Category: News

First SBPMat UC from the south of Brazil.

Posted on Wednesday 26 de November de 2014
The team of the UC from Rio Grande do Sul.

The SBPMat University Chapters program has its first unit in Rio Grande do Sul, since the end of October 2014. Headquartered in the University of Caxias do Sul (UCS), this UC has 14 participants, who are connected to UCS, the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), and the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).

“What motivated me and all who are part of our UC was the possibility to generate other partnerships and add valuable knowledge”, says Bruna Louise Perotti, president of the UC, Mechanical Engineering student and scientific initiation fellow connected to the UCS Post-graduate program in Engineering and Materials Science. The group has plans for the next semester: organize lectures and seminars (initially with local lecturers and afterwards with visiting lecturers) and carry out scientific events to promote the interaction and collaboration between contributing research groups, generating innovation in the assignments, andfinally contribute to promote them.

Featured paper: “Green” nanoparticles for water treatment.

Posted on Tuesday 25 de November de 2014

The scientific paper by members of the Brazilian community on Materials research featured this month is: “Green” colloidal ZnS quantum dots/chitosan nano-photocatalysts for advanced oxidation processes: Study of the photodegradation of organic dye pollutants. Alexandra A.P. Mansur, Herman S. Mansur, Fábio P. Ramanery, Luiz Carlos Oliveira, Patterson P. Souza. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 158–159 (2014), 269–279. DOI:10.1016/j.apcatb.2014.04.026.

“Green” nanoparticles for water treatment

A group of researchers from Brazilian institutions developed nanoparticles that are triply “green”. They can be used to purify water, one the greatest global challenges of the 21st Century. In addition to that, they coexist harmonically with the environment and biological systems. Finally, they are produced by means of an eco-friendly process.

“We managed to integrate properties and characteristics rarely found in nanostructured systems, which are biocompatibility and environmental compatibility, using a ‘green’ process”, says Professor Herman Sander Mansur from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).

The particles are formed by “quantum dots” (fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals) of zinc sulfide (ZnS) with approximately 3.8 nm in size, coated with “shells” made of chitosan – an abundant, low-cost material, derived from the external skeleton of crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs. The synthesis process of these particles is completed in a single stage, carried out in an aqueous medium, without using toxic substances.

In a study performed by the research team, the nanoparticles displayed the capacity to degrade contaminant organic pigments usually found in water, using only light, including direct sunlight.

“The results were very promising, since we were able to observe that the system was effective for the photodegradation of organic contaminants found in the aqueous solutions we studied,” said Herman Mansur, who is the corresponding author of a paper about the research, recently released by the journal Applied Catalysis B: Environmental.

The research will also be the subject of a patent application, which the authors already started writing. “The following step will be searching potential partners in the private sector, in order to commercialize it as a product for cleaning waters which are polluted by organic pigments”, says Mansur.

Schematic representation of the nanostructured system produced with a ZnS core and chitosan shell for photodegradation of organic pollutants in water.

History of the paper

It was during scientific discussions occurred in the monthly meetings of the Exact Sciences and Materials Board of the Minas Gerais State Research Foundation (FAPEMIG) that the initial idea for the research came up.  In fact, both, Herman Mansur, coordinator of the UFMG Nanosciences, Nanotechnology and Innovation Center, and Luis Carlos de Oliveira, coordinator of the research group in Advanced Materials for Catalysis and Photocatalysis in the same university, were members of said advisory committee between February 2010 and the same month in 2014. According to Mansur, “the main idea was to use nanotechnology to develop innovative environmental solutions to clean up water, as it is an increasingly scarce resource in the world, whether in developed or emergent countries, as well as the ones with low social and economic development”.

Then, the professors prepared a project that combined the experience from the two research groups: Professor Mansur’s team, dedicated for twenty years to the development of nanomaterials and nanostructures by means of the synthesis of quantum dots, and Professor Oliveira’s group, which had been working in the field of chemical catalysis, searching sustainable solutions for the treatment of industrial waste.

Their initial research led to a first article on nanoparticles with cadmium sulfide (CdS) core and niobium oxide shell: L. C Oliveira et. al. One-pot Synthesis of CdS@Nb2O5 Core-Shell Nanostructures with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity. Applied Catalysis. B, Environmental, v. 152:53, p. 403-412, 2014 (DOI:10.1016/j.apcatb.2014.01.025).

As a result, the group conceived, designed and developed an application for the concept of “green chemistry” in the whole project, producing zinc sulfide and chitosan particles, and their synthesis process. In the following stage, their research also incorporated the collaboration of Professor Patterson P. Souza, from the Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG), who conducted mass spectrometry tests, assessing the degradation of the organic pigments used as models for the polluting chemical species.

Interview with the winner of the honorable mention of the 2014 CAPES award for best thesis in the field of Materials.

Posted on Tuesday 25 de November de 2014
Augusto Batagin Neto

The honorable mention of the Award 2014 for best Thesis in the field of Materials granted by CAPES (the Brazil´s Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education) was given to Augusto Batagin Neto for his doctoral thesis, “Simulation of the spectroscopic and structural properties of organic materials for application in devices”, defended in 2013 in the São Paulo State University (UNESP). The research was advised by Professor Carlos Frederico de Oliveira Graeff.

