Tag: pesquisa em materiais

An anniversary at the materials research community: 10 years of PGMAT – UCS.

Posted on Friday 29 de August de 2014
Faculties and students receiving lab equipment through a window in 2007.

This August records the 10th anniversary of one of the 31 Brazilian graduate programs in the field of Materials: the Graduate Program in Materials Engineering and Science of the University of Caxias do Sul (PGMAT – UCS in Portuguese).

PGMAT-UCS history dates back to the year of 2003, when Israel Baumvol, physicist and researcher in the area of Materials, was invited by authorities of UCS to lead the creation of a graduate program in this field of knowledge. Baumvol was, at the time, retiring from his position as professor at the Brazilian Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).

In August, 2004, after conducting a selection process that had 85 applicants for 15 vacancies, PGMAT-UCS started the activities of its Master’s Degree course under the coordination of professor Baumvol. The program then had some laboratories that already existed at the university and a few professors with PhD, and offered the only graduate course at the university in the area of Sciences and Engineering.

Nowadays, the program has more than 20 laboratories and an all its professors hold PhDs. Since 2012, PGMAT also offers a doctoral program, which currently has 19 students.

The same room is today the Laboratory for Surface Characterization at the Nanoscale and has a GDOES analyser, among other instruments.

Another achievement of the program was the signing of an agreement with the European School of Engineers in Material Engineering (EEIGM, in the French acronym) for double degree. Two Masters have graduated with this double degree program after performing academic activities at UCS and EEIGM, headquartered in Nancy, France.

Regarding scientific production, more than 300 articles were published in international journals by faculty and students of the program in its 10 years of existence.

Impact of the research on the industry

From the beginning, the PGMAT-UCS team has pursued the interaction with local companies, based on the affinity that Science and Engineering of Materials have with almost all industrial segments. Thus, already in 2003, the UCS faculty involved in creating the program had visited companies of Caxias do Sul to appraise their needs.

On several occasions throughout its history, PGMAT-UCS could count on resources of companies and entities of the industrial sector, especially the Union of Metallurgical, Mechanics and Electric Equipment Industries of Caxias do Sul (SIMECS), which complemented the public funds in the purchase of equipment for the laboratories of the program.

Inauguration of the Laboratory for Surface Engineering and Thermal Treatments in 2007: local industry was there. Speaking, professor Baumvol.

In 10 years of existence, PGMAT-UCS has graduated 90 Masters. Among them, 45% work in local companies, 10% are academics and 30% are ongoing or concluded their Doctorate degree.

In some cases, the own Master’s research works were essential to the development of new products in the region. This was the case with the Celtrav®, a high-performance material to be used in springs and stops, which composes the product portfolio of the company Travi. A Masters research at PGMAT was also important in developing a coating for ornaments used by the footwear manufacturer Grendene. According to the company, about 18 million pairs of shoes with these ornaments were sold in 2013.

Young entrepreneurs who founded companies from works developed at PGMAT are also among the students and graduates of the program.  Plasmar Tecnologia, one of these spin-off companies, currently provides service for hundreds of industries in the region with plasma-based surface treatments that improve the performance and the cycle life of molds, matrices and other parts and components. The other example is Fineza, a company recently created, dedicated to manufacturing and commercializing products for housing and kitchen with decorative coatings that had been optimized in a PGMAT master’s thesis.

Made in Brazil: incorporating silver nanostructures into oral hygiene products eliminates 99% of bacteria and fungi.

Posted on Monday 28 de July de 2014

A research on the incorporation of silver with antibacterial properties on surfaces, conducted by the  Center for the Development of Functional Materials (CDMF in Portuguese), one of the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers of the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is being applied to toothbrushes.

OralGift, a company with 12 years of experience in the oral hygiene business, in association with CDMF and NANOX Tecnologia, released a new line of products coated with the NanoxClean technology. Produced with silver nanostructures incorporated into the raw materials, the surface of the product is protected against microorganisms and bacteria.

The researchers responsible for this work explain that damp environments, mainly bathrooms, display a large amount of bacteria and fungi. When toothbrushes are left exposed, there is a high possibility of contamination.

The technology incorporating silver nanostructures eliminates 99% of the bacteria and fungi accumulated on  toothbrush and the cases used to keep them, as well as tongue cleaners.

The CDMF Director, Professor Eldon Longo, clarifies the importance of the association between the research developed at the university and the industrial-scale innovation made in companies:  “Nanox is a first world company in innovation, with high technology. It develops products based on nanotechnology, mainly to healthcare. This innovation, released on the market, is another example of creativity in transforming knowledge into wealth for the country”.

