Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a compound widely used, especially as a bleach or antiseptic in the production of pulp and paper, in cleaning, pharmacy and beauty products and in the treatment of wastewater, among other applications. With a large and growing market, the production of hydrogen peroxide has the challenge of becoming more sustainable, using methods that are environmentally friendly and allow the compound to be obtained in the same place where it will be used, reducing risks, costs and the environmental impact of transport. In this scenario, producing hydrogen peroxide in electrochemical generators using basically water, air and electricity is a promising path, which some companies are already treading. However, the success of this process largely depends on having efficient, stable and low-cost catalysts.

In a recently published scientific article, a team made up of researchers from the Brazilian Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), and the São Carlos Institute of Chemistry (IQSC-USP) made a contribution in this regard. They developed catalysts based on graphene nanoribbons and metallic nanoparticles and studied in detail their performance in the electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide. In addition to showing that these catalysts significantly improve reaction efficiency, equating to the best conventional catalysts in some aspects, the study advanced the understanding of fundamental phenomena that open possibilities to continue optimizing the electrocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide.

“We proposed the synthesis of catalysts with a low content of noble metal (≤6.4% by mass), with high catalytic efficiency and high durability for the electrochemical production of H2O2”, says Professor Gilberto Maia (UFMS), co-author of the article. Indeed, noble metals such as gold and palladium are known for their catalytic properties but have the disadvantage of cost. “Our catalysts were built from oxides of molybdenum, gold and palladium, which together form nanoparticles anchored on the surface of graphene nanoribbons”, describes Maia.

The team tested the efficiency of the catalysts in terms of generating hydrogen peroxide through the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR-2e– ), in which one molecule of oxygen, two hydrogen cations and two electrons form one molecule of hydrogen peroxide. Mainly, the researchers tested, with very positive results, the activity of the catalyst (its ability to increase the rate of reaction), its selectivity (its ability to direct the reaction towards a certain product, in this case, hydrogen peroxide) and its stability (the ability to maintain its properties over time).

“The results we obtained showed that the improved catalytic activity for ORR-2e–  was promoted by a combination of factors including geometry, palladium content, interparticle distance and active site blocking effects, while the electrochemical stability of the catalysts may have been enhanced by the presence of molybdenum”, says Professor Maia.

The work was developed within a collaboration between researchers from the Institute of Chemistry at UFMS and the Environmental Electrochemistry Research Group at IQSC-USP, who have been working together on the synthesis, characterization and application of electrocatalytic materials. According to the authors, the main idea and the first combinations of synthesis emerged as an offshoot of the doctoral thesis by Guilherme Fortunato, which was supervised by Professor Gilberto Maia and was defended in UFMS in 2019. The work continued and finalized within the postdoctoral research of Fortunato, carried out at IQSC under the supervision of Professor Marcos Lanza.

The research was funded by Brazilian federal and state agencies Capes, CNPq, FAPESP and FUNDECT-MS.

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Paper reference: Using Palladium and Gold Palladium Nanoparticles Decorated with Molybdenum Oxide for Versatile Hydrogen Peroxide Electroproduction on Graphene Nanoribbons. Guilherme V. Fortunato, Leticia S. Bezerra, Eduardo S. F. Cardoso, Matheus S. Kronka, Alexsandro J. Santos, Anderson S. Greco, Jorge L. R. Júnior, Marcos R. V. Lanza, and Gilberto Maia. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2022 14 (5), 6777-6793. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c22362.

Corresponding authors contact: g.fortunato@usp.br and gilberto.maia@ufms.br.

 

Newsletter of the Brazilian Materials Research Society Year 9, issue 3. April 6th, 2022.

