopes that public authorities will restore working conditions as soon as possible.
XXIV B-MRS Meeting Awards and Prizes
B-MRS Early Career Woman Scientist Prize
It recognizes the best work presented within the oral sessions of the B-MRS Meeting symposia by a woman with a PhD degree at the beginning of her scientific career. Sponsored by the journal Electronic Materials (MDPI).
Winner: Larissa Tessaro.
Bernhard Gross Student Awards
Established by B-MRS in honor of Bernhard Gross, a pioneer of Brazilian materials research. It distinguishes the best oral and poster contributions presented by students in each symposium.
Symposium A – Poster – Tais Ribeiro. Zinc phthalocyanine-conjugated mesoporous silica nanoparticles improve sonodynamic therapy in a hybrid experimental model under low-frequency ultrasound.
Symposium A – Oral – Eduarda Rios Baranda. Tuning lipid composition to control mucus interactions in hybrid nanoparticles for nose-to-brain delivery.
Symposium B – Poster – Gustavo da Silva Diniz. Cu doped TiO₂ coating on a Ti-30Nb-5Mo alloy deposited by micro-arc oxidation: topographical and property analysis.
Symposium B – Oral – Paula Cristine Rocha Corsato. High-Density Millifluidic Electrochemical Device: a Set of Advances to Enable Anticancer Drug Susceptibility Testing in Daily Practice.
Symposium D – Poster – Vanessa Bayerl. Engineering Optical Properties of ZnO Nanoparticles via Controlled Sol-Gel Synthesis Parameters.
Symposium D – Oral – Pedro Henrique de Laras Sanches. Cholesteric ordering in lanthanide-doped cellulose nanocrystals films for circularly polarized emission.
Symposium E – Poster – Adrian Lincoln Paz Silva. Reduced Graphene Oxide as an Alternative to MoS₂ in Ion-Gating Transistors for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.
Symposium E – Oral – Lorenzo Conti Serra. Photophysical Investigation on Optically Active Materials for Molecular Design Optimization.
Symposium F – Oral – Laís Fernanda Medeiros Ruela. Advancing Sustainable Optoelectronics with Lead-Free Antimony Perovskite Nanocrystals for Efficient UV LEDs.
Symposium G – Oral – Guilherme Boenny Strapasson. How composition controls exsolution dynamics in high-entropy spinel oxides.
Symposium H – Poster – Yasan Isa. From slip systems to abnormal grain growth: a crystal plasticity-based microstructure history framework.
Symposium I – Poster – Sara Kierulff Balabram. Hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvents (HNADES)-derived mango leaf extracts incorporated into alginate-based inks for 3D printing of functional biomaterials.
Symposium I – Oral – Paloma SauraTirolti. Masked stereolithography (mSLA)-based bioprinting of photocrosslinkable hydrogels for complex cell-laden structures.
Symposium J – Poster – Maria Alice de Quadros. Luminescent hybrid of Ugi-modified titanate nanotubes coordinated to Eu³⁺ for Zn²⁺ sensing applications.
Symposium K – Oral – Guido Arthur Fabre. Controlling LSCO Synthesis: From Nominal Stoichiometry to Effective Composition.
Symposium L – Poster – Ismael de Assunção Rodrigues. Development of AlPO-c/Clay Heterostructures for Rhodamine-B Adsorption in Aqueous Medium.
Symposium M – Oral – Leonardo Jesus de Campos. Reactive Flash Sintering of Na₃Zr₂Si₂PO₁₂ solid electrolytes.
Symposium N – Poster – Brenda Koch. Surface electronic structure and reaction pathways for CO₂ photoreduction: a DFT study of ZnO, g-C₃N₄, and MXenes materials.
Symposium N – Oral – Isabelle Leão Gomes. Theoretical approach for enhancing ZnO-based sensors: Effects of humidity.
Symposium O – Poster – Slanna Larissa Cista Matias. pH-Driven Defect Engineering and Optical Modulation in Ho-Doped ZnO Nanostructures for Enhanced Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Performance.