 About CDMF

The Center for the Development of Functional Materials (CDMF) is one of the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (CEPID in Portuguese) supported by FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation), and the National Institute of Science and Technology of Materials in Nanotechnology,  and counts with the collaboration of São Paulo State University (Unesp), Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), University of São Paulo, (USP) and the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (Ipen).

Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/INCTMNCMDMC

NANOX

NANOX Tecnologia is located in São Carlos city (Brazil), and was created from a project developed by three young UFSCar students, which they improved during their graduate studies in the Chemistry Institute of Unesp at the Araraquara campus.

The company was among the first ones engaged in the field of nanotechnology in Brazil, and is currently considered the largest in its business in the country, being the first national company to export nanotechnology.

(From Fernanda Vilela – CDMF)

Interviews with plenary lecturers of the XIII SBPMat Meeting: Jean-Marie Dubois (Institut Jean-Lamour, França).

Posted on Thursday 24 de July de 2014
The author, Jean-Marie Dubois (left) and Nobel Prize winner Dan Shechtman (right) celebrating Shechtman’s 70th birthday two years before he was awarded his Nobel Prize. Observe that both carry the same tie, which is decorated by a Penrose tiling, a prototypical example of aperiodicity in the art of drawing and painting.

The French scientist Jean-Marie Dubois, PhD in Physics from National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (France) is a Distinguished Director of Research at the French National Center for Scientific Research, CNRS (France), where he chairs a committee dedicated to materials chemistry, nanomaterials and processing.  He is the former director of Institut Jean Lamour in Nancy (France), a major research institute in field of materials.

His curriculum shows an international scientific trajectory. Dubois holds Honorary Doctorates (Dr Hon. Causa) from Iowa State University (USA) and Federal University of Paraïba (Brazil), is a former “overseas fellow” of Churchill College at University of Cambridge (U.K.) and a permanent visiting professor at Dalian University of Technology (China). He was recently elected as Honorary Member of Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana (Slovenia). He is a member of Lorraine Academy of Sciences (France).

He is the author of more than 250 scientific articles in refereed journals, 14 international patents, and 7 books. His papers were cited more than 5400 times (H index = 39).

Read our interview with the lecturer.

SBPMat newsletter: – Under your viewpoint, which are your main contributions to the field of Materials Science and Engineering? And your scientific/technological contributions with more social impact (patents, products)?

A part of 20x20x30 cm, used by a French car producer, made of a polymer reinforced by a quasicrystalline powder. It that can be produced by additive machining with no restriction regarding complexity of its shape.

Jean-Marie Dubois: – My first contribution that was aimed at a social impact was the discovery of Al-based metallic glasses, which could be good candidates for light-weight alloys useful for the aeronautic industry. I patented them in 1982, listing a number of favorable examples, and as is the rule for a patent, also counter examples. One such composition was in fact a stable quasicrystal, which was unraveled in Japan few years later. Based on this discovery, I was the first to patent few application niches of quasicrystals that are Al-based intermetallics showing no periodic order as do conventional crystals. The discovery of quasicrystals dates back to 1982, but was published in literature only in 1984, whereas my first patent on these materials was filed in 1988. From that on, I dedicated quite some efforts to discover, patent, and produce new research, about different areas of the physics of quasicrystals including thermal conductivity, adhesion and friction, corrosion resistance, etc. My leadership in this area of materials science is recognized by the international community through the “International Jean-Marie Dubois Award” that is offered every three year “to recognize important, sustained research on any aspect of quasicrystals within the 10-year period preceding the award”. Altogether, I own 14 international patents, with more than 35 extensions. I was responsaible for few tens of collaboration contracts with the industry, including a good dozen of contracts financed by the European Commissions with on average half a dozen of industrial partners and the same number of academic partners. The last one was a so-called Network of Excellence that started the field of Complex Metallic Alloys in Europe, with 20 partner institutions from 12 European countries and some 400 scientists on board.

SBPMat newsletter: –  Please choose some of your main publications (about 3 or 4) to share them with our public.

Jean-Marie Dubois:

1) Useful Quasicrystals; J.M. DUBOIS, World Scientific, Singapour (2005), 470 pages.

2) Complex Metallic Alloys, Fundamentals and Applications; Eds. J.M. DUBOIS and E. BELIN-FERRÉ, Wiley (Weinheim, 2010), 409 p.

3) Topological instabilities in metallic lattices and glass formation; J.M. DUBOIS, J. Less Common Metals 145 (1988), 309-326.

4) The applied physics of quasicrystals; J.M. DUBOIS, Scripta Physica, T49 (1993) 17-23.