XX B-MRS Meeting Abstract submission is open until April 22nd! Date: September 25 to 29, 2022. Venue: Hotel Rafain Palace, Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil). Chairladies: Prof. Lucimara Stolz Roman (UFPR) and Prof. Marcela Mohallen Oliveira (UTFPR). Abstract submission deadline: April 22nd. Symposia: 23 thematic symposia on research in the most diverse materials, from synthesis to applications, organized by around 100 scientists from Brazil and abroad. Memorial Lecture: Prof. Roberto Mendonça Faria (IFSC-USP). Plenary Speakers: Prof. Daniel Mario Ugarte (UNICAMP), Prof. Gustavo Grivas (Univ. Córdoba), Prof. Natalie Stingelin (Georgia Tech Univ.), Prof. Olle Inganas (Linkoping Univ.), Prof. Pulickel Ajayan (Rice Univ.), Prof. Stuart Parkin (Univ Martin-Luther de Halle-Wittemberg). Registration: early registration fee until August 5th. Sponsorship and support: 10 companies have already confirmed sponsorship and participation in the exhibition. If you are interested in participating, please contact Alexandre Alves at comercial@sbpmat.org.br. The XX B-MRS Meeting will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Brazilian Materials Research Society and the 20th edition of the event! For more information, abstract submission and registration, visit the event website. Featured paper A team from LNNano was able to visualize, in real time and with atomic resolution, the process of eliminating pores during the sintering of a nanometric ceramic. The results point to adjustments to be made in theoretical sintering models in order to adapt them to nanomaterials. (Nano Letters) Know more. Papers of the community In a theoretical – experimental – computational work carried out at UFRGS and UEM, researchers observed a colossal barocaloric effect in paraffins and showed the potential of these materials for use in future refrigeration systems with much less environmental impact than the current ones. Go to the paper: https://doi.org/10.1039/D1TA10892A. Featured on the cover of Advanced Electronic Materials, research carried out at IFSC – USP showed that the fine control of the addition of catalysts in the polymerization route allows adjusting the electrical parameters of polymeric films and makes them very interesting to make neuromorphic memories. Go to the paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.202100864. News from members Prof Osvaldo Novais de Oliveira Junior, former President of B-MRS and present First Vice President of IUMRS, took over as director of IFSC – USP. University Chapters The B-MRS board awarded the UFCAT and UFPE University Chapters prizes of R$ 3 thousand each one to finance activities in 2022. The evaluation committee, composed by former B-MRS presidents (Fernando Lázaro Freire Jr, Osvaldo Novais de Oliveira Jr and Roberto Mendonça Faria) based the decision on the activity reports sent by the chapters. Community B-MRS member Prof Petrus Santa Cruz (UFPE) recalls the contribution that sociologist Hernán Valenzuela, who died on March 7th, made to the Nanotechnology community. Valenzuela was the senior representative of Faunhofer ENAS Institute in Latin America. Read the text. Portuguese materials scientist Elvira Fortunato is the new Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal. Elvira, a pioneer in transparent electronics using sustainable materials and environmentally friendly technologies, has participated in several B-MRS Meetings and is well known in our Brazilian community. Know more. Scientific entrepreneurship – YouTube Ado Jorio (UFMG) tells the path taken, from basic science to startup, in the development of the “nanoscope” – the most accurate instrument in the world to elucidate crystallographic structures, completely made in Brazil. Watch here. Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz shows that the interaction between universities and companies in Brazil is much more intense and productive than is usually thought. Former rector of UNICAMP and former scientific director of FAPESP, Brito currently works at Elsevier helping universities and funding agencies around the world to understand and achieve their goals. Watch here. Petrus Santa-Cruz explains how his research group at UFPE organized itself at the beginning of the pandemic to meet the demands of the population to face Covid-19, taking advantage of knowledge generated at the university over decades and setting goals based on the degree of technological maturity. Watch here. Advocacy – B-MRS signed a note from the Brazilian societies ABC and SBPC urging the Ministry of Education to respond to press statements about the influence of priests on decisions of this Ministry. Read the note. Opportunities – An initiative by Royal Society of Chemistry’s journals in the Materials area highlights contribuitions by young researchers. Know more: Biomaterials Science, Polymer Chemistry e Soft Matter. Events – 11th Brazilian German Workshop on Applied Surface Science. Manaus, AM (Brazil). April 19 – 24, 2022. Site. – 5th International Conference on Applied Surface Science. Palma, Mallorca (Spain). April 25 – 28, 2022. Site. – IV Curso do Método Rietveld. Belém, PA (Brazil). May 2 – 6, 2022. Site. – WOCSDICE EXMATEC 2022. Ilha de São Miguel (Portugal). May 3 – 6, 2022. Site. – 2022 E-MRS Spring Meeting and Exhibit. Online. May 30 – June 3, 2022. Site. – International Conference on the Science and Technology of Synthetic Metals (ICSM). Glasgow (Scotland). July 17 – 22, 2022. Site. – 4th Workshop on Coated Tools & Multifunctional Thin Films. Campinas, SP (Brazil). July 20 – 23, 2022. Site. – IUMRS-ICAM2021 + IMRC2022. Online + Cancun (Mexico). August 14 – 19, 2022. Site. – XVIII International Small Angle Scattering Conference. Online + Campinas, SP (Brazil). September 11 – 16, 2022. Site. – 18th International Conference on Plasma Surface Engineering (PSE 2022). Trade Fair Erfurt (Germany). September 12 – 15, 2022. Site. – XX B-MRS Meeting. Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil). September 25 – 29, 2022. Site. – 7th Meeting on Self Assembly Structures in Solution and at Interfaces (AUTOORG 2022). Bento Gonçalves, RS (Brazil). November 2 – 4, 2022. Site. – 11th International Conference of the African Materials Research Society (AMRS2022 ). Dakar (Senegal). December 12 – 15, 2022. Site. Follow us on social media

