Graphene-based products are already being used by manufacturers, from heat-dissipating helmets to antistatic packaging. However, this wonderful material, as it is often called, still has much to deliver to society. As it is two-dimensional, flexible and excellent conductor of electricity, among other properties, graphene can be the basis of a series of high-performance miniaturized electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, this requires producing, at an industrial scale, a graphene whose network of atoms is free of unwanted impurities, but which contains, besides the carbon inherent in the graphene, small amounts of other elements (doping) in order to control its electronic properties.
In a work totally carried out in Brazil, a scientific team has proposed a process that can help produce large-scale graphene that is suitable for electronic devices. “The process developed in our group allows us to improve and adjust the graphene properties, as well as the removal of contaminants from its surface,” said Professor Claudio Radtke (UFRGS), corresponding author of an article reporting the study, recently published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
The authors of the paper, from the left: Henri Boudinov, Cláudio Radtke Gabriel Vieira Soares (all UFRGS Professors) and Guilherme Koszeniewski Rolim (postdoc at the graduate program on microelectronics at UFRGS).
The team acquired graphene samples produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and transferred to silicon substrates. This technique is currently one of the most suitable for large-scale production of relatively large area graphene sheets, but it leaves residual impurities and generates defects in the graphene. To remove impurities, it is common to apply a heat treatment in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is efficient in removing contaminants, but ends up generating new defects in the graphene sheet. The good news is that these defects can be neutralized (passivated).
While looking for strategies to passivate these defects, then PhD student Guilherme Koszeniewski Rolim found a scientific paper from 2011, which pointed to, through theoretical calculations, the possibility of using nitric oxide (NO) to passivate graphene defects with nitrogen atoms, while doping it to modulate its electronic properties (mainly transforming it into a semiconductor material, an essential condition for using graphene in electronic devices).
The team then decided to experimentally verify the theoretical prediction and, after performing the traditional treatment with CO2 at 500 °C, they applied a second heat treatment to the samples, this one in nitric oxide atmosphere and at different temperatures, from room temperature to 600 °C.
After the process, the researchers used various characterization techniques to check the results and gladly confirmed that nitrogen doping had taken place and that it had passivated the defects, thus improving the material’s electronic properties. However, the researchers also noted an unwanted effect of nitric oxide treatment: etching of graphene sheets at some points. After much scientific work, the team was able to determine the cause. During heating, there was a conversion of NO to NO2, which, as it is a much more reactive compound than the former, eventually oxidized the graphene.
However, the Brazilian team found a solution to this problem. The “eureka” moment occurred as the researchers were trying to determine the amount of nitrogen atoms that had been incorporated into graphene using a technique based on the analysis of nuclear reactions triggered by the effect of an ion beam on the graphene samples. In order to apply this technique, the team had to use an isotopically enriched nitric oxide in the heat treatment, which has a purity of 99.9999% instead of 99.9% of the gas previously used.
Illustrative scheme of the parameters to be controlled in the process proposed by the Brazilian team. Balancing gas purity and temperature ensures better graphene sheets for use in electronic devices.
The analysis did not yield the expected results as it failed to quantify nitrogen, which was below the detection limit. However, the use of the enriched gas eventually brought great satisfaction to the team. Indeed, when the researchers compared the electronic properties of both sample types, they found that graphene treated with enriched gas always had superior properties. “Initially, such a result created much confusion in the interpretation of the results,” says Professor Radtke. “But after a few more experiments, it became one of the most important points of the article, highlighting the importance of gas purity during processing,” he adds. Specifically, the conclusion was that by properly controlling the temperature and purity of the gas during the treatment one can eliminate the problem of oxidative graphene degradation.
Thus, based on solid knowledge and scientific method, as well as some serendipity, the UFRGS team was able to develop a process of waste removal, defect neutralization and graphene doping, which improved the electronic properties of the material without producing deleterious side effects. Because it is a heat treatment in a gas atmosphere, a step that is now part of the industrial production of graphene, the process proposed by the Brazilian team could be easily applied in the production of graphene sheets for devices.
“The insertion of heteroatoms (such as nitrogen) into the graphene network without the degradation of its properties is especially important in the production of optoelectronic devices, high speed transistors, low power electronics and photovoltaic cells,” says Radtke, noting that manufacturing these graphene-based devices may be a reality in years to come. “The Graphene Flagship (European consortium of industries, universities and institutes) has announced the implementation of a pilot plant to integrate graphene at different production stages of devices as early as 2020,” comments the professor from UFRGS.
The study, which was funded by the Brazilian agencies CNPQ (mainly through INCTsNamitec and INES), Capes and Fapergs, was developed within the PhD in Microelectronics by Guilherme Koszeniewski Rolim, held at the UFRGS Graduate Program in Microelectronics and defended in 2018. The experimental work was carried out at the UFRGS Solid Surface and Interfaces Laboratory and the Brazilian National Synchrotron Light Laboratory.
[Paper: Chemical Doping and Etching of Graphene: Tuning the Effects of NO Annealing. G. K. Rolim, G. V. Soares, H. I. Boudinov, and C. Radtke. J. Phys. Chem. C, 2019, 123, 43, 26577-26582. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b02214.]
Collaborator at Nanox Microbiology Laboratory. On the table, one of the company’s products.
In 2004, three young chemistry graduates from the Brazilian Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) created a nanotechnology-based materials company. Today, Nanox has about 30 products developed, a technological platform consisting of seven patents (three worldwide, one in Europe, one in the United States) and over 200 clients, not only in Brazil, but also in 13 other countries.