5) Properties- and applications of complex metallic alloys, J.M. DUBOIS, Chem. Soc. Rev., 41 (2012) 6760-6777.

SBPMat newsletter: – Please give us a short teaser about your plenary talk at SBPMat meeting. What do you intend to broach?

Jean-Marie Dubois: – My talk will be a laudation to the discoverer of quasicrystals who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2011 for his discovery that forced the scientific community to revise its understanding of ordered condensed matter. Members of the MRS Brazil are used to know what is a crystal, a periodically ordered solid. I wish to introduce them to another type of order in solid, that is not periodic, and leads to unprecedented properties. Alloys that exhibit such a type of order are specific and I call them push-pull alloys. Then, I wish to show that this type of order is not restricted to metallic alloys, but may also be encountered in soft matter like polymers, oxides, artificial nanostructures, and even artistic drawings from ancient Islamic tilings. The talk will therefore be a review for the non-expert in quasicrystals and complex intermetallics

Processo seletivo para mestrado e doutorado em Física e Química de Materiais na UFSJ (MG).

Posted on Thursday 5 de June de 2014

O Programa de Pós-graduação em Física e Química de Materiais (FQMat) divulga o Edital 001/2014 do processo seletivo – 2° semestre de 2014, para preenchimento de vagas de mestrado e doutorado.

As inscrições acontecerão no período de 18 a 27 de junho de 2014, 15h às 17h, Sala 3.05 do bloco C do Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Campus Dom Bosco – São João del Rei. As inscrições podem ser feitas via Sedex, desde que a correspondência seja postada até o dia 25 de junho de 2014.
Para mais informações sobre inscrição, documentos necessários, datas das provas e preenchimento da GRU, confira o edital no link
http://www.ufsj.edu.br/fqmat/processo_seletivo.php

Outras informações pelo telefone (32) 3379-2535 , (32) 3379-2444 ou pelo e-mail fqmat@ufsj.edu.br.

SBPMat newsletter. English edition. Year 1, issue 5.

Posted on Monday 2 de June de 2014

 

Brazilian Materials Research Society (SBPMat) newsletter

News update from Brazil for the Materials community

 

English edition. Year 1, issue 5.

Greetings, .

SBPMat’s news

XIII SBPMat meeting:

João Pessoa, September 28th, to October 2nd.

– The deadline for submitting papers for SBPMat’s symposia was extended to June 06th.  Submit yours.

– Hosting options in João Pessoa? See some of them here.

Interviews with plenary speakers
We have interviewed Professor Alberto Salleo, from Stanford University, who is going to give a plenary lecture on organic electronic devices in the XIII SBPMat Meeting. Young, yet holding a career that stands out internationally, Salleo told us about the work conducted by his group, which has been developing a deeper understanding on the role provided by the defects in charge transport in organic semiconductors. He also shared with us his main papers, published in Nature Materials. Finally, Salleo discussed the next challenges and applications on organic electronics, and anticipated what he is going to address in the plenary lecture, which promises to be very informative while mild enough for a wider audience. Read our interview with Alberto Salleo.

SBPMat’s community people

Upon his inauguration as a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC), we talked to Professor Fernando Lázaro Freire Junior, SBPMat’s former president, financial director and scientific director. Throughout his scientific path, Professor Fernando Lázaro has been specially committed to researching carbon-based materials: DLC films, nanotubes and graphene. The researcher told us how he became a scientist, and commented on his most highlighted contributions to the field of Materials. Having a great portion of his career developed in the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio),  the Professor emphasized, in his message to younger readers: it is possible to do research with an international impact in Brazil. Read our interview with Fernando Lázaro Freire Junior. 

History of SBPMat
We talked again to Professor Fernando Lázaro Freire Junior, President of the society during two turns in a roll, from 2006 to 2009. During such time, SBPMat held, in addition to the 4 annual meetings, with an increasing number of attendees, the International Conference on Advanced Materials (ICAM 2009). It was also in those years that the society organized its office. Professor Fernando Lázaro presented a brief overview on his administration, regretted some pending issues (proximity with members and the interaction with the industry) and, to conclude, said that young people should be more involved in SBPMat’s decisions. Read it here.

Featured papers with Brazilian participation
– Our “featured paper” (release about a scientific paper made in Brazil) about ultra-small crystals with modulated shell thickness was posted at the webpage of Materials Today. Read it.

– “A new ozone sensor“, another SBPMat “featured paper”, is among the 10 most read in the month of April at the webpage of Materials Today. Read it.

Reading recommendations
Science journalism stories based on papers published in journals with high impact factor.