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Edson Roberto Leite was an undergraduate student of materials engineering when he began to work with research in sintering. At the time, his advisor was Professor José Arana Varela, a distinguished materials scientist who died in 2016 and was founding member and president of the Brazilian Materials Research Society.

Used since antiquity, sintering is a process of agglutination of solid particles that results in a compact material. In this process, the spaces between the particles or grains (the pores) are filled by atoms that detach from the surface of the material.

“I have always been very interested in this subject and curious to know what transport is like at the atomic level during the sintering process”, recalls Edson Leite.

More than thirty years after this first scientific work, Leite, who now is the scientific director of the Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory (LNNano), calmed this curiosity. Together with other researchers at LNNano, he was able to visualize, in real time and with atomic resolution, the process of eliminating pores in a nanometric zirconium oxide ceramic. The work was recently published in Nano Letters.

“Certainly Prof. Varela would be proud and enjoy this work”, says Leite, who received the José Arana Varela Award from B-MRS last year in recognition of his scientific trajectory.

The first step of the work was taken four years ago, when Leite and his team developed a methodology that allowed the preparation of monolayers of self-supported nanoparticles (without substrate). When they took these very thin films to a transmission electron microscope (TEM), the researchers noticed that the electron beam induced the transport of atoms, even at room temperature. The team then saw the possibility of studying the sintering process in situ. That is, being able to follow the changes in pore filling under the microscope, step by step and without having to remove the sample in the middle of the process.

The possibility took shape in LNNano’s high-resolution TEM, an HRTEM, which allows one to visualize atoms. “We put together a team made up of Jefferson Bettini (researcher at LNNano), my postdoc Tanna Rodrigues Fiuza and Marlon Muniz da Silva (intern at LNNano and now a PhD student at LNLS) and started to work hard to visualize sintering at the atomic scale,” says Leite.

Initially, the team prepared ceramic films formed by nanometric grains of zirconium oxide and focused their efforts on studying the process that occurs at the end of sintering: the elimination of isolated pores that remain at the grain boundaries.

The work was as exciting as it was challenging, not only because of the hours spent at the microscope in collecting, processing and analyzing images, but mainly because of the researchers’ effort to understand what they were seeing. “In the end, we were quite happy and demonstrated the transformations that occur during the closing of pores on an atomic scale”, says Leite.