Nanox’s business is to develop, produce and market nanotechnology-based materials whose properties (bactericidal, fungicidal, repellent, anti-sweat, antiallergic…) add value to a particular product (packaging, flooring, carpet, t-shirt…). Thus, Nanox provides its customers (companies in various segments) nanomaterials that can be easily incorporated into their products, which bring tangible benefits to end consumers.
Today Nanox’s flagship products are silver-based antimicrobial additives. The company has developed a series of such products within three broad lines: solution additives (liquid), powder additives (solid), and additives already mixed with polymeric materials.
As shown by the ratio between the number of products launched and the company’s years of existence (about 30 innovations in 15 years), innovation is part of everyday life at Nanox. Generally, the process is as follows. In its contacts with the market, the Nanox team identifies latent demands that can be met by applying the technologies that the company has mastered. The team then validates their innovation ideas with potential customers and begins to work on product development.
At its 500 m2 headquarters, located in the city of São Carlos (state of São Paulo, Brazil), Nanox has about 150 m2 of internal laboratories for research and development and quality control. There are three physicochemical laboratories, one for materials engineering and one for microbiology, in which the team performs bactericidal and fungicidal efficiency tests. The company has two researchers (one master’s and one doctor) dedicated to R&D activities, but, depending on the project and the development phase, the team may include up to five people. In addition, Nanox partners with external research laboratories to perform activities where there is no internal expertise and for those requiring expensive equipment such as electron microscopy or X-ray characterization of materials.
History and cases
It all started at a UFSCar research center supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp), the Multidisciplinary Center for the Development of Ceramic Materials (CMDMC), today the Center for the Development of Functional Materials (CDMF). There, under the guidance of Professor Elson Longo, friends André Luiz de Araujo (who worked at the company until 2011 and to date remains a shareholder), Daniel Tamassia Minozzi (current COO) and Luiz Gustavo Pagotto Simões (current CEO) were doing their undergraduate and master´s research.
In 2004, at the behest by the Brazilian home appliance company Multibrás to CMDMC, the trio saw an opportunity for entrepreneurship in the nanotechnology-based materials segment, which at that time had few products and very few companies in Brazil.
The project consisted of developing nanostructured films to protect metallic surfaces. To make it possible, Nanox obtained funding from Fapesp’s Pipe program, dedicated to supporting innovation research in small companies. This would be the first of seven fundings for Nanox from the Pipe program to support various phases of technology and product development, among other Brazilian public federal fundings.
In 2005, Nanox sold a product for the first time. It was a titanium dioxide nanoparticle film applied in the filters of hair dryer used in beauty salons, manufactured by the Brazilian company Taiff. The bactericidal and fungicidal effect of the nanomaterial guaranteed more salon hygiene and consumer health. The product earned Nanox a Brazilian award (Finep Innovation Award) in 2007, as well as widespread publicity and visibility.
In 2006, realizing that there was plenty of room for Nanox innovations in plastic products, the partners decided to start developing nanomaterials in the form of additives that could be incorporated into various polymers. Through partnerships with companies (Nanox customers), these innovations have reached end-consumers. An example is PVC films (those used in the home environment to pack cut fruits and other foods) with antibacterial shield. In 2014, the Brazilian company AlpFilm launched a line of films with additives from Nanox, whose antibacterial and antifungal effect allows conserving packaged foods longer by avoiding their degradation. Another Nanox case is a packaging that doubles the validity of fresh milk thanks to the antibacterial effect of the additive. The world’s first bactericidal milk bottle began to be used by the Brazilian agro-industry Agrindus in 2015, and was the headline for food and packaging industry websites and magazines in several countries.
In 2009 there was another milestone in the history of Nanox. A presentation the company prepared for a General Electric team in Brazil ended up at the company’s Mexican branch and generated so much interest that, 15 days later, Nanox was undertaking its first export, which consisted of plastic additives to make refrigerator boxes in Mexico. From that moment on, Nanox began to look towards the foreign market, starting a strategy that includes investments in international fairs, representatives in several countries and training the team to deal with bureaucratic issues inherent to the export process and the introduction of products in different countries. This journey is currently reflected in exports that represent 12% of the company’s revenues, with recurring sales to Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico; halfway toward the US market, and distributors in countries from Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia. In addition, this year Nanox participated in a business acceleration program for Plug and Play Tech Center, a Silicon Valley-based innovation platform that has hosted companies such as Dropbox and PayPal. Nanox was one of 15 companies selected from 1,000 companies worldwide.
See our interview with Luiz Gustavo Pagotto Simões, PhD (2009) in Chemistry from UNESP, co-founder and current CEO of Nanox.
B-MRS Newsletter: What were the most important factors that allowed Nanox to develop in its various phases?
Gustavo Simões (Nanox CEO) and Daniel Minozzi (COO), at the Plug and Play Tech Center.
Gustavo Simões: It was a sum of factors. Financial resources, both public and venture capital – the latter from 2006 on, when the company became a Ltd., as well as the work of entrepreneurs and the team to validate products and bring them to market. We always use the resources of Fapesp and Finep to lower capital acquisition costs for development, especially at some crucial moments of the company. For example, at a time when we had a technology but its scale was too small, we got a Pipe phase 3 that allowed us to scale up production. The investor was also important; it improved the administrative and commercial structure of the company. The most important thing was to validate everything we thought could be a Nanox product, and you can’t do it without money or personnel. In addition, we must thank Professor Elson Longo, who accompanied Nanox in all its phases as a supporter, scientific advisor, partner, promoter…
B-MRS Newsletter: What were the main difficulties Nanox has faced thus far?