The result  of the Capes Award 2014 was released in early October. The award ceremony will be held on December 10, 2014, in Brasília.

Read our interview with Augusto.

SBPMat Newsletter: – Could you tell us briefly about how your interest in science started, and what were the most important moments in your academic career so far?

Augusto Batagin Neto: – My interest in science started at an early age, since I was a child I was interested in studying “phenomena” associated to natural sciences. I remember that my sister and I used to try and catalogue different species of ants, according to the size of their bodies and other characteristics. I always received a lot of encouragement from my parents and siblings, in my family life there was always an environment that called for dialogue, arguments, the exchange of ideas, which was, and still is, the basis for my education, in every sense.

Up to this moment, there were many moments that I consider very important for my career, first of which was deciding to enroll in the undergraduate course of Physics. I chose the Physics course exactly because it used to be the hardest subject for me during High School (I believe the lack of actual graduates in Physics teaching it in the public education system was one of the main reasons for my initial struggle). A second major moment was starting my research initiation in UNESP at Bauru. By the end of the second semester, Professor Francisco Carlos Lavarda, from the UNESP Physics Department, invited me to enter a training course that was mainly intended to prepare students in the first years of their undergraduate studies to make and interpret electronic structure calculations. We started the activities, and then, I was granted my very first scholarship from the São Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP). In my opinion, the support offered by such an excellent development agency, especially in this field, is vitally important to encourage the production of new human resources in research, and so it was in my case.

Important moments are not always the easiest. A third moment I consider extremely important in my career/education was conducting all my Master’s studies without any scholarship whatsoever. In the occasion I took and passed a public exam held by the State Department of Education of São Paulo to work as a basic education teacher, so I was both preparing my Master’s and teaching in the public education system. I completed all mandatory subjects for the Master’s during my first year in order to conduct the research more calmly in the city where I had to hold the teaching position.

There is no doubt that another moment of great importance was starting my doctoral studies with Professor Carlos Frederico de Oliveira Graeff, from UNESP -Bauru Physics Department, as my advisor, under the graduate program in Materials Science and Technology. During that time I discovered different theoretical and experimental issues and could mature as a researcher.  Still during my doctoral studies, I had the opportunity to hold a scholarship from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TUe), in the Netherlands, advised by Professor Peter Arnold Bobbert, an experience that enabled me to be acquainted with different simulation techniques and complement my basic training.

The last moment I consider important was being hired as an assistant professor in the UNESP Experimental Campus at Itapeva. I was born in this city and now have the chance to ensure that my work is able to help bringing human resources and technology to this region.

SBPMat Newsletter: – Why did you start to do research in the field of Materials?

Augusto Batagin Neto: – I was introduced to the field of Materials during my research initiation, engaged in the study of biomolecules, while in my Master’s I started studying the structural and optical properties of polymers, and then, in my doctoral studies, I expanded my research field to examine transport and magnetic properties of organic materials.

I always found the use of simulation tools for the study of materials properties interesting, because I believe that such inquiries may bring major scientific contributions, both in regard to basic science (discussing new processes/related phenomena) as from a technological perspective (proposing materials/devices with improved properties).

SBPMat Newsletter: – In your opinion, what is the main contribution of your award-winning thesis?

Augusto Batagin Neto: – Generally speaking, the series of studies presented in my thesis contribute to different areas involving the application of organic materials in the manufacturing of devices.

In regard to the study of dosimetric systems based on organic polymers solutions, the results allow us to identify which structural and electronic properties are desirable in high sensibility systems.

As for the study of synthetic melanins, the work points out what is the source of the paramagnetic centers observed in those systems, which may deeply influence the transport properties of said biomaterial.  In addition to that, the reactivity study provides information about the macrostructures that are most likely to be observed, a very controversial topic in the existing literature.

Using electronic structure calculations, it was also possible to suggest the occurrence of light-induced conformational changes in iridium complexes.  These compounds are extensively deployed in the manufacturing of light-emitting devices, although they usually display a very short life cycle. Our results suggest that structural changes may arise from optically activate processes, followed by a charge transfer, indicating a possible route for the degradation of said complexes.

To conclude, the study also counted with simulations, aiming to model the experiment with electrically detected magnetic resonance by means of two different approaches: equivalent circuit and “drift-diffusion” equations. The results obtained allow us to better comprehend what are the effects to be expected from the occurrence of different resonant entities in the system. This result could, in principle, be used to distinguish spin-dependent transport properties related to electrons and holes in semiconductor devices.

SBPMat Newsletter: – What were the criteria that guided you to do a research recognized nationwide for its quality (the award-winning thesis)? To what factors do you attribute such achievement?

Augusto Batagin Neto: – The initial ideia was to comprehend a series of experimental phenomena under a more fundamental point of view, all directly or indirectly related to the application of different materials in optoelectronic devices. One of the criteria guiding the research was precisely to try and go a little further beyond the phenomenological description of the studied processes.