– Breakthroughs on molybdenum disulfide lead to new technique and advance the applications of this two-dimensional material (Science). Read it. 

– In a blender, scientists create graphene production route in large scale for composites and coatings (Nature Materials). Read it.

– Biomaterials: silk microstructures are produced with photolithography and guide cell adhesion (Advanced Materials). Read it.

– Biomimetics: new discoveries on the anatomy of the gecko inspired a high-performance adhering material, developed without nanotechnology (Advanced Materials). Read it.
Materials news from the Brazilian National Institutes of Science and Technology (INCTs).

– In order to monitor air pollution rates, project from university-industry partnership develops low-cost sensors, without batteries. Read it.
Another news.

– New Brazilian laboratory for the development of low-weight, high-resistance structures, components and parts. Read it.

– In the United Kingdom, £ 3 million project on nanoparticles for diagnosing and treating cardiovascular diseases. Read it. 

Opportunities
– Postdoctoral fellowship on micro-nanomaterials, monitoring and processing for industrial application in the Brazilian Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Here.

– Selection of the new director for the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM). Here.

– Call for collaborative projects São Paulo State – Finland on some Materials topics. Here.

– L´Oréal-Unesco-ABC Award “For women in Science” for research projects conducted by young female Doctors. Here.

Upcoming events in the area
– 13th International Conference on Modern Materials and Technologies (CIMTEC 2014). Here.

– 1st International Conference on Polyol Mediated Synthesis. Here.

– 2º Workshop Adesão Microbiana e Superfícies. Here.

– 13th European Vacuum Conference + 7th European Topical Conference on Hard Coatings + 9th Iberian Vacuum Meeting. Here.

– 19th International Conference on Ion Beam Modification of Materials. Here.

– XIII SBPMat Meeting. Here.

– MM&FGM 2014 – 13th International Symposium on Multiscale, Multifunctional and Functionally Graded Materials. Here.

– X Brazilian Symposium on Glass and Related Materials (X-BraSGlass). Here.
To suggest news, opportunities, events or reading recommendations items for inclusion in our newsletter, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.
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Interviews with SBPMat’s former presidents: Fernando Lázaro Freire Junior (2006-2007 and 2008-2009).

Posted on Wednesday 28 de May de 2014

An active participant of the creation process of SBPMat and member of its founding board, Fernando Lázaro Freire Junior was elected the president of our society for two consecutive terms, chairing SBPMat’s board from 2006 to 2007, and from 2008 to 2009. During the whole time, Professor Fernando Lázaro counted with Professor Osvaldo Novais de Oliveira Júnior as managing director. The financial office was held by Glória Dulce de Almeira Soares in the first tenure, then by Sérgio de Souza Camargo Júnior in the second one. Aldo Felix Craievich and Paulo Fernando Papaleo Fichtner were the scientific directors for both terms, being joined in the latter by Antonio Eduardo Martinelli and Margareth Spangler Andrade.

It can be said that Professor Fernando Lázaro is a physicist from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), as it was there that he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physics, in 1978, his Master’s in 1981 and Doctorate in 1985. In 1979, he started teaching in the same university and, in 2012, became a Full Professor. He was the Director of PUC-Rio’s Physics Department from 2003 to 2008. In Europhysics Letters (a journal from the European Physical Society), Professor Lázaro worked as coeditor between 2006 and 2010, and advisory editor from 2010 to 2013. In the Research Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), he was the coordinator of the Physics and Astronomy field, from 2008 to 2012, and currently is a member of the Higher Board.

Since 2011, Professor Fernando Lázaro is the director of the Brazilian Center for Research in Physics (CBPF). In December 2013 he was elected full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC). Author of over 170 scientific articles, with more than 2.500 citations, he is a Level 1A researcher in the Brazilian National Research Foundation, CNPq.

Which follows is an interview with this SBPMat’s former president on his two terms:

 1.  List the main actions performed during your terms as SBPMat’s president.

 In addition to organizing the annual meetings, which had an ever increasing audience in that time, we held the International Conference on Advanced Materials (ICAM) in Rio de Janeiro, structured the SBPMat office, as well as established the cooperation with the sister institutions MRS and E-MRS, the American and European Materials societies, but also with the International Union of Materials Research Society (IUMRS), when SBPMat attended the Second World Materials Summit on Advanced Materials in Energy Applications and Sustainable Society Development, in Lisbon. From a financial perspective, the coffer of the society had funds when we leave. By the way, such practice started in the administration of Professor Longo, leaving the presidency free of financial or labor problems for the next one, and it has still been followed in the administrations that succeed mine.