Gustavo Simões: In fact, trading nanotechnology in Brazil is not easy. At that time, many people said they wanted to have nanotechnology, but very few took a chance on this. We were very lucky to have some key partners like Taiff and IBBL. These companies decided, in a market as competitive as Brazil, to differentiate themselves and add a product like ours into their product. So the difficulty of getting customers has always been among the greatest issues. And also to survive this madness that is Brazil for entrepreneurship. The exchange rate variations, for example, have a direct impact on the company, and we have to get around such situations, this requires creativity and flexibility. It is rare to plan and get out what you have planned.
B-MRS Newsletter: Nanox is recognized worldwide and exports its products to various countries. Tell us a little about Nanox’s internationalization and what it is like for this Brazilian company to compete in foreign markets.
Gustavo Simões: Latin American markets are similar to Brazil’s market. They are less regulated, which increases the possibility of competition because there may always be a local player that competes with you. On the other hand, these markets are easier to access than the more regulated markets, such as the US, where you need multiple regulatory agency registrations and licenses, which require a number of expensive studies and tests. Not everyone is willing to do this. So, higher regulation creates a barrier to enter the market which decreases the number of competitors. We’re in the process of getting licenses to be able to sell our products in the United States, and we’ve already obtained some. In some products, we will only have three competitors in the United States.
In addition to this regulatory issue, other factors that hinder export are cultural issues, such as language. In Latin America, Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking country. In Brazil there are also some bureaucracies, for example in banks, which hinder exports and may also make a business line not worth it. This has to change.
So, internationalization is quite expensive. You have to attend fairs abroad and have a team trained in the export bureaucracy and regulation of the markets you want to reach. However, I believe that in products like ours, more technology intensive and less labor intensive, Brazil is very competitive. We even have incentives to export. If you export, you do not pay some taxes and the product has a more competitive price abroad. Exports account for approximately 12% of Nanox’s revenues, but this percentage is expected to grow. After the last international fair in which we participated (in the plastics segment) we received orders from Iran, India, Pakistan…
B-MRS Newsletter: What do you think is Nanox’s main contribution to society?
Gustavo Simões: A contribution is the training of human resources, always with very good interaction here. A lot of people have worked here and today they are doing really well working in multinational companies. Moreover, I believe it’s important to share through media, lectures, etc. our experience from the point of view of entrepreneurship, to show that there is a different way of working, besides working in a private company or as a Professor. It is important to show that there is a possibility and that there are incentives and support in the country, perhaps not as many as we would like, but much more than in other places. In addition, the other contribution we make is our products for food safety and better quality of life. But, as Elson [Longo] says, if I can leave a line in the literature, that’s a lot; now, if I can motivate a person to undertake and run a project, this is very important.
B-MRS Newsletter: What is your goal/dream for Nanox?
Gustavo Simões: We want to consolidate internationalization, and we want to place ourselves as global players. We are making a very strong move, even though the dollar is crushing us because we are earning in reais [Brazilian currency] and spending in dollars. Over the next 5 years, we expect to have a larger international market share in revenues, so much that we have opened an office in the United States and are talking to investors to get funds over there.
B-MRS Newsletter: Leave a message for people who are considering entrepreneurship.
Gustavo Simões: I would say that entrepreneurship is worthwhile and necessary. I believe that the technical knowledge we receive in Brazil in our undergraduate courses, for example in Materials, leaves nothing to be desired elsewhere in the world. We have to convert knowledge into wealth, and there is only one way to do that – which is through entrepreneurship.
I think this issue of university-business interaction and spin-offs is the future for us to create a differentiated value-added economy in a country where we have a huge consumer market. If we can use all these financial and human resources, these extremely well-trained people, and generate products and services for the economy, I think it will be a very promising future.
Professor Andrea Simone Stucchi de Camargo (IFSC-USP), B-MRS member and elected scientific director of the Society for the 2020-2021 period, is one of the coordinators of an international event for women in science to be held in Rio de Janeiro from February 12 to 14, 2020, with support from the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC).
The event will bring together the “World Forum for Women in Science” and the “4th International Conference for Women in Science without Borders: Energy, Water, Health, Agriculture and Environment for Sustainable Development.”
Forty-nine (49) proposals were submitted by the international scientific community within the XIX B-MRS Meeting + IUMRS ICEM symposium call. The number of submissions is one of the largest in the history of B-MRS events. “We received proposals from 18 different countries,” says Professor Gustavo Dalpian, chair of the event.
The organizing committee is already working on the analysis of the proposals, in order to solve cases of thematic overlap and to ensure the symposia are adequate to the structure of the event. When necessary, the committee will contact the authors of the proposals. The final list of symposia will be announced as soon as possible on the event website, B-MRS website, B-MRS Newsletter and social media. In February 2020, the abstract submission will be opened.
About the event
The event, which will be held from August 30 to September 3, 2020 at the Rafain Palace Hotel in Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil), will bring together the nineteenth edition of B-MRS annual meeting and the seventeenth edition of the international conference on electronic materials organized every two years by IUMRS.
In addition to symposia oral and poster presentations, the program will include plenary lectures by leading scientists such as Alex Zunger (University of Colorado Boulder, USA), Edson Leite (LNNano, Brazil), Hideo Hosono (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan), John Rogers (Northwestern University, USA), Luisa Torsi (Università degli Studi di Bari “A. Moro”, Italy) and Tao Deng (Shanghai Jiaotong University, China).