I attribute the success of the research to several factors, among which I highlight the atmosphere of intense scientific discussion in our group, led by Professor Carlos Graeff.  In that moment, I was the only student in the group whose work was entirely theoretical, and the chance to discuss, propose theories and empirically test them was the distinguishing element in the conducted work, not only for the development of my thesis, but also in partnerships made all along my doctoral studies. I must also mention the assistance given by the POSMAT-UNESP/Bauru graduate studies program, especially Professor Francisco Lavarda, and the financial support received from CAPES and FAPESP, as well as the computational resources made available by GridUnesp as decisive factors for the execution of the project.  Another factor to which I attribute the quality of the work conducted was the chance provided by the TUe-Netherlands scholarship; the scientific discussions I had during that period allowed me to expand the scope of the research I was already conducting and develop a distinguished work.

SBPMat Newsletter: – Would you like to leave a message for our readers who are preparing their own research initiation, master’s and doctoral papers in the field of Materials?

Augusto Batagin Neto: – I believe the constant development of our field of research in the country reflects the great potential of the human resources we hold. In my opinion, the quality of the intellectual work that has been developed in Brazilian laboratories is in no way inferior to the one coming from the international community. In this regard, the message I would like to send to everyone in our community is that we must seek to increase our visibility more and more, diffusing our research not only though traditional means, but also in varied forms of communication, including social media.

Interview with the winner of the 2014 CAPES award for the best thesis in the field of Materials.

Posted on Tuesday 25 de November de 2014
Luís Fernando (right) and the advisor of his doctoral thesis, Prof. Valmor.

Luís Fernando da Silva is the winner of the 2014 award for best thesis in the field of Materials, granted by the Brazil´s Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES). Luís Fernando´s Doctoral thesis, “Synthesis and characterization of SrTiO3 and SrTi1-xFexO3 compounds prepared by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method”, was defended in 2013 in the São Carlos School of Engineering at University of São Paulo (USP). The research was advised by Professor Valmor Roberto Mastelaro.

The result of the Capes Award 2014 was released in early October. The award ceremony will be held on December 10, 2014, in Brasília.

Read our interview with Luís Fernando.

SBPMat Newsletter: – Could you tell us briefly about how your interest in science started, and what were the most important moments in your academic career so far?

Luís Fernando da Silva: – My interest started during my undergraduate studies in Physics at the São Paulo State University (UNESP) at Bauru. I entered the research initiation program in my second year, and my project comprised the structural characterization of GaAs and GaN film, having Professor José Humberto Dias da Silva as my advisor, and receiving funds from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). During my last undergraduate year, my work received an honorable mention in the USP research initiation symposium, which managed to motivate me further to enroll in a Master’s program in the field of Materials. Due to my interest in structural characterization, I started my Master’s studies at USP being advised by Professor Valmor R. Mastelaro, who is a reference nationwide in the field of X-ray absorption spectroscopy. My work consisted in preparing and characterizing amorphous and nanocrystalline StTiO3 and SrTi1-xFexO3 compounds. By the end of my Master’s studies, Professor Valmor Mastelaro proposed the challenge of synthesizing the SrTi1-xFexO3 compound using the hydrothermal-microwave method, considering that, up to that point, there was no record of its preparation by means of such method.  After studying different parameters of its synthesis and characterizing the structural properties of the SrTiO3 compound, we started synthesizing the SrTi1-xFexO3, which we managed to do with great success. Both compounds were characterized using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES and EXAFS) at the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS), and the importance and originality of the results were accepted to be published by major journals in the field of materials: CrystEngComm (CrystEngComm, 2012,14, 4068-4073) and Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013,15, 12386-12393).  In addition to that, according to the literature, the SrTi1-xFex03 compound has been successfully applied as a gar sensor, mainly for hydrocarbons and oxygen. Based on this application, Professor Valmor Mastelaro established a partnership with the microsensors group from Aix-Marseille University, in the city of Marseille, France. Thanks to said partnership, I received a scholarship to join the microsensors group for six months, counting with funds from the “Ciência Sem Fronteiras” (Science without borders) program. The results obtained were partially released by an important journal in the gas field, Sensors and Actuators B (Sens. Actuators, B, 2013, 181, 919–924). Currently in my Postdoctoral studies, I started a new research project, advised by Professor Elson Longo, in a partnership with Doctor Cauê Ribeiro from the instrumentation unit of the Brazilian Corporation of Agricultural Research (Embrapa), which comprises the study of photoactivated resistive gas sensors. Recently, I was granted a project to develop said research.

SBPMat Newsletter: – Why did you start to do research in the field of Materials?

Luís Fernando da Silva: – The field of Materials always fascinated me, since the time I spent in the research initiation program. The possibility of managing to synthesize a material, unveil its properties and use it for a technological application is challenging and fascinating at the same time.

SBPMat Newsletter: – In your opinion, what is the main contribution of your award-winning thesis?