Symposium O – Oral – Mariana A. Dotta. Tuning Small Polaron–Mediated Charge Transport in Hematite through Dopant-Driven Local Structural Engineering.
Symposium P – Poster – Patrick Ruam Bredow Côrtes. Changes in Local Hydrophobicity by Adding Functional Groups to Graphene.
Symposium P – Oral – Carla Requena Klimpovuz. Multifunctional MoS₂/Gold nanoparticles nanoarchitected thin films: from green hydrogen production to advanced sensing.
Symposium Q – Poster – Pâmela Macchion. Applied circular economy: post-consumer polyurethane sponges for CO₂ capture via modification with polypyrrole.
Symposium Q – Oral – Letícia Verdelli Sousa. Structural and Thermal Characterization of PVA-PAA Hydrogel Networks aiming the Restoration of Metallic Cultural Heritage.
Symposium R – Oral – Gabriel Alves de Deus. Titanium Surface Modification by Cold Plasma for Silver Nanoparticle Deposition Toward Antimicrobial Dental Implants.
Symposium S – Poster – Camila Desiderio Fernandes. Electrochemical Polypyrrole Functionalization of STM Tips toward Improved Atomic-Scale Imaging.
Symposium S – Oral – Gabriel Marques Jacobsen. Low-field optical polarization in type-II quantum dots via nuclear-driven dark state mixing.
Symposium T – Poster – Wenderson Rodrigues Fialho da Silva. High-Sensitivity PEDOT:PSS-Coated Magnetoelastic sensor for Wireless Humidity Sensing.
Symposium T – Oral – Leonardo H. Hasimoto. Mechanically Robust, Flexible, Foldable, and Stretchable Laser-Induced Graphene Electrodes for Electrochemical Biosensing in Artificial Sweat.
Symposium U – Poster – Túlio Henrique Kill de Carvalho. Unveiling the role of Eu³⁺/Eu²⁺ in the chromatic evolution and charge transfer in Pr³⁺/Eu³⁺-doped fluorophosphate glasses.
Symposium U – Oral – Aminu Habib Adamu. Synthesis and Magneto-Optical Properties of Ce-Substituted Yttrium Iron Garnet Single Crystals via Glass-Ceramic Crystallization for Nonreciprocal Photonic Applications.
Symposium V – Oral – Natan Luis Nozella. Unraveling Humidity- and Frequency-Dependent Charge Transport in Eumelanin via Nonlinear Electrical Stimuli.
Symposium W – Poster – Maria Clara Hasper de Souza. Loading ZnO nanoparticles into PLA/TPS blend for active antibacterial packaging.
Symposium W – Oral – Leonardo Semensato. Textile-based colorimetric using calcium alginate/anthocyanins wet-spun fibres for shrimp freshness.
Symposium X – Poster – Evandro Augusto do Canto Duarte. Development of doped hydrochar in one-step.
Symposium X – Oral – Rita Rafael. Development of aerogels for biostimulants encapsulation.
Symposium Z – Poster – João Victor Pastorin de Carvalho. Synthesis of Photoelectrocatalysts from MOF MIL-53(Fe) for Ammonia Production.
Symposium Z – Oral – Fabio A Pires. Bridging Materials and Application: A Self-Sufficient Modular Platform for Solar Water Splitting.
Symposium AA – Poster – David Alexandro Graves. Electrochemical and Statistical Optimization of Polyaniline-Coated Carbon Fiber Felt Electrodes for High-Performance Supercapacitors.
ACS Publications Student Prizes
Sponsored by journals of ACS Publications, a division of the American Chemical Society. Prizes for the best student contributions of all the event.
Poster – Gustavo da Silva Diniz. Cu doped TiO₂ coating on a Ti-30Nb-5Mo alloy deposited by micro-arc oxidation: topographical and property analysis.