The event is coordinated by professors Gustavo Martini Dalpian (UFABC) in the general coordination, Carlos Cesar Bof Bufon (LNNANO) in the program coordination and Flavio Leandro de Souza (UFABC) as general secretary. At the international committee, the event features scientists from America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
B-MRS’s Board of Directors created, in October of this year, the José Arana Varela Award. This new honor from B-MRS pays tribute to Professor José Arana Varela, a prominent Brazilian materials scientist and former president of B-MRS, who passed away in 2016.
This is an annual award that will be bestowed to a leading researcher in Brazil, who will deliver one of the plenary lectures at B-MRS Meeting. In 2020, the recipient will be Edson Roberto Leite, full professor at UFSCar and scientific director of the Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory (LNNano).
About Professor José Arana Varela
Prof. José Arana Varela (1944 – 2016).
Born in Martinópolis, São Paulo State (Brazil), on April 11, 1944, José Arana Varela graduated in Physics from the University of São Paulo (USP) in 1968. In 1975, he obtained his Master’s degree in Physics from the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA). He completed his doctorate in ceramic materials (1977 to 1981) at the University of Washington (United States).
Arana Varela was a Full Professor at the Paulista State University Júlio de Mesquita Filho (Unesp), where he began his academic career in 1969. He was also a Professor at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), where he worked since 1985, mainly in the graduate programs in Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering.
As a researcher, Arana Varela worked in the field of ceramic materials, making important international contributions to electroceramics and ceramic thin films, and their applications in varistors, ferroelectric memories and chemical sensors.
In Brazil, he led the development of these research lines, beginning in 1988 with the founding, together with other professors of UFSCar, of the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Electrochemistry and Ceramics (LIEC), which was the seed of the Multidisciplinary Center for the Development of Ceramic Materials (CMDMC), which created the Center for the Development of Functional Materials (CDMF).
Professor Varela supervised or co-supervised at least 30 master’s and over 40 doctoral works. He co-authored more than 600 articles published in international journals, with more than 20,000 citations. He also authored patents and participated in various projects interacting with the industry.
A strong supporter of international collaboration as a driver of scientific and technological advancement, Arana Varela maintained such cooperation throughout his career with research groups from the United States, France, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia and Italy, as well as Brazil.
In parallel to his distinguished career as a researcher and professor, José Arana Varela had a broad performance in management or advisory positions. At the São Paulo State Research Foundation (Fapesp), he was the director-president of the Technical-Administrative Council from 2012 to 2016 and vice-president of the Superior Council from 2007 to 2010. At Unesp, he was the first Pro-Rector of Research (2005-2009), as well as founder and director of the Unesp Innovation Agency (2009-2012). He was also a member of the Superior Council for Innovation and Competitiveness of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), member of advisory committees of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and director at the Brazilian Association of Metallurgy and Materials (ABM) and the Brazilian Ceramic Association (ABCeram). Finally, starting in 2015, he was a board member of the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation, the arm of ACerS (The American Ceramic Society), dedicated to developing professionals for the global ceramic and glass industry.
Arana Varela was a fellow of ACerS and a member of The World Academy of Ceramics and the Materials Research Society (MRS). Professor Varela was also a member of several Brazilian scientific societies, such as the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC), the São Paulo State Academy of Sciences and the Brazilian Society of Physics (SBF).
At B-MRS, the scientist was a founding member, part of the founding board, and served as chief financial director from 2004 to 2005, and as president from 2010 to 2011.
Arana Varela was a member of the editorial board of the journals Ceramics International, Science of Sintering, Cerâmica, and Materials Research. He received more than twenty national and international awards and distinctions, such as the Premio Épsilon de Oro (2003) of the Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, the Scopus Capes-Elsevier Award (2006) for his scientific production, and two awards from the American Ceramic Society, the Global Star Award (2013) and the Bridge Builder Award (2014).
José Arana Varela passed away on May 17, 2016, at the age of 72, after battling cancer for three years.
A team of students from the Brazilian Federal University of ABC (UFABC) created the twelfth unit of B-MRS’s University Chapters (UCs) program. The new UC is made up of 4 Master’s degree students in Materials Science and Engineering and 6 Master’s students in Nanosciences and Advanced Materials, in addition to the group advisor, Professor Márcio Gustavo Di Vernieri Cuppari.
“We hope to bring together the students of the two postgraduate programs, as well as undergraduate students,” says Isabela Coutinho, president of UC – UFABC. “We hope that these meetings, in the form of scientific events, will facilitate the dissemination of the materials area among students of the ABC community. We also hope to enrich the education of undergraduate and graduate students through the influence of B-MRS,” adds the Master’s student in Materials, who won one of the Bernhard Gross Awards at the XVIII B-MRS Meeting, held from 22 to 26 September of this year in Balneário Camboriú.
To this end, the team plans to invite internal and external researchers to lectures and workshops and to hold scientific outreach meetings and exchange experiences. In addition, says the president, the team would like to receive suggestions for activities that have been successfully performed in other UCs and which can be carried out by the UFABC group.
The UC – UFABC, which was created on August 1st of this year, has a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/UCUFABC/) where it has already started to promote its activities.
Within the UCs program, B-MRS has 12 teams of students from federal, state and community universities located in the five Brazilian regions. These groups develop complementary activities to their academic development.