In this video, filmed by the authors of the article using HRTM, it is possible to visualize atoms migrating from adjacent grains and filling the pore:

The work should have an important academic impact, since its results show that the reality of nanometric ceramics does not fit, in some aspects, in the theoretical models that are used to explain sintering processes. “Most existing models involving sinter kinetics consider the surface energy and the energy of isotropic grain boundaries. We showed that this does not occur in nanometric ceramics”, explains Professor Leite. “In addition, we showed that a transition occurs in which a rough surface is eliminated and the appearance of faceted surfaces occurs, indicating that there may be a thermodynamic barrier, in addition to a kinetic barrier for atomic transport”, he adds. “In summary, we can say that it is necessary to modify the existing models to explain the sintering process at the nanoscale”, concludes the scientist.

According to the authors, the work should also have an impact on the ceramic industry, as a better understanding of the sintering process can lead to the development of nanostructured ceramics with controlled porosity and particle size and, therefore, with differentiated mechanical and electronic properties.

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Reference of the paper: Visualization of the Final Stage of Sintering in Nanoceramics with Atomic Resolution. Tanna Elyn Rodrigues Fiuza, Marlon Muniz da Silva, Jefferson Bettini, and Edson Roberto Leite. Nano Lett.2022, 22, 1978 – 1985. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04708

Author contact: edson.leite@lnnano.cnpem.br

[Text by Professor Petrus Santa Cruz (DQF/UFPE), B-MRS member]

It is difficult to assess the indirect impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is even more difficult to receive, even at this point, news from direct victims, such as that of a long-time collaborator, Hernán Valenzuela, who left us on the 7th of March.

As a senior representative of the Fraunhofer ENAS Institute (Fraunhofer-Instituts für Elektronische Nanosysteme ENAS) in Latin America, nearly 20 years ago Hernán began to bring together researchers involved in the application of new materials in nanotechnologies in the Minapim Seminar, a biennial series of which Hernán has been chairman since his first edition in 2004, together with the creation of the MTM Minapim News Technology Magazine, initiatives initially supported by the Superintendence of the Manaus Free Trade Zone (SUFRAMA). In the 2018 edition of the Minapim Seminar, emphasis was given to the consolidation of the international cooperation agreement between the Fraunhofer Institute ENAS and UFPE, having interacted in events involving new technologies since the first international events in the area, in 2003 at Nanofair (Switzerland) and NanoTech (Japan).

In 2013, he gave support to the UFPE’s Workshop for the Bioterium of Nanostructured Species BEN at SUFRAMA’s headquarters (Manaus), involving discussions on Biodiversity and Bioinspiration, within the scope of the Capes Nanobiotec Brasil Project.

As a result of the collaborations catalyzed by Hernán, in March 2020 a team including the President Director of Fraunhofer ENAS at the time, Dr. Thomas Otto, visited Ponto Quantico Nanodevices (Positiva, LandFoton/UFPE), when Ponto Quantico became the Hub of the Fraunhofer ENAS Cooperation Agreement with UFPE, and the team was received by the Rector Alfredo Gomes, a few days before the Recife campus lockdown, when the WHO declared the beginning of the ongoing pandemic.

Hernán, who was a sociologist, leaves a wife, four children, five grandchildren and many friends, many of them from our scientific community.

Prof. Petrus Santa Cruz (DQF/UFPE)

 

Newsletter of the Brazilian Materials Research Society Year 9, issue 2. March 3rd, 2022.