2. List the main difficulties faced during your terms as SBPMat’s president.

Initially, there was the lack of an administrative structure in the society, which, up to that point, depended entirely on the work of its directors and of the researchers organizing the annual meetings. I had more luck than the previous administration, and with the funds available, we could hire a secretary and interns to run the society. Later, we hired a second secretary and the management became more professional. Another issue was organizing the ICAM. An events agency was hired, but it could not deliver, which caused a great stress, due to the hardship to organize an international meeting with more than 1600 researchers.

3. What could have been done, but was still pending?

Take the Society closer to its members. This was very poorly attempted with SBPMAt’s electronic panel, which used to spread news of the interest of its associates. Nowadays, our newsletter is orders of magnitude better. Such process requires time; we can’t compare a society like ours, with little more than 10 years, to others, holding over 40, 50 years of existence. It was still lacking a major interaction with the productive sector, which is still far from occurring in a level that truly represents the importance held by the Materials research in several fields of our economy.

4. What would you highlight about the SBPMat meetings that were organized and held in your administration?

First, there was the increasing participation of students and researchers, proving that the SBPMat’s Annual Meeting came to fill a gap in the Brazilian scenario. In addition to that, there is the itinerant nature of the meeting. In those four years, we held meetings in Natal and Florianópolis, as well as Rio de Janeiro and Guarujá. As the meeting counts with the substantial attendance of foreign researchers, this aspect is important as it brings the possibility of gaining access to scientific events to new students in all regions of the country. Another important point is the good scientific level of the contributions which have been presented and the interdisciplinary nature of the symposia, making the SBPMat Annual Meeting the most important event in the field of Materials, in Brazil.

5. Would you like to leave a message to our readers, concerning the election process of our SBPMat?

The participation rate is still very low, and I think the effective involvement of its associates is crucial to strengthen SBPMat. The current board and its council represent an important renewal when compared to previous ones, and that is good, it is good for the younger people to take part in the society, its decisions and management.

SBPMat´s community people: an interview with Fernando Lázaro Freire Junior.

Posted on Wednesday 28 de May de 2014
Professor Fernando Lázaro Freire Júnior.

On May 6th, at the Naval School of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) held the tenure ceremony of its new members, elected in a process of nomination and evaluation by their peers, performed throughout 2013. In the event, 24 scientists were assigned as full members of ABC.  Among those, in the field of Physical Sciences, there was Professor Fernando Lázaro de Freire Junior, Materials researcher and former president of SBPMat.

Contemplating the ideia of being a researcher, Fernando Lázaro chose to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics by the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RIO), earning it in 1978. In 1979, he started teaching in the same university, while attending his Master’s (1979-1981) and Doctorate (1981-1985) courses in Physics there. During his graduate studies, Fernando Lázaro made his first scientific interventions in the field of Materials by means of an ion accelerator, initially used by him for works in Atomic Physics. In 1998, he went to Università degli Studi di Padova (in Italy) for his Postdoctoral studies, working with materials surfaces and interfaces.

From 2003 to 2008, he was the Director of PUC-Rio’s Physics Department. From 2008 to 2012, he coordinated the field of Physics and Astronomy in the Research Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ). In Europhysics Letters (a journal from the European Physical Society), Professor Lázaro worked as coeditor between 2006 and 2010, and advisory editor from 2010 to 2013. In SBPMat, he served two consecutive terms as president, two as scientific director and one as financial director.

Currently, Fernando Lázaro is a Full Professor in PUC-Rio and director of Centro the Brazilian Center for Research in Physics (CBPF), in addition to being a member of the FAPERJ’s Higher Board and coordinator of the National Institute of Surface Engineering. Author of over 170 scientific articles, with more than 2500 citations, he is a level 1A researcher in the Brazilian National Research Foundation, CNPq. Among his most relevant papers, there are several studies on carbon-based materials: DLC (diamond-like carbon) films, nanotubes and, more recently, graphene.

Following there is a brief interview with the researcher.

SBPMat newsletter: – Tell us a little about your history: what led you to become a scientist and work in the field of Materials?

Fernando Lázaro: – I always enjoyed Physics and Mathematics during high school, but in 1974 I had no ideia, when I applied for college entrance exams, that it was possible to do research in Brazil. Because of this, I took the exam to major in Electrical Engineering in PUC-Rio, and only there I realized that it was possible to perform researches in the field of Physics, in Brazil. Then, I transferred myself to the Bachelor’s in Physics, which was easier, as in 1975 PUC-Rio already had a common Basic Cycle for the whole of its Scientific and Technical Center. So, I didn’t waste any time. I was in my second year in the undergraduate studies. My graduate studies, then, still in PUC-Rio, were in Atomic Physics, using an ion accelerator as a working tool. As such accelerator was also a great tool to analyze materials, it was through this path that I entered into the field of Materials.