The current president of B-MRS, Professor Osvaldo Novais de Oliveira Junior (IFSC-USP), is part of the triple list sent to the governor of the State of São Paulo to select the new scientific director of the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). The list was defined by the Superior Council of FAPESP after the election, which had 13 candidates.
Procedure of participants: 27 countries in South, Central and North America, Europe and Asia (95% of Brazil, from 25 states of the federation, covering the 5 regions of the country).
Institutions represented: around 400.
23 symposia organized by over 100 organizers from 9 countries.
Over 2,000 works effectively presented (approximately 1,500 posters, 400 oral and 100 guest lectures).
34 awarded works among 137 works submitted to compete for the awards.
14 rooms for simultaneous oral presentations.
8 plenary lectures and 1 memorial lecture
13 technical lectures by exhibitors.
1 tutorial, 2 discussion panels and 1 workshop.
17 sponsors – exhibitors and 33 supporters, mainly publishers/scientific journals and Brazilian funding agencies.
Report of the event sessions.
An illustrated report of the event, with links to files, albums and documents at the B-MRS website.
The names and institutions of the 34 students who received the Bernhard Gross Award, ACS Publication Prizes and RSC Prizes for papers presented at the event. At the B-MRS website.
At the community’s request, the call for symposium proposals was extended until November 18, 2019. The XIX B-MRS Meeting will be held together with IUMRS-ICEM in Foz do Iguaçu from August 30 to September 3, 2020.
The Brazilian Materials Research Society (B-MRS/SBPMat) and the International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS) invite the international scientific community to submit symposium proposals.
Until October 31stNOVEMBER 18th 2019, the call for symposium proposals is open for the event that will bring together the XIX B-MRS Meeting (the annual B-MRS event) and the IUMRS – ICEM 2020 (seventeenth edition of the International Conference on Electronic Materials). The event will be held from August 30 to September 3, 2020 in Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil), a tourist town near the border with Argentina and Paraguay, which serves as a base for visits to the stunning Iguazu Falls and to others attractions in the surroundings.
Symposium proposals may be submitted by groups of researchers, preferably of international composition, who wish to organize a thematic symposium within the event. The conference will have a special focus on electronic materials due to the realization of IUMRS-ICEM. However, as in all editions of the B-MRS Meeting, the event will cover a wide range of materials science and technology topics. The organizers therefore welcome symposium proposals on topics relating to all types of materials, from synthesis to applications.
The symposia will be the main focus of the event with plenary lectures, which will feature internationally renowned scientists such as Alex Zunger (University of Colorado Boulder, USA), Edson Leite (LNNano, Brazil), John Rogers (Northwestern University, USA) , Luisa Torsi (Università degli Studi di Bari “A. Moro”, Italy) and Tao Deng (Shanghai Jiaotong University, China).
Symposium proposals will be evaluated by the event committee, and by the end of 2019 the list of approved symposia will be released. In February 2020, the call for papers will be opened, which should be submitted within the scope of the thematic symposia. Symposium organizers will be responsible for evaluating the submitted abstracts and scheduling the symposium.
The joint event XIX B-MRS Meeting + IUMRS – ICEM 2020 is coordinated by professors Gustavo Martini Dalpian (UFABC) as the Conference Chair, Carlos Cesar Bof Bufon (LNNANO) as the Program Chair and Flavio Leandro de Souza (UFABC) as General Secretary. At the international committee, the event features scientists from America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
The latest editions of the B-MRS Meeting brought together between 1,100 and 2,000 participants from various countries around the world, who presented their contributions within the symposia.
A delicate sand strip curve of about 7 km. Tall buildings along the curve on the waterfront, including some of Brazil’s tallest skyscrapers. The meeting of waters of the Camboriú river and the Atlantic Ocean. The intense green of the Atlantic Forest on the hillsides, surrounding the city and, further ahead, the mountains. This unique mix comprises the landscape of Balneário Camboriú, a tourist destination on the coast of Santa Catarina that hosted the eighteenth edition of the B-MRS Meeting, the annual event of the Brazilian Materials Research Society.
Balneário Camboriú. By Carlos Eduardo Joos. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45433625
Without a doubt, a certain altitude is required to appreciate this landscape. And it was at one of the highest points in the city, at the Cristo Luz Complex, that around 1,200 people from the Materials research community from dozens of Brazilian cities and around the world gathered to attend the opening of the XVIII B-MRS Meeting in the early evening of September 22, 2019.
Cristo Luz is one of those “must see” tourist visits in Balneário Camboriú, with its unforgettable views of the city and the sea and its 33 meter high Christ monument holding a powerful light source that mirrors a sun, responsible for the colorful light show that takes place every night in the city sky.
Opening table.
“This event is part of the history of many researchers and of materials research in Brazil,” said the XVIII B-MRS Meeting chairman Ivan Helmuth Bechtold, professor at the Department of Physics at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), beginning the opening lines on stage. Bechtold then told his own story at the B-MRS Meeting, from his first appearance in 2004 to present the results of his doctoral research, to the role of chairman in the 2019 edition, including as symposium organizer in three editions of the event. With these lines, Professor Bechtold encouraged the students and young researchers to also be part of this story.
After highlighting the participation of a large number of Brazilian institutions in the event (over 400) and the historical record in the number of papers submitted (over 2,500), the chairman thanked everyone for their presence at a very special moment in the country, a time when science, technology and public higher education are under attack. “The scientific community here demonstrates that technological development coupled with high level education qualifies the new generations, which is essential to promote a better future for our country,” said Bechtold, who concluded by thanking the sponsors and financial support received to carry out the event.