Luís Fernando da Silva: – The main contribution of my thesis was the use of the x-ray absorption spectroscopy technique. The vast majority of existing articles in the literature report the method used to prepare the material and its application (gas sensor, photocatalysis, etc); however, there are only a few studies on its structural properties, restricted to the identification of the crystalline phases using the technique of x-ray diffraction.  In my work, we could observe that materials (in my case, SrTiO3 and SrTi1-xFexO3) prepared using the hydrothermal-microwaves method, present substantial structural distortions. In addition to that, concerning the SrTi1-xFexO3 compound, we managed to analyze its detection properties against different gases (reductant and oxidant) in greater detail, since one of the most important parameters for a gas sensor is its selectivity.

SBPMat Newsletter: – What were the criteria that guided you to do a research recognized nationwide for its quality (the award-winning thesis)? To what factors do you attribute such achievement?

Luís Fernando da Silva: – Mainly my good relationship with the Doctoral advisor, Professor Valmor R. Mastelato, who gave me total freedom and credibility to develop this work, as well as important scientific contributions. Besides that, the infrastructure of the Center for the Development of Multifunctional Materials (CDMF/FAPESP) was crucial and allowed a proper and detailed characterization of the compounds studied in the thesis.

SBPMat Newsletter: – Would you like to leave a message for our readers who are doing research in undergraduate, master´s or doctoral level in the field of Materials?

Luís Fernando da Silva: – I believe that the main message is that before starting any research work (whether for initiation, master’s or doctoral studies), it is paramount for them to have pleasure doing their research and believe in the potential and quality of their work. If you believe the work you are developing has potential, you will seek your best to do it.

XIV SBPMAt Meeting – Call for symposia proposals.

Posted on Wednesday 12 de November de 2014

The chairs of the XIV Brazilian MRS Meeting are receiving proposals from researchers interested in organizing a topic symposium.

The Meeting will be held at the SulAmerica Convention Center in Rio de Janeiro/RJ, from September 27 to October 1, 2015.

Proposals should be submitted until December 5, 2014, using the form available on the site http://www.sbpmat.org.br/14encontro.

Proposals will be evaluated by a Commission of the Brazilian MRS together with the organizing committee of the XIV Meeting. The final Symposia list for the XIV Meeting will be available in the December 2014.

Each symposium will receive a fee waiver for two (2) invited speakers in addition to the exemption of the organizers. Every 50 submitted abstracts, the symposium will gain a new fee waver.

Note that it is recommended a turnover at least of two of the co-organizers of the previous Symposia. Also, a diversified group of four (4) co-organizers is considered to be the optimal size. Inclusion of interdisciplinary research and industrial involvement is highly encouraged.

Your participation is extremely valuable in helping assure both the breadth and topicality of the SBPMat meeting.

Thank you.

2015 SBPMat Meeting Chairs

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Related links

– 13th SBPMat Meeting: about 2,000 works presented, and interactions in various languages and accents.

– XIII SBPMat Meeting simposia: statements of the coordinators.

SBPMat newsletter. English edition. Year 1, issue 10.

Posted on Monday 3 de November de 2014

 

Brazilian Materials Research Society (SBPMat) newsletter

News update from Brazil for the Materials community

English edition. Year 1, issue 10. 

Greetings, .

How was the XIII SBPMat Meeting: reports, pictures, videos and presentation files.

Approximately 2,000 oral presentations and posters, 105 invited lectures. Coming from 20 countries around the world and from the 5 regions of Brazil, 1,650 attendants – 15% more than in the last edition. We went beyond the numbers and reported, with texts and pictures, some of the most important moments in the intense program of the event. Here.

During the 7 plenary lectures of the XIII SBPMat Meeting, internationally renowned scientists presented world-class science and talked about its impact on society. LEDs, organic electronics, quasicrystals, materials for nanomedicine and computer simulations were the main themes discussed. We present to our readers a brief account of each lecture, pictures of our plenary speakers and files from the presentations, kindly provided by the lecturers. Here.

The 19 symposia this year approached a universe of subjects: new materials, traditional materials, processing and analysis techniques, applications in several fields, technology transference… Among their coordinators, the event recorded researchers from universities, research institutes and companies from Brazil and other 7 countries. We shared videos here with brief testimonials from some of these coordinators on their symposia. Watch here.

In the XIII Meeting, SBPMat launched the document “Science impact. A special report on materials science in Brazil”, produced by IOP jointly with SBPMat. Distributed for the very first time for all attendants, the document, in English, provides the world with a current panorama on materials research in Brazil. Learn more.

Also during the meeting, 30 young researchers attended a historic moment: the first meeting of SBPMat’s University Chapters program. The 4 established chapters presented themselves, and SBPMat leaders talked to the students. Learn more.

Bernhard Gross Award 2014: 20 young researchers awarded for presenting the best works in the symposia of the XIII SBPMat Meeting.

Among the 20 winners, the best oral presentation and the best poster of all the XIII SBPMat Meeting were chosen. The award ceremony was carried out on the last day of the event. We release the list of the award-winning works and authors, and pictures of the granting of the certificates. Here.

The Bernhard Gross Award for the best work presented in an oral session was given to Juliana Eccher, for her pioneering research, in Brazil, on the use of liquid crystals as organic semiconductors, developed during her doctoral studies at UFSC, jointly with several international collaborators. Learn more about the research and its authors.