XX B-MRS Meeting The event website with the list of the 23 approved symposia is online! The XX B-MRS Meeting will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Brazilian Materials Research Society and the 20th edition of the event. Date: September 25 to 29, 2022. Venue: Rafain Palace Hotel, Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil). Chairladies: Prof Lucimara Stolz Roman (UFPR) and Prof Marcela Mohallen Oliveira (UTFPR). Abstract submission: until April 22nd. Registration: early registration fee until August 5th. Sponsorship and support: 10 companies have already confirmed sponsorship and participation in the event exhibition. If you are interested in participating, please contact Alexandre Alves at comercial@sbpmat.org.br. Visit the event website! Featured paper A team from Coppe – UFRJ developed mortars based on raw earth and bamboo residues with good properties for plastering internal walls of buildings. The study also evaluated the environmental impact of these materials, mainly with regard to the carbon emissions involved in their preparation, use and disposal. (Construction and Building Materials) Know more. Members news Prof. Edgar Zanotto (UFSCar) and Prof. Andrea de Camargo (IFSC-USP) are part of the group of 30 speakers from different countries and sectors who spoke at the Opening Ceremony of the International Year of Glass (2022), established by the UN. Watch the lecture by Zanotto and Andrea. Prof. Ana Flavia Nogueira (UNICAMP) became associate editor of two journals of the Royal Society of Chemistry: Materials Advances e Journal of Materials Chemistry C. University Chapters The unit of the University Chapters program at UFCAT started its project “UC at school”, in which graduate students go to public and private elementary and higher schools to arouse students’ interest in science. In the first action, doctoral student Carlos Eduardo Domingues da Mata spoke about local mining activities to students in the second year of high school. Scientific entrepreneurship Ana Milás, co-founder of 3DBS, talks about this startup, which operates in the promising area of manufacturing biological tissues by 3D bioprinting. In the future, this technique could produce organs for people who need transplants. Watch here. Prof. Gregório Couto Faria (IFSC-USP) tells his experience of founding a startup in the Silicon Valley during his post-doc at Stanford and presents his own view of why this place has such an effervescent ecosystem for business creation. Watch here. Advocacy – B-MRS supports the manifesto that asks CNPq and Capes to increase the amounts of research scholarships. Read the document. Opportunities – Brazilian Women in Chemistry Award 2022 is open for applications until March 25 (nominations and self-nominations). This ACS and SBQ award has institutional support from B-MRS and will distinguish an emerging leader (scientist or entrepreneur) and leaders in industry and academia, always in the areas of Chemistry and related sciences. Know more. – Call by CONFAP & Wallonie Bruxelles for research and innovation projects involving researchers from Brazil and Belgium. Deadline for submission of proposals: March 25th. Know more. Events – Workshop Brasileiro em Efeitos i-Calóricos (WBEiC). Online. March 30 – 31, 2022. Site. – 11th Brazilian German Workshop on Applied Surface Science. Manaus (Brazil). April 19 – 24, 2022. Site. – 5th International Conference on Applied Surface Science. Palma, Mallorca (Spain). April 25 – 28, 2022. Site. – IV Curso do Método Rietveld. Belém, PA (Brazil). March 21 – 25, 2022. Site. – WOCSDICE EXMATEC 2022. Ilha de São Miguel (Portugal). May 3 – 6, 2022. Site. – 2022 E-MRS Spring Meeting and Exhibit. Online. May 30 – June 3, 2022. Site. – International Conference on the Science and Technology of Synthetic Metals (ICSM). Glasgow (Scotland). July 17 – 22, 2022. Site. – 4th Workshop on Coated Tools & Multifunctional Thin Films. Campinas, SP (Brazil). July 20 – 23, 2022. Site. – XVIII International Small Angle Scattering Conference. Campinas, SP (Brazil). September 11 – 16, 2022. Site. – 18th International Conference on Plasma Surface Engineering (PSE 2022). Trade Fair Erfurt (Germany). September 12 – 15, 2022. Site. – XX B-MRS Meeting. Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil). September 25 – 29, 2022. Site. – 11th International Conference of the African Materials Research Society (AMRS2022 ). Dakar (Senegal). December 12 – 15, 2022. Site. Follow us on social media

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Prof. Ana Flavia Nogueira (UNICAMP), B-MRS member, became associate editor of two important journals of the Royal Society of Chemistry: Materials Advances and Journal of Materials Chemistry C.

At B-MRS, the scientist was elected a member of the Deliberative Council, with a term of office from 2022 to 2026.

Two B-MRS members are part of the group of 30 speakers from different countries and sectors (industry, academia, media, museums, art) who will speak at the Opening Ceremony of the International Year of Glass (2022), established by the United Nations (UN).

Professor Edgar Zanotto (UFSCar), founding member of B-MRS, will give a lecture on glass education. Professor Andrea S. S. de Camargo (IFSC-USP), current Scientific Director of the Society,  will speak about glass science in Brazil.