Following this, the vice coordinator of the event, Hugo Gallardo (professor at the Department of Chemistry in UFSC) and professor Cristiane Derani, the Dean of Graduate Studies at UFSC, spoke. Both addressed the importance of research and postgraduate studies. “Brazil needs to double the number of doctors trained to reach that of developed countries,” Gallardo pointed out, while Derani said that research transforms personal and professional lives and results in a more sustainable, equitable and peaceful world.
Closing the opening table, B-MRS president Osvaldo Novais de Oliveira Junior, professor at the São Carlos Institute of Physics at the University of São Paulo (IFSC-USP), said that participation in a scientific event such as the XVIII B -MRS Meeting is a form of resistance to resource cuts and attacks that Brazilian universities and research funding agencies have endured. “We must resist; we can’t lose hope,” he proclaimed.
Memorial lecture.
Following this, the Memorial Lecture Joaquim da Costa Ribeiro began, an honor that B-MRS bestows annually to a researcher with a distinguished trajectory in Brazil. In this case, the tribute went to the scientist Yvonne Primerano Mascarenhas, an 87-year-old retired professor at USP, who has held various leadership positions throughout her career, and to this day remains very active in research and extension activities. Beginning in the early 1960s, Yvonne led the introduction and development in Brazil of X-ray crystallography, now widely used in research, development and innovation in the country. The technique allows us to fully understand how the atoms and molecules that make up the organized structure of crystalline materials and biological molecules are arranged in space.
As might be expected, at the memorial lecture, this pioneer spoke about crystallography. Initially, she contextualized the development of this technique within the succession of advances made by science as far back as the seventeenth century in order to see the invisible. “Seeing is believing!” said the scientist. In the second part of the lecture, she told a little about the history of X-ray crystallography in Brazil, an area that has generated impactful and large quantities of knowledge in the country, with the determination of the structure of the Zika virus as a recent example. Finally, Professor Yvonne highlighted the possibilities offered to the area of X-ray crystallography by synchrotron light sources, notably Sirius, the next Brazilian source, which will be a last generation synchrotron light source. “Enjoy Sirius!” Wished the scientist.
After the presentation, the president of B-MRS handed a plaque to the honoree, and all present were invited to attend the welcome cocktail, a traditional reunion at B-MRS ‘s annual events, this time marked by the night views of Balneário Camboriú, the photos of the groups at the foot of the Christ and a dance that arose spontaneously to the sound of the band that animated the cocktail.
Eight one-hour plenary lectures were given by the international leading scientists throughout the event, always in the main room of Hotel Sibara, located 300 meters from the beach, in the commercial center of Balneário Camboriú.
The plenarists showed striking results, based on advances in experimental and computational techniques, multidisciplinary approaches and new ways of seeing old problems. The importance of understanding and controlling materials at the nano scale appeared in every lecture. Another constant was the direct relationship between knowledge generated and various societal demands such as healthy eating, more efficient electronic devices, better bone grafts, lighter cars and airplanes, longer lasting batteries, more sustainable energy sources and healing of spinal cord injuries.
Plenarist Stefano Baroni.
The first plenary, which inaugurated the technical program of the event, was given early in the morning of the 23rd (Monday) by Professor Stefano Baroni, Italian theoretical scientist, known worldwide for having developed computational tools for the study of nanoscale materials. Baroni is a professor at Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), located in Trieste (Italy). In his lecture, metaphorically titled “Looking at flowers through silicon glasses,” Professor Baroni showed that computational methods (“silicon glasses”) based on quantum mechanics allowed him to advance the understanding of how color expression occurs in natural pigments – a fundamental science problem that has generated great interest in the food industry. Surprising the audience, Baroni closed his plenary with “save the Amazon, please” on the last slide.
The afternoon plenary on the 23rd was delivered by Norbert Koch, professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and leader of a research group at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (Germany), author of striking findings on the fundamental mechanisms governing optoelectronics device performance. Koch shared with his audience his extensive knowledge of optoelectronics, an area that will surely increase to meet the social demand that will come in the coming decades for information processing and display, energy conversion and light emission devices. The scientist showed that to improve the performance of current devices and to develop new functions, it is necessary to combine different materials in order to maximize their benefits and minimize their limitations. However, to do this successfully, the scientist proved, one must understand in detail the interfaces between the materials.
On the 24th, the program opened with a lecture on Sirius, the new fourth generation Brazilian synchrotron light source (one of the very first of its kind in the world) developed with mainly national technology and production, which will soon increase exponentially the research and development possibilities in the area of materials, as well as many other areas. The plenary was given by Professor Antonio José Roque da Silva, general director of the Brazilian National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), where he also leads, from the outset, the Sirius project. The technical characteristics of the source (high brilliance and coherence), added to the modern instrumentation of the experimental stations, the care taken in the construction of the building and the data processing capacity, explained the plenarist, will make Sirius a tool available to the international community capable of making a difference in the investigation of matter in different dimension and time scales, always with high resolution and speed. No wonder the director of CNPEM opened and closed his presentation citing prominent scientists who stated that new truths become evident when new tools become available.
The afternoon plenary was given by Maria-Pau Ginebra, professor at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain). A scientist with an extensive production of articles and patents on biomaterials, Ginebra also faced the challenge of turning knowledge into products. Thus, along with other members of her research group, she founded a company dedicated to providing nature-inspired solutions that help the body perform the bone regeneration process needed in various situations, such as dental implants, fractures, bone malformations and tumors. In the lecture, the scientist and businesswoman presented a new generation of bone graft biomaterials that brings together the advantages of natural and artificial grafts. In addition, Professor Ginebra discussed the possibilities and potential of customizing graft fabrication using 3D printing techniques.