Poster – Maria Alice de Quadros. Luminescent hybrid of Ugi-modified titanate nanotubes coordinated to Eu³⁺ for Zn²⁺ sensing applications.
Poster – Túlio Henrique Kill de Carvalho. Unveiling the role of Eu³⁺/Eu²⁺ in the chromatic evolution and charge transfer in Pr³⁺/Eu³⁺-doped fluorophosphate glasses.
Oral – Leonardo H. Hasimoto. Mechanically Robust, Flexible, Foldable, and Stretchable Laser-Induced Graphene Electrodes for Electrochemical Biosensing in Artificial Sweat.
Oral – Natan Luis Nozella. Unraveling Humidity- and Frequency-Dependent Charge Transport in Eumelanin via Nonlinear Electrical Stimuli.
Oral – Fabio A Pires. Bridging Materials and Application: A Self-Sufficient Modular Platform for Solar Water Splitting.
RSC Student Prizes
Sponsored by journals of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Prizes for the best student contributions of all the event.
Poster – Wenderson Rodrigues Fialho da Silva. High-Sensitivity PEDOT:PSS-Coated Magnetoelastic sensor for Wireless Humidity Sensing.
Poster – Patrick Ruam Bredow Côrtes. Changes in Local Hydrophobicity by Adding Functional Groups to Graphene.
Poster – David Alexandro Graves. Electrochemical and Statistical Optimization of Polyaniline-Coated Carbon Fiber Felt Electrodes for High-Performance Supercapacitors.
Oral – Guilherme Boenny Strapasson. How composition controls exsolution dynamics in high-entropy spinel oxides.
Oral – Carla Requena Klimpovuz. Multifunctional MoS₂/Gold nanoparticles nanoarchitected thin films: from green hydrogen production to advanced sensing.
Oral – Gabriel Marques Jacobsen. Low-field optical polarization in type-II quantum dots via nuclear-driven dark state mixing.
Physica B Prize for Young Researchers
Prizes for the best undergraduate oral presentation and poster of all the event. Sponsored by the jornal Physica B – Condensed Matter (Elsevier).
Poster – Prize – Amanda dos Santos Perrilo.
Oral – Prize – Lorenzo Conti Serra.
Poster – Honorable mention – Raquel de Godoy Vianna.
Prêmio de Divulgação Científica da SBPMat
Patrocinado pela Arqueatec. Prêmios para os melhores vídeos curtos para público leigo produzidos por participantes do evento.
1º lugar: Sara Luiza Gusso – estudante de doutorado (USP). Vídeo.
2º lugar: Fernanda Pavani Silva – estudante de mestrado (USP). Vídeo.
3º lugar: Giovani Garcia de Souza – estudante de graduação (UNICAMP e CNPEM). Vídeo.
The photos of the Closing and Awards Ceremony are available here.
B-MRS Newsletter: Year 13, issue 7
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Interview with Ana Flávia Nogueira, honored by B-MRS with the José Arana Varela Award
During her undergraduate studies, Ana Flávia Nogueira had the opportunity to see a device generating electricity from sunlight. She was fascinated by the phenomenon, and shortly thereafter—during her master’s program—she began working on disruptive research involving solar cells. This marked the beginning of a scientific career characterized by extensive exploration into materials for emerging photovoltaic technologies.
Thirty years have passed since then, and today Professor Ana Flavia is an internationally recognized authority in the field; she has authored pioneering scientific papers with hundreds of citations and has published in some of the most high-impact journals in the fields of Materials Science and Energy.
Born in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo state, in 1973, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of São Paulo (USP) in 1996 and obtained her Master’s and PhD degrees in Chemistry from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) in 1998 and 2001, respectively.
She conducted postdoctoral research at Imperial College London (UK) between 2001 and 2002 and at USP in 2003 and 2004. In 2004, she became a professor at Unicamp’s Institute of Chemistry, where, the following year, she established the Nanotechnology and Solar Energy Laboratory (LNES)—a facility she continues to coordinate to this day. Over the past 22 years, she has supervised more than 70 research projects at the undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels.