André Luiz Maia de Azevedo received the Bernhard Gross Award to the best poster in the XIII SBPMat Meeting for the work he developed during his master studies in UFF. Graduated in Pharmacy, and a professional in the field, André managed to achieve what he sought: decrease costs and overcome limitations in the existing techniques for drug analysis, developing a graphite and epoxy composite, used as an electrode inside the electrochemical cell. Learn more about the research and its authors.

XIV SBPMat Meeting: Let’s save the date!

Coordinated by Professor Marco Cremona (PUC-Rio), the fourteenth edition of the annual SBPMat meeting will be held in Rio de Janeiro, from September 27th to October 01st, 2015, at Centro de Convenções SulAmética – a modern venue, with easy and quick access from any quarter of the “Marvelous City”.

Some reading tips.

– Nobel Prize in Physics 2014: an energy-efficient and environment-friendly light source, the LED. Here.

–  Capes Award of best thesis on Materials: quick synthesis of strontium titanate composites for gas sensor. Here.

– Second IUMRS International Conference for Young Researchers (ICYRAM), Haikou, Hainan, China, October 24th to 26th: Reports, files from the presentations and pictures. Here.
To suggest news, opportunities, events or reading recommendations items for inclusion in our newsletter, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.

 

XIII SBPMat Meeting simposia: statements of the coordinators.

Posted on Friday 31 de October de 2014

In approximately one minute, some coordinators share their impressions about their symposia.

A: Functional hybrid interfaces: from characterization to applications.  Welchy Leite Cavalcanti (IFAM – Alemanha).

B: Ceramic and metallic materials obtained by wet-chemical methods. Mary Alves (UEPB).

C: Magnetic Materials. Marcos Flavio de Campos (UFF).

D: Organic Electronics and hybrids: materials and devices. Ivan H. Bechtold (UFSC).

E: Sol-Gel Materials: From Fundamentals to Advanced Applications. Andrea S. de Camargo (USP São Carlos).

F: Anti-fouling Materials and Coatings. Mônica de Oliveira Penna (PETROBRAS).

G: Research Frontiers of Computer Simulations in Materials Science: Developments and Applications. Miguel San-Miguel (University of Sevilla, Espanha).

H: Luminescent Materials. Hermi F. Brito (USP).

J: IX Brazilian Electroceramics Symposium. Marcelo Ornaghi Orlandi (UNESP).

K: Structure-Properties Relationship of Advanced Metallic Materials. Leonardo Barbosa Godefroid (UFOP).

L: Current Research in Energy Storage Systems. Alexandre Urbano (UEL).

M: Nanomaterials for Nanomedicine. Carlos Jacinto da Silva (UFAL).

N: Surface Engineering – functional coatings and modified surfaces. Carlos Alejandro Figueroa (UCS e Plasmar Tecnologia).

O: Multifunctional materials derived from clay minerals. Maria Gardênnia da Fonseca (UFPB) e Maguy Jaber (Université Pierre et Marie Curie, França).

P: Advanced Carbon Nanostructures and Composites. Jilian Nei de Freitas e Talita Mazon (Centro de Tecnologia da Informação Renato Archer)


Q: International Symposium on Cementitious Materials – ISCM2014. Sandro Torres (UFPB).


R: Innovation and Technology Transfer Symposium. Rodrigo Bianchi (UFOP).

Bernhard Gross Award for the best poster of the XIII Meeting to André Luiz Azevedo Maia, looking for innovations in drug analysis.

Posted on Thursday 30 de October de 2014
Representing André Azevedo, his advisor Felipe Silva Semaan received the certificate for the best poster of the event from the president of SBPMat.

With a degree in Industrial Pharmacy at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF) and pharmacist at a multinational laboratory, André Luiz Azevedo Maia plunged in the field of Materials through his Masters degree in Chemistry, seeking to lower costs and overcome the limitations of techniques used in drug analysis. “During my career I acquired knowledge in analytical techniques that require higher spending both in the acquisition and in maintenance and operation, e.g., CLAE, GC, AA – flame and graphite furnace,” said the winner of the prize. “That motivated me to start the development of analytical techniques in Electrochemistry” he added.

André´s master thesis, supervised by Professor Felipe Silva Semaan and funded by the Rio de Janeiro State Research Foundation (FAPERJ), the Brazilian Federal Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and UFF, was conducted between 2012 and 2014 in the Electrochemistry and Electroanalytical Group at the Institute of Chemistry, UFF, within the line of research in composite materials initiated in the group in 2009.”The use of composite materials aimed to further minimize costs for research (because there would be no need to purchase electrodes for commercial work) and opened up the possibility of developing chemical modifications and adjusting models for specific applications,” said André.

André and the research team then developed graphite and epoxy composites in various compositions, which were characterized by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA-DTA), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XDR) and cyclic voltammetry. One of these compositions, with 64.4% graphite, showed the best results regarding thermal and chemical stability, mechanical and electrical properties and electrochemical performance. The composite was used as an electrode in an electrochemical cell.