The free event will take place on February 10 and 11 at the Palace of Nations (Geneva, Switzerland) and will be broadcast live at this link https://media.un.org/en/webtv/.

More information about the event: https://iyog2022oc.org/

 

Newsletter of the Brazilian Materials Research Society Year 9, issue 1. February 2nd, 2022.

New Executive Board B-MRS Executive Board elected in December begins its term now in February. The Board is formed by four women and three men from institutions in the Southeast, Northeast, South and North Brazilian regions. All of them are very active scientists in their research areas. See the mini bios of the president and directors, here. Community On the occasion of the second death anniversary of Ricardo Rodrigues, B-MRS founding member Aldo Craievich describes the leader of the development of the two Brazilian synchrotron sources as an “exceptional human being and a true polymath”. Read the text here. Highlights 2021: events First annual B-MRS event held in virtual format, the XIX B-MRS Meeting + IURMS ICEM 2021 brought together around 1,100 participants from 23 Brazilian states and 33 other countries between August 30 and September 3. The event featured more than 560 posters, 280 oral presentations, 114 invited lectures and 10 plenary sessions, among other presentations. Read the event report. In March we held a series of lives on entrepreneurship in science: 7 informal chats, conducted by members of our University Chapters, with founders of startups and companies in materials, nanotechnology and related segments. Held on Zoom with broadcast on Facebook, the lives were recently uploaded to B-MRS YouTube. Access the playlist. In June, we celebrated B-MRS 20th anniversary with an online event that brought together members, partners, staff and other community participants. The event featured a panel about the past, present and future of materials research in Brazil and a virtual toast to B-MRS. View the recording of the event. In early September, we held a panel discussion on the underrepresentation of women in science exacerbated by race and geographic distribution. The panel brought together leading female scientists from Brazil, Argentina and the United States, all of whom have a strong presence in gender issues. The live was carried out on Zoom, but is available on B-MRS YouTube. Watch the discussion. Highlights 2021: prizes and awards Prof. Edson Roberto Leite (UFSCar and LNNano – CNPEM) was distinguished in the first edition of the José Arana Varela Award from B-MRS. The emotional tribute took place during the XIX B-MRS Meeting + IUMRS ICEM, before Professor Leite gave a plenary lecture on the characterization of nanocrystals. Read our interview with Edson Leite. B-MRS granted to Prof. Cid de Araújo (UFPE) the Memorial Lecture Joaquim da Costa Ribeiro, that have been granted since 2011 to researchers from the materials community with a long and pioneering scientific trajectory in Brazil. Professor Cid gave the opening lecture of the XIX B-MRS Meeting + IUMRS speaking about plasmonic nanocomposites in non-linear photonics. Read our interview with Cid de Araújo. 35 undergraduate and graduate students received the B-MRS, ACS and RSC Student Awards at the XIX B-MRS Meeting for the contributions they presented. We invited the winners to talk about the award-winning works in an uncomplicated way in videos up to 3 minutes long, and we created a playlist on our YouTube with the videos. Access the playlist. Other highlights from 2021 – We supported or produced and publicized more than 20 manifestos, petitions and mobilizations in defense of Brazilian graduate programs and science institutions, among other causes. – Our University Chapters promoted technical webinars and produced episodes of the podcast “À Luz do Candeeiro”, among other activities. – We disseminated news and scientific works of the community through news stories, interviews and social media posts. We disseminated opportunities and events in the area. Follow all these actions here in the newsletter (monthly) or on social networks (daily). Opportunities – Call CONFAP & Wallonie Bruxelles for research and innovation projects involving researchers from Brazil and Belgium. Deadline for submission of proposals: 03/25. Know more. To follow the opportunities in the area, join the our group on Linkedin. Events – International Year Of Glass Opening Conference. Geneva (Switzerland). February 10 and 11, 2022. Site. – IV Course of the Rietveld Method. Belém, PA (Brazil). March 21 to 25, 2022. Site. – Brazilian Workshop on i-Caloric Effects (WBEiC). Online. March 30 and 31, 2022. Site. – 5th International Conference on Applied Surface Science. Palma, Mallorca (Spain). 25th to 28th of April 2022. Site. – 2022 E-MRS Spring Meeting and Exhibit. Online. May 30 to June 3, 2022. Site. – 4th Workshop on Coated Tools & Multifunctional Thin Films. Campinas, SP (Brazil). 20th to 23rd of July 2022. Site. – XVIII International Small Angle Scattering Conference. Campinas, SP (Brazil).11 to 16 September 2022. Site. – 18th International Conference on Plasma Surface Engineering (PSE 2022). Trade Fair Erfurt (Germany). September 12 to 15, 2022. Site. – XX B-MRS Meeting. Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil). 25th to 29th of September 2022. Site. – 11th International Conference of the African Materials Research Society (AMRS2022 ). Dakar (Senegal).December 12th to 15th, 2022. Site. Follow us on social media