In 2016, she served as one of the chairs for the XV B-MRS Meeting, held in Campinas, São Paulo.
From 2017 to 2018, she was a visiting researcher at Stanford University (USA). In 2020, she received the Brazilian Women in Chemistry and Related Sciences Award—sponsored by the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Brazilian Chemical Society (SBQ)—in the “Leadership in Academia” category. In 2022, she was elected a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) in the field of Chemical Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
In 2025, she was appointed to the steering committee of the Energy Sector Fund (CT-Energ)—linked to Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation—as a representative of the scientific community. Later that year, Ana Flávia received the “Zeferino Vaz” Academic Recognition Award from Unicamp in acknowledgment of her outstanding contributions to teaching, research, and outreach at the Institute of Chemistry.
Currently, in addition to her roles as a professor and researcher at Unicamp, Ana Flávia serves as director of the Center for Innovation on New Energies (CINE), a research center established by the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp) and Shell in 2018. CINE brings together over 250 researchers from eleven institutions to work on projects aimed at advancing sustainable technologies for renewable energy generation and storage. She also serves as an associate editor for three prestigious journals: Journal of Materials Chemistry C and Materials Advances (both published by the Royal Society of Chemistry) and Materials Today Chemistry (published by Elsevier).
This year, B-MRS selected her to receive the José Arana Varela Award, which honors outstanding researchers working in Brazil. As part of this recognition, Professor Ana Flávia will deliver a plenary lecture on perovskite solar cells on September 30th at the XXIV B-MRS Meeting.
Learn more about Ana Flávia and her fruitful, inspiring career in this interview she gave to the B-MRS Newsletter.
Tell us what led you to become a scientist.
I’d say I was always a very curious child—at least according to my mother. I was curious about everything. My mother tells stories about how, whenever a letter arrived at the house, I’d open it right away out of sheer curiosity. And I was always asking “why.” So, I think it was natural for me to want to know more about things, to want to investigate. So, at high school, I decided I wanted to study Chemistry at university. I attended a school run by nuns, and my Chemistry teacher was a Spanish nun. She was very funny, and she’s the one who made me fall in love with physical chemistry. Since she spoke with a thick accent and didn’t have great teaching skills, I had to study on my own. I’d grasp the material, and then the next day, I’d explain the content to my classmates. That’s how—when I was 16 or 17—I decided I wanted to pursue Chemistry.
Did you see yourself as a future researcher back then?
At that point, I didn’t plan on doing a master’s, a PhD, or a postdoc. I always enjoyed studying, but nothing in my life was really planned out. At that time, we just let life take its course; we did the things we liked, and opportunities would just pop up… So, after high school, I passed the entrance exams for USP, UNESP, and Unicamp, but I chose USP—I wanted to be in São Paulo. A graduate course was a somewhat natural path because, right at the end of my first year at the university, I started doing undergraduate research with Professor Viktoria Klara Lakatos Osório, who had been one of the Chemistry Institute’s most brilliant students. She knew so much Chemistry. I continued doing research in Viktoria’s lab until I graduated. Given my personality, I was always chatting with everyone in the hallway, asking what they were working on, and so on. And I practically “lived” in the graduate students’ room. It was funny, because they used to say I couldn’t sit there—that I’d only get a desk once I was a grad student—but I was friends there and spent all my time in that room. So, I think seeing their work and getting exposure to graduate studies so early on—right in my first year—made a real difference. I fell in love with research, and moving on to a master’s program felt like the natural next step.
How did you get started working with solar cells?