On the 25th the programming began with all the energy of Julia Greer, scientist, teacher, pianist and mother. And with all the strength of the metamaterials she develops, characterizes and tests with her group at the California Institute of Technology, Caltech (USA). In plenary, the audience was surprised to watch videos of very light nanostructures resisting stresses of compression and tension far beyond expectations. In order to achieve these results, which promise very interesting applications, it is essential, she said, to develop the material by thinking of its structure at the atomic level, the properties manifesting at the nano scale and the final architecture. It is necessary to go beyond the composition of materials, use nanoengineering to develop innovative materials and use them to design intelligent three-dimensional structures. However, not forgetting to assess the impact of the defects, which make materials, as well as people, more interesting, expressed Greer.
Plenarist Mingzhong Wu.
The afternoon plenary was delivered by Mingzhong Wu, a professor at Colorado State University (USA), who specializes in the difficult task of experimenting with topological insulators – materials that act as insulators in their interior but have conductive states on surface – whose existence was proven just over a decade ago. After a didactic explanation of topological insulators, the scientist showed that a thin layer structure of interacting magnetic and topological insulators can be used as a platform to study the properties of the topological insulator and to control the magnetism of the magnetic insulator. Professor Wu’s studies will find applications in the near future in the development of quantum computing and spintronics.
Plenarist Maurizio Prato.
On the morning of the 26th, it was difficult for many to wake up early after the success of the conference party held the night before. However, those who bravely arrived at the main room of Hotel Sibara at 8:15 am were rewarded to see that carbon nanotubes can help heal spinal cord injuries that cause loss of movement and sensitivity and even severe paralysis. In fact, carbon nanotubes with properly modified surfaces not only promote nerve tissue growth but also generate more active neurons, shown in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo experiments in the plenary. The lecture was given by Maurizio Prato, professor at the Università degli Studi di Trieste (Italy), a specialist in adding organic molecules to the surface of carbon nanomaterials, who has produced very high impact scientific production (h index 119). In the plenary, Prato showed another exciting application of his surface-modified nanotubes, which, combined with nanocatalysts, can make artificial photosynthesis viable, a process that generates fuel from carbon dioxide.
Plenarist Alan Taub.
That same morning, at 11:30, Alan Taub started the last plenary of the XVIII B-MRS Meeting. Taub became professor at the University of Michigan (USA) in 2012 after a 30-year career at Ford, General Electric and General Motors, and culminating as GM’s vice president of research and development worldwide. He is also a technology advisor to Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT), an American institute that works at the interface between industry and a network of national universities and laboratories, with the goal of reducing tomorrow’s transportation weight, from cars to spaceships, to reduce their fuel consumption. The main challenge, Taub revealed, is to lower the ultimate cost of ultralight materials, to which computer simulations have contributed significantly by providing information on material properties and performance, faster and more cost-effectively than experimental techniques.
Within the 23 thematic symposia that made up this edition of the B-MRS event, around 1,700 students and researchers presented and discussed their work with people that conduct research on similar topics. In addition, the symposium participants were able to follow and discuss the advances presented by their peers. In this environment of knowledge exchange, which is vital for scientific activity, students and researchers had the opportunity to think new ideas and establish collaborations to continue their work.
Thus, on four mornings and three afternoons, more than 2,000 scientific research papers were disseminated and discussed at the XVIII B-MRS Meeting. The seven poster sessions, held on the 17th floor of the Sibara Hotel, featured approximately 1,500 works. At the oral sessions, which took place simultaneously in eleven rooms of the Sibara Hotel and three rooms of the Mercure Hotel, located less than 300 meters from each other, some 400 contributions were presented, not to mention the approximately 100 invited lectures presented.
While some symposia extended over the four days of technical programming, others lasted one, two or three days, depending on the number of papers accepted for presentation, which ranged from just over 20 to about 350 according to the symposium.
Poster session.
The set of symposia covered research on a wide range of materials: carbon nanomaterials, glass ceramics, new metal alloys, biopolymers, nanofibers, molecular sieves and magnetic and superconducting materials, among others. The works showed not only new materials, new properties and new applications, but also advances in experimental and theoretical methods and processes used at all stages of material “life”: design, synthesis, processing, modification, characterization, fabrication and recycling. As for the applications covered in the papers, the list is also wide, including medicine, dentistry, environmental remediation, electronics, power generation and storage, lighting, aeronautics and textile industry, among many other segments.
In addition to the exchange of technical knowledge, the symposia provided affective exchanges in the reunions of colleagues and friends and in the memory of those absent. The symposium F, dedicated to organic electronics, had a very special moment at the opening, on the 23rd, when Professor Marco Cremona (PUC-Rio) paid tribute to his late colleague Ivo Alexander Hümmelgen (UFPR), deceased prematurely and unexpectedly earlier this year.
The symposia of the 18th B-MRS Meeting were organized by over 100 researchers who worked in teams, from Brazil, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland.
Outside the technical program schedule, participants of the 18th B-MRS Meeting were able to enjoy, at no extra cost, a series of activities held at the Hotel Sibara. On Sunday afternoon of the 22nd, Professor Valtencir Zucolotto (IFSC – USP) gave, to a crowded room of about 130 people, a tutorial on how to perform high impact research, focusing on the preparation and publication of scientific articles, the “Young Researchers School.”