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Ricardo D. Rodrigues (1951-2020). Exceptional human being and true polymath.

Antonio Ricardo Droher Rodrigues (Ricardo to his colleagues and friends) passed away two years ago, on January 3, 2020. Ricardo led the projects and construction of the two synchrotron light sources built at the Brazilian National Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS), an entity now belonging to the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), Campinas – São Paulo state, Brazil.

Ricardo graduated as a Civil Engineer in 1974 at the Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba-UFPR, began his scientific activities in 1974 in the X-Ray Optics Group of the Physics Department at UFPR and performed his doctorate in Physics from 1976 to 1979 at King’s College, University of London, UK. In his thesis work “X-ray optics for synchrotron radiation” Ricardo proposed and characterized nearly parallel double-crystal X-ray monochromators for suppression of harmonic components, which are now used in many synchrotron light laboratories around the world. In 1977 he carried out the tests of these monochromators in Hasylab (Hamburg), thus being the first Brazilian to use a synchrotron light source.

Soon after his return to Brazil in 1981, Ricardo actively participated in the Synchrotron Radiation Project (PRS/CNPq) developed at the Brazilian Center for Research in Physics (CBPF), Rio de Janeiro, from 1980 to 1985. The PRS was the precursor project that led to the creation of LNLS in 1986. As part of the PRS activities, a group of Brazilian scientists led by Ricardo did a three-month stay at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), in Stanford, USA, during which they developed a conceptual project of a 2-3 GeV synchrotron light source, which later was the initial LNLS project.

Shortly after the LNLS was created in 1986 in Campinas, Ricardo was appointed Project Manager. During a total period of 10 years, he implemented the initial basic infrastructure, trained the young technicians and engineers of his team and developed the various actions that led to the construction and successful operation of the first light source of LNLS – with an electron energy of 1.37 GeV – called UVX. The construction of the UVX source was completed in 1996 and opened to external users from Brazil and abroad in July 1997, thus providing scientists from numerous areas of science with a modern instrumentation that only exists today in few countries in the world. At that time, UVX was the only synchrotron light source in the Southern Hemisphere and even today the LNLS is the only National Laboratory in Latin America equipped with asynchrotron light source. Ricardo’s qualities of clear leadership, extreme dedication and unquestionable competence, both scientific and technical, were of fundamental importance for the successful development of the first Brazilian synchrotron light source. In addition to Ricardo’s decisive role in the construction of the first LNLS light source, he also actively participated in the development of new scientific instrumentation for several beamlines. The UVX source operated satisfactorily and was extensively used for 22 years, until 2019, by more than 6,000 researchers, mainly Brazilians and also from other countries.

In 2001, with the UVX synchrotron source already working routinely, Ricardo decided to move away from LNLS and created the company  Skedio Technologies  in Campinas, where he started the production of precision industrial instrumentation and also devices of artistic interest. He remained at this company until 2009, when he received and accepted an invitation from the LNLS board to return to this institution and face the second major challenge of his professional career: the design and construction of the second Brazilian synchrotron light source (Sirius).