I really liked seeing practical applications; I didn’t want to do fundamental research. I was always asking myself: “Why am I studying this?” “What is the application?” “Why is this important?” Sometimes you get lucky, right? And one day, while I was at the IQ-USP [Institute of Chemistry at USP], I saw Professor Carlo Bignozzi from the University of Ferrara in Italy—who collaborated with Professor Neyde Yukie Murakami Iha—showing off a large prototype of a dye-sensitized TiO2 cell (what we called a “dye-TiO2 cell”). It was a sunny day, and Carlo placed the cell on a bench in the sun and occasionally covered it with a sheet of paper. We could see on the voltmeter that the cell was generating electricity from sunlight. That fascinated me—the conversion of light energy into electricity. Plus, it was a research topic that involved a lot of inorganic chemistry, a field I really enjoyed. So, I decided I wanted to study materials science for my master’s degree. However, USP didn’t have a strong materials program at the time; the leading materials chemists were based in São Carlos or at Unicamp. I remember talking to Professor Henrique Toma from IQ-USP who mentioned that at Unicamp I would find several people working in solid-state chemistry and materials science—professors like Marco-Aurélio de Paoli, Fernando Galembeck, and Oswaldo Alves. I thought it would be a good idea to experience a different university and city. Later, at a Brazilian Chemical Society (SBQ) meeting where I was presenting my undergraduate research, I ran into Professor Marco-Aurélio de Paoli himself. I introduced myself and mentioned I was considering a master’s at Unicamp. He then told me about a project involving dye-sensitized TiO2 cells—the very same type of cell I had seen Professor Carlo Bignozzi holding in the corridors of IQ-USP. Marco was on a six-month sabbatical in Germany at the time, studying these cells. So, when he returned to Unicamp, he needed someone to start the solar cell project, and I was selected for the master’s program. It was perfect! I came to Unicamp to pursue my master’s under Professor Marco-Aurélio, and we maintained a collaboration with Professor Neyde. It was a whole new world; just us at Unicamp and Neyde in São Paulo were working on dye-sensitized cells. Marco had a large group—nearly 30 people—but I was working alone on my specific research topic, and the subject was new to him as well. So, the master’s degree was a challenge for me. The PhD, however, was easier. My entire master’s and PhD work focused on producing a polymer electrolyte for dye-sensitized TiO2 cells. We published the first paper in the literature on this topic. Consequently, my articles—from both my master’s and PhD—are highly cited and have had an international impact. During my PhD, I missed having the chance to discuss ideas and collaborate with other researchers. That´s why I undertook a research internship at Imperial College with Professor James Durrant, which opened many doors for me. Once again, my tendency to talk to everyone helped me quickly build a network—something I consider a crucial aspect of my career. Thanks to the high-quality, widely cited papers we produced, Professor James invited me back to London for a postdoctoral position. I returned, but I wanted to do something different and learn new things; stability and repetition simply don’t appeal to me—that’s a key part of my personality. I told him I wanted to work on solar energy, but not on dye-sensitized TiO2 cells. James was starting a project on organic solar cells with Professor Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci from Austria, and I ended up spearheading that project. In fact, I am credited with being the first person to assemble an organic solar cell at Imperial College. That was back in 2002. I learned a great deal from that project, but after a year, I decided to return home for personal reasons and because there were many university job openings in Brazil. I could have stayed at Imperial College and lived in London, but I have no regrets; I make more of a difference here. So, I returned to Brazil and went back to USP—specifically to Professor Henrique Toma’s laboratory—to work on dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cells again, but from a different perspective. The lab had a host of fantastic molecules—which we called supramolecules—and the idea was to test them in solar cells. This also resulted in numerous publications—about seven papers. Soon after, a faculty opening came up at Unicamp, and I have been a faculty member at the Unicamp Institute of Chemistry since 2004.
Have you always worked with solar cells?
I am currently working on my fourth emerging photovoltaic cell technology: I’ve worked with dye-sensitized TiO2 cells, organic cells, hybrid organic-inorganic cells, and now perovskite cells. As I mentioned, I enjoy doing different things. That’s why I’ve also done a lot of work with nanocomposites, carbon nanotubes, hydrogen generation, cadmium sulfide and selenide chalcogenide quantum dots, and perovskite quantum dots. Let’s see what Ana Flávia comes up with next!