“In this work, the scientific contribution to society is the availability of a material with added value, with a cost about 300 times smaller than the commercial one (the glassy carbon electrode), and able to perform tasks with equivalent quality,” says André, who affirms to be attracted by the scientific activity because it offers the possibility of using tools he acquired at the university to solve problems for society.

The work presented at Symposium P on composites and advanced carbon nanostructures, deserved the Bernhard Gross Award for best poster of the XIII SBPMat Meeting, in addition to the best Poster of Symposium P. Partial results of the same research had already been distinguished in last year´s SBPMat meeting, where André received the Bernhard Gross Award for best work of the symposium on science, engineering and commercialization of industrial, electronic and biomedical devices.

André´s master degree was concluded with this highlight granted by SBPMat, but the work goes on into the group. The researchers are preparing a patent. And the results of André´s study are beeing a basis for the development of composite electrodes modified with metal films, cellulose acetate films and modified chitosan to encapsulate nanoparticles, among other studies.

“The award in this international congress rewards the effort and dedication of everyone involved and leads to further discussion, indicating the feasibility of obtaining the products targeted by the group,” said André.

See the award-winning poster file:

Bernhard Gross Award for best oral presentation to Juliana Eccher, for her pioneer research in Brazil on the use of liquid crystals as organic semiconductors.

Posted on Thursday 30 de October de 2014
Juliana Eccher received the certificate of best oral presentation from the chairman of the 2015 meeting.

Awarded work: Electrical response of a columnar liquid crystal applied in a diode structure. Juliana Eccher1, Gregorio Couto Faria2, Harald Bock3, Heinz Von Seggern4, Wojciech Zajaczkowski5, Wojciech Pisula5, Ivan H. Bechtold1; 1Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 2Universidade de São Paulo, 3Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Cnrs and Univ.Bordeaux, 4Technische Universität Darmstadt, 5Max-Planck-Institut For Polymer Research, Mainz.

The Bernhard Gross Award for the best oral presentation of the XIII SBPMat Meeting was given to a pioneer research in Brazil in its theme. “In my opinion, the main significance of awarding this work regards the dissemination of the research involving liquid crystals as organic semiconductors for applications in the field of organic electronics, especially concerning Brazil, since there are only a few groups working towards this research line in the country”, said the newly Ph.D. graduate Juliana Eccher, who presented her paper at the symposium D on materials and organic electronic devices.

Graduated in physics from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Juliana decided to pursue an academic career in the field of experimental physics and chose to obtain her Masters and Ph.D. degrees at UFSC, both in the field of materials, more precisely in the study of liquid crystals . “Research in materials is fascinating because it offers a broad range of study in various fields of knowledge,” said Juliana, who attended the meeting of SBPMat on three occasions. “What attracts me the most is the possibility of new discoveries and the diversity of applications,” she added.

Liquid crystals, materials used in widely marketed LCD screens, have recently been recognized as a promising class of self-organized organic semiconductors with a high electrical mobility. Some of them are called columnar because their molecules, shaped like discs, are piled on top of each other forming stable columns. When the columns are aligned perpendicularly to the substrate, there is homeotropic alignment – an ideal configuration for the application in OLEDs (organic light emitting diodes) and OPVs (organic photovoltaic devices).

Juliana Eccher´s winning work, developed during her Ph.D. in Physics, with the supervision of Professor Ivan Bechtold, studied a thin film of liquid crystal based on perylene-diimide aromatic center and proposed a relation between its electrical properties and its molecular organization. The liquid crystal was investigated within a diode structure. The work was supported by the Brazilian Federal Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), in particular through INCT/INEO , and by the Brazilian Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES).

Juliana and the other members of the team could obtain homeotropic alignment in films deposited by spin-coating technique by subjecting them to annealing, resulting in an increase of five orders of magnitude in the electrical mobility and also a significant increase in the electroluminescence intensity of the device.

A Ph.D. research with international collaborations

The work was made possible thanks to several international collaborations. The synthesis of the organic compound was carried out by Dr. Harald Bock of the Centre de Recherche Paul-Pascal, CNRS, in France, collaborator since 2010 of the Laboratory of Organic Optoelectronics and Anisotropic Systems at the Department of Physics, UFSC, which is coordinated by Professor Bechtold. Initially in Brazil, by means of a collaboration with Professor Gregório Faria of the São Carlos Institute of Physics at USP, the team began to investigate the potential of organic material as emitting layer in a diode structure. Furthermore, in 2013, Juliana underwent a research internship in Professor Heinz von Seggern´s group at the Technische Universität Darmstadt, in Germany, where she managed to manufacture the devices and make their electrical characterization. While beeing in Germany, Juliana established a collaboration with Dr. Wojciech Pisula, of the Max-Planck-Institut for Polymer Research, which group conducted analyses by grazing incidence wide angle x-ray scattering (GIWAXS), which were fundamental to investigate the orientation of the columns with respect to the surface. Finally, with the collaboration of Professor Gregório, a theoretical model was developed for the analysis of electrical measurements of current density as a function of the applied voltage.