SBPMat newsletter- What do you consider as your main contributions to the field of Materials?

Fernando Lázaro: – My research has always been conducted in collaboration with several colleagues and students, and I think we made an important contribution to the study of nanostructured carbon films (diamond-like carbon films, DLC), as attested by the papers with a high number of citations and all the invitations to be invited lecturer in many international congresses. It is evident that supervising students has been important too, as well the management positions in PUC-Rio, CBPF and SBPMat.

SBPMat newsletter: – Choose some of your more highlighted papers, and comment on them, if possible.

Fernando Lázaro: – My most cited paper is an article in Applied Physics Letters, published in 1992, coauthored by Carlos Achete, from COPPE/UFRJ, and Dante Franceschini, currently at UFF, on the nitrogen incorporation in DLC films  [Franceschini, D. F. ; Achete, C. A. ; Freire Junior, F. L. Internal Stress Reduction By Nitrogen Incorporation In Hard a-C:H Thin Films. Applied Physics Letters, New York, v. 60, p. 3229-3231, 1992]. It was released at the right time, and offered a relevant result for the issue of the applications of such materials, namely, the decrease of the internal tension of the film (an important factor in the debonding of films from the substrates), without a significant change in its hardness.

SBPMat newsletter: – In your opinion, what are the main challenges in your current research field for Materials Science and Engineering?

Fernando Lázaro: – I have been working with graphene and carbon nanotubes. For both, the production of good quality samples, in a controlled and profitable form, still represents a great obstacle for the use of those materials in a broader way than the one that has been verified up to this point.

SBPMat newsletter: – Send a message to our readers who are starting their careers as scientists.

Fernando Lázaro – An encouraging message. The material working conditions nowadays are much better than when I started, three decades ago; the same can be said about the wages in academia. So, things have improved and tend to keep getting better, and I think it is feasible to conduct good quality researches, with an international impact, in Brazil.

Interview with Professor Jose Arana Varela, honored with the Bridge Building Award from American Ceramic Society.

Posted on Thursday 27 de February de 2014
Professor Arana Varela (to the left) receiving the award. Photo by American Ceramic Society.

On the last January 27th, in Daytona Beach (Florida, United States), during the 38th edition of International Conference and Exposition on Advanced Ceramics and Composites, the Bridge Building Award of the American Ceramic Society was given to a Brazilian for the first time, Professor José AranaVarela, president of our SBPMat from 2010 to 2011. The honor annually distinguishes people from outside the United States who have notably contributed to the field of engineering ceramics.

Graduated in Physics from University of São Paulo in 1968, Arana Varela also has a Master’s Degree in Physics for the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA), becoming a Master in 1975. He took his PhD from 1977 to 1981 at University of Washington (United States), conducting research in the field of ceramic materials.

Currently, Arana Varela is Full Professor at Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP) and president-director of the executive board of São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp), as well as member of the council for competitivity and innovation at São Paulo Federation of Industries (FIESP). Professor Arana Varela is also full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC), among other associations, and member of the editorial body for the journals Ceramics International, Science of Sintering, Cerâmica and Materials Research. Besides, he coordinates the innovation division at the Multidisciplinary Center for Development of Ceramic Materials.

His scientific papers gather over 6,500 citations. In the last 13 years, he has been the author of more than 500 articles, published in international journals. Up to this moment, he has advised and co-advised assignments for over 30 masters and over 40 doctoral theses.

Throughout his career, he has received more than 20 awards from organizations such as American Ceramic Society, Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, CNPq, Associação Brasileira de Metalurgia e Materiais and Associação Brasileira de Cerâmica.

A brief interview with the researcher can be seen below:

SBPMat Bulletin: – Tell us a little bit about your story: which were the opportunities and choices that led you to become a researcher in the field of ceramic materials?

José Arana Varela: – Our choice of being a scientist in mateirals started during the Master’s at ITA, in  1972. During this period (in 1975), I met Professor O. J. Whittemore from the University of Washington, Seattle, during his visit to Universidade Federal de São Carlos for a year. As my master’s research was related to a physico-chemical view of thermal decomposition of talcum, which is a ceramic material, Professor Whittemore became interested in it and made some remarks regarding ceramic processing (his specialty). Thence the invitation for a doctorate in Seattle (from 1977 to 1981).