What are your favorite scientific discoveries from your entire career?
I think my favorite is the first discovery I made—during my master’s and PhD studies—which was the first solid-state TiO2 cell. I believe that was the major breakthrough. There was also a really cool discovery from my postdoc involving organic cells. At the time, everyone knew that electron transfer from the polymer to the fullerene was extremely fast—on the order of femtoseconds—but no one knew about the reverse reaction, which we call recombination. And the recombination process is just as important as the charge injection process. No one had any idea it was possible to measure that, but we did so during my postdoc. So, that was a very interesting discovery: determining how long it took for the electron to return from the fullerene to the polymer. Furthermore, I really like the work we’ve been doing more recently studying perovskites using in situ and operando techniques, both with and without synchrotron radiation. I think this is the work that makes my group stand out in the scientific community today. It all started during my sabbatical with Professor Michael Toney at the Stanford synchrotron (SLAC), where we used available synchrotron radiation techniques to gain a better understanding of perovskites. We discovered a great deal through fundamental research: how perovskite forms from solution and the stages of film crystallization. I think we made a significant contribution in that regard.
What were the main challenges you faced in developing your career? Were they related to being a woman?
Well, I think I’ve always worked hard because I’m passionate about what I do. And since I was always working hard, I never really had time to sit around complaining. I had to work—I enjoy what I do—and I think I’ve always managed to handle a lot of tasks. Plus, I’ve never been a perfectionist, which I think helped me because it allowed me to get a lot done. When you want to make something perfect, I think you expend a huge amount of energy. But regarding the difficulties, I’m not sure if the biggest ones stemmed from being a woman or from being a young researcher bringing new research to Brazil. No one was researching organic solar cells back then. I was the first person to assemble an organic solar cell at Imperial College. Our work is highly cited. I brought a wealth of experience from there, but when I arrived here, people—funding agencies and colleagues alike—didn’t know what organic solar cell research was. At the time, it was disruptive. And the question arose: is she actually capable of doing this? I remember my first grant proposal to Fapesp wasn’t approved. To conduct the research, I needed a glovebox to assemble the cells inside, but the funding was denied. Unfortunately, the reviewers failed to see how groundbreaking that research was for Brazil. My biggest challenge was really at the beginning with the funding agencies—which are essentially made up of our own colleagues, since they’re the ones evaluating our projects. They didn’t have the insight to say, “Wow, this is disruptive research; she’s asking for this piece of equipment—let’s give it to her.” Because of that, I couldn’t move forward with the organic cell research—we couldn’t compete with the efficiency levels being achieved abroad—so the idea of working with hybrid cells came up. Instead of using fullerene as an electron acceptor, I decided to work with inorganic nanoparticles. I love making inorganic nanoparticles. Besides, these cells already had low efficiency, so it wouldn’t be a problem to publish results showing a cell with 2% efficiency—since that was what everyone else was achieving at the time. So, the research took a different direction than originally planned. Whether these difficulties arose because I was young, because I was a woman, because I was returning from abroad with new ideas, or because people didn’t know me… I can’t say for sure. Another factor was entering the physics community. I work extensively in physics and have great colleagues in the field today, but it was difficult at the start. I think physicists respect me much more now than they used to. Finally, now that I am in a leadership position at CINE, I can say with certainty that women face far more scrutiny than men when making decisions, so things take much longer to happen—especially in our academic environment, which is predominantly male.
And how did you overcome those challenges to advance your career?
I think I just kept moving forward with my career and didn’t let myself get shaken. That might be a key point. I never let comments, difficulties, or rejections get me down. For instance, I had to scrap a research project that could have been groundbreaking in Brazil, but I immediately found something else to take its place. I think if I had wasted energy fighting the situation, I wouldn’t have achieved the same results. I try one path; if that doesn’t work, I quickly try another, because I don’t have time to waste. I don’t stay idle for long. I think that’s what kept me motivated.