In 2009 Ricardo assumed the role of Sirius Project Leader with the mission of designing and building a fourth-generation 3 GeV synchrotron light source with light emission qualities much superior to those of the UVX source. At that time, the only synchrotron source in the world with this exceptional quality was in the design phase in Sweden. The construction of this modern source presented numerous engineering challenges, many of them without precedent in Brazil and abroad. However, Ricardo and his team overcame these problems by applying in many cases local solutions. Thus, the first X-ray beam produced by the 3 GeV Sirius source was emitted in December 2019. Sirius is the third state-of-the-art (fourth-generation) synchrotron light source now operating in the world, after the existing ones in Lund (Sweden) and Grenoble (France). In this way Ricardo as Sirius Project Leader achieved the ambitious goals of the project and thus won the second great challenge of his career.

Ricardo demonstrated a clear leadership capacity, extreme seriousness and recognized competence both as a physicist in the area of X-ray optics and in different areas of engineering: civil, mechanical and electrical-electronic, with emphasis on the subareas of electrical circuits, magnetics and electronics.This multi-faceted competence allowed him to efficiently act on all relevant technical aspects associated with the construction of both LNLS light sources and demonstrated his leadership respected by all his team. Notably, Ricardo was not only a respected leader, an excellent physicist and a competent engineer in several specialties, he also demonstrated artistic sensitivity and competence as a sculptor and painter. This shows that Ricardo possessed all the typical characteristics of a true polymath. That is to say, his multifaceted competences were not merely those  exhibited by “generalists”, but the ones demonstrated by rare and distinguished human beings who have deep knowledge in the different areas in which they work.

Ricardo’s work was unanimously recognized by the LNLS team and user researchers who knew him. He also received formal honors from the Brazilian Society of Crystallography in 2000 and from LNLS/CNPEM on the occasion of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the LNLS, in 2017. In 2010, he received a distinction from the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil that designated him Commander of the National Order of Scientific Merit.

I had the privilege of following Ricardo’s work for over more than 40 years. Our first meeting was at the XI Congress of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) held in Warsaw in August 1978, during which we talked about the new scientific possibilities opened up by the availability of synchrotron light sources, which were still in their infancy in the world at that time. From 1981 to 1986 my interaction with Ricardo was mainly at CBPF, in Rio de Janeiro, during the development of the Synchrotron Radiation Project, from 1987 to 2000 at LNLS, in Campinas, during the construction of the UVX source, from 2000 to 2009 at the company Skedio Technologies, and finally, from 2009 to 2019, again at LNLS. Our last conversation was during the last week of December 2019, in which he told me – serenely and with contained satisfaction – that the electron beam in Sirius reached its  nominal 3 GeV energy and the first experiments by users were carried out. Sadly, Ricardo passed away on January 3, 2020, just a few days after having won the second big challenge of his professional life.

Two years have passed since Ricardo’s death. We physically lost an exceptional human being, a distinguished master, a brilliant physicist and engineer, and a sensitive fine artist. Ricardo’s legacies for Brazilian science are the modern Sirius synchrotron light source open to users from all areas of science from Brazil and abroad, the competent team of engineers and technicians from the LNLS that he formed and the large community of LNLS

users who benefited from the results of his work. His example of life and unique personality continue and will continue to live in the memory of all those who have had the privilege of knowing him and had followed his fruitful work. Ricardo’s death mourned Brazilian science and engineering.

After his death, LNLS/CNPEM honored Ricardo by naming its annual school on applications of synchrotron light as Ricardo Rodrigues School of Synchrotron Light, and organized, on November 9, 2020, a Ceremony of Tribute to Ricardo Rodrigues. In this ceremony, family, friends and colleagues presented emotional testimonies with memories and personal visions about Ricardo’s life. In the final part, B-MRS honored Ricardo by delivering a plaque engraved with the words: The Brazilian Society for Materials Research (SBPMat) honors Ricardo Rodrigues’ fundamental contribution to the successful development and implementation of Brazilian synchrotron light sources UVX and Sirius, which put Brazil at the forefront of materials research. All the testimonies presented (in Portuguese) at the Tribute Ceremony were recorded and can be accessed through the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrmTDdnyv9s

Aldo F. Craievich
Senior Professor
Institute of Physics
University of São Paulo