“The major achievement in my Ph.D. thesis was to show that, depending on the desired application, it is possible to modify and control the orientation of liquid-crystalline domains with respect to the electrodes, which significantly improved the electrical properties of the devices,” said Juliana.

To learn more about this work

– Scientific article published: J. Eccher, G. C. Faria, H. Bock, H. von Seggern, I. H. Bechtold. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 5, 11935-11943 (2013).

– Juliana Eccher´s presentation at Symposium D of the XIII SBPMat Meeting:

 


20 students were awarded in the XIII SBPMat Meeting for the works they presented at the symposia.

Posted on Thursday 30 de October de 2014

The Bernhard Gross Award, granted by the Brazilian MRS (SBPMat) highlights the best works in each symposium of the annual SBPMat meetings (an oral work and a poster per symposium, at most), presented by undergraduate or graduate students. Among the finalists, the best oral work and the best poster of all the meeting are chosen each year. (Know more about Bernhard Gross, one of the pioneers of research on materials in Brazil).

At the closing ceremony of XIII Meeting of SBPMat, in the morning of the 2nd of October 2014, at the Convention Center of João Pessoa (PB), the winners of the 2014 Bernhard Gross Award were announced and award certificates were handed in. The awarded papers this year may be part of a special edition in the open access magazine “IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering”.

Here is the list of the works distinguished with the 2014 Bernhard Gross Award.

2014 winners

Oral: Electrical Response Of A Columnar Liquid Crystal Applied In A Diode Structure. Juliana Eccher1, Gregorio Couto Faria2, Harald Bock3, Heinz Von Seggern4, Wojciech Zajaczkowski5, Wojciech Pisula5, Ivan H. Bechtold1; 1Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 2Universidade de São Paulo, 3Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Cnrs and Univ. Bordeaux, 4Technische Universität Darmstadt, 5Max-Planck-Institut For Polymer Research, Mainz

Poster: Sensor Development Exploiting Graphite-Epoxy Composite As Electrode Material. André Luiz Maia Azevedo1, Renato Soares de Oliveira1, Eduardo Ariel Ponzio1, Felipe Silva Semaan1; 1Universidade Federal Fluminense

– Simposium A winners

Poster: Information On Crystallinity Index Of Sugarcane Biomass Submitted To A Chemical and Enzymatic Treatment Via Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (Ssnmr); Oigres Daniel Bernardinelli1, Igor Polikarpov1, Eduardo Ribeiro de Azevedo1; 1Instituto de Física de Sao Carlos.

– Simposium B winners

Oral: Synthesis Of Potassium Niobates By Microwave Assisted Solvothermal Method; Thiago Marinho Duarte1, Luzia Maria Castro Honório1, Juliana Kelly Dionízio de Souza1, Arnayra Sonayra Brito Silva1, Elson Longo2, Ricardo Luis Tranquilin3, Iêda Maria Garcia Santos4, Antônio Gouveia de Souza1, Ary da Silva Maia1; 1Universidade Federal da Paraiba, 2Universidade Estadual Paulista, Campus de Araraquara, 3Universidade Federal de São Carlos – Campus: São Carlos,4Universidade Federal da Paraíba.

– Simposium C winners

Poster: Magnetic Particles As Affinity Matrix For Purification Of Antithrombin; Aurenice Arruda Dutra Das Merces1, Jackeline da Costa Maciel2, Luiz Bezerra de Carvalho Júnior1; 1Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 2Universidade Federal de Roraima.

– Simposium D winners

Oral: Electrical Response Of A Columnar Liquid Crystal Applied In A Diode Structure. Juliana Eccher1, Gregorio Couto Faria2, Harald Bock3, Heinz Von Seggern4, Wojciech Zajaczkowski5, Wojciech Pisula5, Ivan H. Bechtold1; 1Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 2Universidade de São Paulo, 3Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Cnrs and Univ. Bordeaux, 4Technische Universität Darmstadt, 5Max-Planck-Institut For Polymer Research, Mainz.

Poster: How Surface Interactions Freeze Polymer Molecules At Room Temperature: A Single Molecule Approach; Francineide Lopes de Araújo1, Gustavo Targino Valente1, Roberto Mendonça Faria1, Francisco Eduardo Gontijo Guimarães1; 1São Carlos Institute Of Physics, University Of São Paulo.

– Simposia E/G/P winners

Oral: Bioactive Hybrid Aminopropyl-Silica Coating To Support Neuronal Growth and Suppress Astrocyte Development; Larissa Brentano Capeletti1,2,3, Mateus B. Cardoso2, João Henrique Zimnoch dos Santos4, Wei He1; 1University Of Tennessee Knoxville, 2Laboratório Nacional de Luz Síncrotron, 3Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul, 4Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

– Simposium F winners

Oral: Evaluation of polymeric coatings on their efficiency of inhibiting the formation of inorganic scale. Maria de Fátima B. Souza, Celso Aparecido Bertran, Mônica de Oliveira Penna.

– Simposium G winners

Poster: Theoretical Investigation Of Optical and Structural Properties Of Ba-Doped Zno Material; Luis Henrique da Silveira Lacerda1, Sergio Ricardo de Lazaro1, Renan Augusto Ribeiro1; 1Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa.