SBPMat Bulletin: – In your own analysis, which were your main contributions to the science and technology of materials? Specifically, can you comment on your main contributions to the field of engineering ceramics, the focus of Bridge Building Award?

José Arana Varela: — As the main theme of our doctoral theses was related to sintering models, we performed a simple study about variable effects, such as water vapor and heating rate in densification and microstructure of magnesium oxide ceramic. We created a model to take into account the structural rearrangement in sintering process.

Considering the evolution on application of ceramic materials in Microelectronics, due to functionality of these materials, we started the Electroceramic line in the 90’s. The functionality initially chosen was resistivity variation with electrical field (ceramic varistors) due to its application, mostly with lightning rods and electric circuits protectors. After understanding and contributing with varistor’s system based on zinc oxide (ZnO), we proposed to change the system considering another semi-conductor (stannous oxide). In this case, we developed throughout the years a stannous oxide varistor with properties that were much superior to traditional ZnO varistors.

Other contributions are related to development of thin ceramic films with Perovskite structure, with the purpose of optimizing their dielectric, piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties by using chemical deposition. We have advanced in the knowledge of chemical deposition, which we call polymeric precursors methods. One of the applications of these films are related to the manufacture of ferroelectric memories. With this, our students have worked in characterizing thin films with ferroelectric properties in some systems such as barium titanate, lead zirconate titanate, as well as strontium niobate and tantalate. A patent in ferroelectric memories, licensed to Panasonic, was proposed by a group led by Professor Carlos Paz de Araujo, at University of Colorado.

The latest contribution is related to sensors with nanometric structure, in collaboration with a group led by Professor Harry Tuller at MIT. Recent results were very promising and they showed great sensitivity in nanosensors based on stannous monoxide. It is important to point out that we have recently applied for patent regarding this study.

SBPMat Bulletin: – “Bridge building”, building bridges. Can you share with us a retrospective on the main bridges built throughout your career and the ones you would like to build?

José Arana Varela: — Our bridges have been built from the moment we finished our PhD at University of Washington. I continued to collaborate with Professor Whittemore for decade and I started other partnerships with Professor Gary Messing at Penn State University e then Professor Richard Bradt at University of Alabama.

Concurrently, we had joint projects in Europe with Professor João Baptista at Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal and with Doctor José Fernandez from Institute of Ceramics and Glass in Madrid, related to the subject of Electroceramics. We began to collaborate with groups in Bordeaux, France (Professor Marc Onillon), as well as André Perrin at University of Rennes. The collaborations proceeded with groups led by Professor Paolo Nanni at University of Genoa, concurrently with group led by Professor Danilo Suvorov at Josef Stephan Institute, in Slovenia and Professor Harry Tuller at MIT, in Boston.

SBPMat Bulletin: — Would you like to leave a message for our readers who are developing their academic or industry career as materials researchers?

José Arana Varela: — Science of Materials is fundamental to developing new useful technologies that will resolve society’s greatest problems. Great advancement in knowledge of ceramic materials, mostly their application in production of energy, communication, environmental control, etc., has been increasing in the past 20 years, mainly because of increased collaboration among researchers in different parts of the world. Science of Materials stopped being polarized between the United States and Europe (Germany, England and France) and it relies on contributions from other players in Asia and certainly Brazil. Fundamental knowledge of mass and charge transportation mechanisms, as well as structure of materials in nanometric scale, is essential to new developments and advances in technology.

 

SBPMat newsletter – first issue

Posted on Monday 3 de February de 2014

 

Brazilian Materials Research Society (SBPMat) newsletter

News update from Brazil for the Materials community

 

English version – First edition

Greetings, .

SBPMat’s news

XIII SBPMat meeting: symposia.

See the list of the symposia approved for this year’s meeting. Here.

Featured paper with Brazilian participation
Signed by 19 authors, the paper highlighted this month by our newsletter is about nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons, synthesized by CVD in one single process. In the article published in Advanced Functional Materials, the scientists show that nitrogen increases the semiconductor behavior and the chemical reactivity of the nanoribbons, expanding the possibilities of application in electronics, in addition to generate a particular morphology in its borders. A part of the work was carried out in the Federal University of the State of Pernambuco (UFPE).  Here.

History of Materials research in Brazil
Six years ago, CAPES (the government agency linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Education in charge of promoting high standards for post-graduate courses in Brazil) included “Materials” in its table of knowledge areas. Know more about this story in the article we have prepared, based on an interview with Professor Lívio Amaral, one of the men behind its creation. Here.

SBPMat’s community people

A former president of SBPMat, José Arana Varela, is the first Brazilian researcher to receive the Bridge Building Award from the American Ceramic Society. Here.