Tell us how you managed to publish articles in high-impact journals.
I think that for that, it’s important to always look for opportunities and think a bit outside the box. You have to spot something others aren’t doing, think differently, and look in a direction no one else is looking. At first, it might seem impossible, but we have to test our hypotheses. For example, in the perovskite study we conducted using synchrotron radiation, I saw an opportunity to use Sirius—a wonderful laboratory located just ten minutes from my office. I believe we need to stay very attentive to new trends and emerging developments, and consider whether they offer opportunities for our research. I’ve always sought to do something new rather than sticking to incremental research—a type of work that never really appealed to me.
You frequently champion and defend research conducted in Latin America—for instance, through your stance in debates or by organizing events and special journal issues focused on the region. What motivates you to take this approach?
You know, I always bring up this perspective because I believe we have excellent research groups in Latin America, yet we lack visibility abroad. I am particularly concerned about journal editors-in-chief who are unfamiliar with the research being conducted in Latin America—and I’m not talking about when I started my career 30 years ago, but about the present day. Currently, Latin America—and Brazil specifically—hosts research groups producing work just as competitive as that coming out of Europe, the United States, or Asia. Here in the country, we have Sirius; with this fantastic machine, we can conduct experiments that are possible only here. Just think of the opportunity that represents! So, while we conduct top-tier research, we lack visibility. That is why we need to bring foreigners—such as journal editors-in-chief—here to see our reality firsthand. I’m really in a “Latin America-focused” phase right now. In fact, I came up with the idea of launching a LATAM edition of MATSUS, a conference that already takes place in Europe twice a year. MATSUS focuses on materials and sustainability, and we have many groups in the region doing incredible work in materials science. So, we are holding the first MATSUS-LATAM edition in Cartagena, Colombia, in early February. Furthermore, I’ve partnered with groups in Chile and Colombia to host graduate students who want to learn how to fabricate perovskite cells, as my group is currently a Latin American leader in emerging photovoltaics. For my colleagues in Latin America, it is far easier and less expensive to send a student here to fabricate a device than to send them to Europe or the United States. LNES is there for everyone to use; it isn’t just for my own students.
We’ve seen you working to bridge the gap between academia and industry—participating as a speaker, panelist, and event organizer for business audiences, and actively encouraging university-industry partnerships. What led you to pursue this direction?
I think this direction has been part of my career for a long time, largely because my research has always been applied in nature. One of the first projects I undertook after joining Unicamp was with an energy distribution company. Then, in 2008, we founded the startup Tezca, which focused on dye-sensitized TiO2 flexible solar cells. Later came the Dense Energy Carriers project, which would become one of the core divisions of CINE, in partnership with Shell. Subsequently, we established a partnership with Itaú at CINE. So, public-private partnerships have played a crucial role in my career; they provided the additional funding needed to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and hire researchers, while also opening new doors. I believe there should be an increasing number of public-private partnerships in science—with each party respecting its own boundaries, of course. I think it is possible to have that conversation, to sit down at the table, and to find common ground.
Finally, we’d like you to leave a message for our younger readers who are starting a career as scientists in Brazil or are considering that path.
Well, I always say that a research career in Brazil is never going to be easy—but it isn’t easy anywhere. Abroad, for instance, the competition for grants is incredibly fierce. I believe researchers really have to love what they do, because there are moments when you genuinely want to give up. You also have to think differently; even if an idea seems absurd, you have to investigate it. To those just starting out, I’d say we need more disruptive research, to think a bit outside the box. The research landscape in Brazil today is vastly different from when I began my graduate studies. Conditions aren’t ideal, and they vary greatly from state to state. Yet, research conditions in the country today are still far better than they were thirty years ago. Finally, I’d say you have to know how to make lemonade out of lemons. If something goes wrong, don’t dwell on it; turn the problem into an opportunity, find something positive in the difficulties, and strike out in a new direction.
B-MRS Newsletter: Year 13, issue 6
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