– Simposium H winners

Oral: Luminescence Mechanism Of Titanium Doped Rare Earth Oxysulfides Phosphors Obtained By Rapid Microwave Preparation; José Miranda Carvalho1, Cássio Cardoso Santos Pedroso1, Miguel Aguirre Stock Grein Barbará1, Pawel Gluchowski2,3, Lucas Carvalho Veloso Rodrigues4, Maria Cláudia França da Cunha Felinto5, Jorma Hölsä2, Hermi Felinto Brito4; 1Instituto de Química da Usp, 2University Of Turku / Turun Yliopisto, 3Institute Of Low Temperature and Structure Research, 4Universidade de São Paulo, 5Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares.

Poster: Amino Funcionalization Of Y2O3:eu(Iii) Red Nanophosphor Monitored By Luminescence Spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy; André Lucas Costa1, João Paulo Gelamos1, Gabriel Mamoru Marques Shinohara2, Sergio Antonio Marques Lima1, Ana Maria Pires1; 1Fct-Unesp Campus de Presidente Prudente, 2Instituto de Química da Unesp.

– Simposium K winners

Oral: Automatic Reconstruction Of Austenite Grain Structure In Martensitic Eurofer-97 Steel From Electron Backscatter Diffraction Data; Verona Biancardi Oliveira1, Hugo Ricardo Zschommler Sandim1; 1Escola de Engenharia de Lorena – Universidade de São Paulo.

Poster: A Dilatometric Study Of The Continuous Heating Transformations In Maraging 300 Steel; Adriano Gonçalves dos Reis1, Danieli Aparecida Pereira Reis2, Antonio Jorge Abdalla3, Jorge Otubo1, Hugo Ricardo Zschommler Sandim4; 1Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, 2Universidade Federal de São Paulo, 3Instituto de Estudos Avançados, 4Escola de Engenharia Química de Lorena – Universidade de São Paulo.

– Simposium L winners

Oral: Photoelectrochemical Study Of Ta3N5 Nanotubes For Water Splitting; Sherdil Khan1, Marcos Jose Leite Santos1, Jairton Dupont1, Sérgio Ribeiro Teixeira1; 1Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

Poster: Hydrogen Production From Rice Husk Gray Obtained In The Pyrolysis Process; Suelen Rodrigues Almeida1, Carolina Elicker1, Bruno Muller Vieira1, José Ramon Jurado Egea2, Pedro José Sanches Filho3, Mário Lúcio Moreira1, Sergio da Silva Cava1, Cristiane Raubach Ratmann1;1Universidade Federal de Pelotas, 2Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 3Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Sul.

– Simposium M winners

Oral: Graphene Nanoribbons Decorated With Magnetic Fe3O4 Nanoparticles For Dna Sensing; Blanca Azucena Gómez Rodríguez1, Manuel Perez Caro2, Deborah Zanforlin3, Ana Laura Elías4, José Luiz Lima1,5, Antonio Gomes Souza Filho6, Mauricio Terrones4, José Albino Aguiar1; 1Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 2Texas State University, 3Universidade Federal de Pernanbuco, 4Penn State University, 5Departamento de Bioquímica – Ufpe, 6Universidade Federal do Ceará.

Poster: Adjusting Supramolecular Electrostatic Interactions To Produce Mucoadhesive Nanocarriers For Protein Delivery; Leonardo Miziara Barboza Ferreira1, Natália Noronha Ferreira, Charlene Priscila Kiill, Jovan Duran Alonso, Maria Palmira Daflon Gremião; 1Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas-Unesp.

– Simposium N winners

Poster: Preparation and Characterization Of The Lbl Films Based Nanoparticle Graphene Oxide Interacting With 3-N-Propylpirydinium Silsesquixane Chloride; Rodolfo Bonoto Estevam, Rodolfo Thiago Ferreira1, Alan Ben-Hur Bischof, Fábio Santana dos Santos, Cleverson Siqueira Santos, Sérgio Toshio Fujiwara, Karen Wohnrath, Jarem Garcia, Christiana Andrade Pessoa; 1Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa.

– Simposium O winners

Poster: Layered Materials As Nanocarriers To Bioactive Molecules; Caroline Silva de Matos, Michele Aparecida Rocha1, Christine Taviot Gueho2, Fabrice Leroux2, Vera Regina Leopoldo Constantino1; 1Instituto de Química da Universidade de São Paulo, 2Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand.

– Simposium P winners

Poster: Sensor Development Exploiting Graphite-Epoxy Composite As Electrode Material. André Luiz Maia Azevedo1, Renato Soares de Oliveira1, Eduardo Ariel Ponzio1, Felipe Silva Semaan1; 1Universidade Federal Fluminense.

– Simposium S winners

Poster: Structural, Thermal and Optical Studies Of A Nanostructured Composite Formed By Binary Mixtures Of Elemental Nickel and Antimony Powders Produced By Mechanical Alloying; Gleison Adriano da Silva1, Sérgio Michielon de Souza1; 1Universidade Federal do Amazonas.