On Tuesday and Wednesday, three activities took place at lunch time, all with a lunch box included. On the 24th, the German government iniciative “Research in Germany” offered a presentation and Q&A session on research possibilities in Germany and Brazil-Germany collaborations. About 160 people participated in the activity.
On the 25th, ACS Publications, editor of American Chemical Society (ACS), promoted the panel discussion “Mastering the Art of Scientific Publication,” which brought together ACS editors Osvaldo N. Oliveira Jr. (Brazil) of Applied Materials & Interfaces, Julia Greer (USA) of Nano Letters, and Monica Cotta (Brazil) from ACS Applied Nano Materials. The panelists provided insight into the process of producing and publishing articles, in response to audience questions and issues raised by session moderator Carlos Toro, also an editor at ACS Publications. More than 130 people participated in the activity.
At the same time, in another room, ANSYS Granta professionals demonstrated the software developed by the company for materials education (CES EduPack) and for the research area (CES Selector), in a nearly full room of about 80 people.
Two collective manifestoes in defense of research and education in Brazil were held at the XVIII B-MRS Meeting. On the 25th, at the request of community members, the B-MRS team organized a photographic manifesto and, through social networks, invited the event participants to be part of this.
The act took place shortly after the afternoon plenary lecture. A few hundred participants of all ages, including some foreigners, moved from the audience to the stage and stood among the screens projecting a slide with the phrase “In Defense of Science and the Public University.” The result was a photo that was widely publicized on social networks with the hashtag #todospelaciência (“everyone for science”).
Photographic manifesto of participants in defense of science and the public university.
In addition, B-MRS’s Board of Directors and Deliberative Council prepared during the event the Camboriú Letter, a written document expressing their concern about the cuts and contingencies of funds for education and research in Brazil. The Camboriú Letter was also published on social networks, on the B-MRS website and in the Jornal da Ciência, among other media.
Seventeen companies in the field of instrumentation, research inputs and software were sponsors and exhibitors in the XVIII B-MRS Meeting. Sharing a large space with the coffee break tables and the secretariat, and also in the hall of the plenary room, the companies received visits at their booths by the event participants, with information, gifts and special activities.
In addition, throughout the 23rd, interested participants were able to learn more about various techniques of materials characterization and manufacture in thirteen technical lectures given by professionals of exhibiting companies.
Also noteworthy in this edition of the event was the massive presence of scientific journals in the area, such as supporters of the event, including renowned titles from the publishers ACS, RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry) and Elsevier.
Tribute to B-MRS members and staff in the closing session.
The audience in the plenary room was almost full at the closing session. On stage, at the closing table, were the coordinator and vice coordinator of the event that was being finalized, the president of B-MRS and the coordinator of the next B-MRS Meeting, Professor Gustavo Dalpian (Federal University of ABC).
In a brief presentation, Professor Ivan Bechtold shared the main data of the XVIII B-MRS Meeting and made public his appreciation to all who made it possible: plenary speakers, invited speakers, organizers and symposium participants, B-MRS team (secretariat, communication, logistics and software), program committee, local and national committees, student volunteer staff, sponsors, and supporters. In the final words, the chair resumed the motivational messages from the opening table in defense of science and public universities, urging all to resist, not give up and not lose hope.
The word was then passed to Professor Osvaldo Novais de Oliveira Junior, who will conclude later this year his second term as president of B-MRS. He expressed pride in presiding over the Society and thanked everyone who worked with him throughout his administration. In particular, the president paid tribute by presenting plaques to two members who have been doing volunteer work as scientific editors of the B-MRS Newsletter: André Avelino Pasa (UFSC professor) and Fernando Lázaro Freire Junior (PUC-Rio professor).
Following this, the president of B-MRS surprised the team of professionals who work steadily throughout the year for the society, with public recognition and awarding gifts. Thus, Verónica Savignano (journalism and dissemination), Marcia Bicalho (executive secretary), Alexandre Alves (event coordination) and Leandro D´Agostino Amaral (software) were called on stage.
At this point, the roles were reversed, and it was Professor Osvaldo who received a thank-you from B-MRS, represented by the chairman of the event, for the priceless contribution he has made in holding the presidency for four years – a function that is worth noting is not paid.
Finally, Professor Dalpian took the floor to invite those present to participate in symposium proposals and, subsequently, to send papers, from the XIX B-MRS Meeting, which will be held together with the IUMRS-ICEM, International Conference on Electronic Materials, from August 30 to September 3, 2020 in Foz do Iguaçu. “We will be in one of the most amazing places in the world,” said the chairman, referring to the Iguassu Falls.
The event concluded with the traditional awards ceremony for the best works presented by students, which in this edition of the event had three different awards. The “Bernhard Gross Award”, awarded by B-MRS to the best oral and best poster of each symposium, recognized 34 undergraduate and postgraduate students from various institutions in all regions of Brazil, as well as France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Among these winners, fourteen works were chosen for their evaluation scores as the best contributions of the entire event to receive the cash prizes. Thus, ten students received the ACS Publications Prizes, sponsored by a group of journals from the publisher of American Chemical Society, and four students won the RSC Prizes, sponsored by journals of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Forty-nine (49) proposals were submitted by the international scientific community within the XIX B-MRS Meeting + IUMRS ICEM symposium call. The number of submissions is one of the largest in the history of B-MRS events. “We received proposals from 18 different countries,” says Professor Gustavo Dalpian, chair of the event.
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