Reading recommendations
Science journalism stories based on papers published in journals with high impact factor.

  • Nanoparticle system that deliver several drugs against cancer into different parts of the cell (based on paper from Advanced Functional Materials). Here.
  • Nanoparticles detect tumors based on the amplification of signals from the microenvironment (based on paper from Nature Materials). Here.
  • Study led by a Brazilian scientist shows metamaterials that perform mathematical operations with electromagnetic waves (based on paper from Science). Here.
  • New technique integrates graphene with other materials, forming a two-dimensional seamless sheet (based on paper from Science). Here.

Books, presentations, multimedia material, etc.

  • Review of book “Nanotechnology for the Energy Challenge“. Here.
  • Review of book “Biopolymer Nanocomposites“. Here.

Innovation: in the market or nearly there.

  • Rubber made of dandelion for tires: multi-disciplinary study carried out by Fraunhofer Institute and the manufacturer Continental. Here.

Anniversaries.

  • 100 years after the discovery of X-ray crystallography, 2014 is the International Year of Crystallography. Here.

Upcoming events in the area.
  • VI Curso do Método Rietveld de Refinamento de Estrutura. Here.
  • 10º Encontro Brasileiro sobre Adsorção. Here.
  • 13th International Conference on Modern Materials and Technologies (CIMTEC 2014). Here.
  • 1st International Conference on Polyol Mediated Synthesis. Here.
  • 13th European Vacuum Conference + 7th European Topical Conference on Hard Coatings + 9th Iberian Vacuum Meeting. Here.
  • 19th International Conference on Ion Beam Modification of Materials. Here.
  • XIII Encontro da SBPMat. Here.
To suggest news, opportunities, events or reading recommendations items for inclusion in our newsletter, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.
Unsubscribe here.

 

CAPES’s Materials Area Anniversary. Part 1.

Posted on Thursday 30 de January de 2014

At the end of January, 2014, the Brazilian community of Materials research celebrates an anniversary: the Materials Area of CAPES reaches its sixth year of existence. CAPES is the government agency linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Education in charge of promoting high standards for post-graduate courses in Brazil.

In fact, it was on January 30th, 2008, that CAPES’s published a press release announcing the introduction of changes to its table of areas. Such table lists the areas of knowledge and it is used in the evaluations of the post-graduation programs in Brazil. The changes disclosed in such note included the insertion of the Materials Area, which up until then did not exist, and which from then on would be a part of the Multi-disciplinary greater area, which had been recently created.

One day prior to such disclosure, an official letter from CAPES’s Evaluation Office had been sent to all coordinators of post-graduation programs previously identified as possibly being grouped into the new area. The official letter informed that a recent meeting of CAPES’s Superior Board had approved the creation of the new Materials area of evaluation, and also that physicist Lívio Amaral, a professor from the UFRGS (Federal University of the State of Rio Grande do Sul) had been appointed as the pro-tempore coordinator. In addition, the official letter asked the coordinators who deemed it to be in the interest of their programs to become connected to the new area of evaluation, to inform CAPES of their decision.

Background

In September, 2012, professor Amaral had taken part in a meeting at the headquarters of CNPq (Brazilian Council for the Scientific and Technological Development) called by Professor Celso de Melo, who was a director in the council. The theme of the meeting was the Materials Science and Engineering area, and the Advisory Boards of such body. The other participants of the meeting were the professors Glória de Almeida Soares (from COPPE-UFRJ), Elson Longo (from UFSCar) and João Marcos Alcoforado Rebello (from COPPE-UFRJ).

A document signed by the participants of the meeting pointed some problems with the evaluation of research projects in the Materials Area. To sum it up, due to the fact that there was no Advisory Board for the Materials Area at that time, the projects and other requests pertaining to Materials Science or Engineering were often appraised with debatable parameters or sent from area to area until someone was found who could evaluate them, a situation which significantly increased the number of appeals received by the CNPq and the time to reply to the requesting researcher. To solve such issue, the document proposed initially the creation of a committee with representatives from the several areas of knowledge involving Materials and also that the scientific societies with any relation to Materials were to be called to the debate, to find a solution fully backed by the technical and scientific community.

“This matter of the inclusion of a Materials area in the government fostering agencies had been considered since the mid-90s”, Lívio Amaral states. “That occurred within the context of creation of a Brazilian Materials society, having the MRS as a reference, which ended up occurring in the early 00s. At the time, there was a lot of debate in several situations, such as in the Brazilian Meetings on Condensed Matter Physics of the Brazilian Physics Society”, he adds.

In parallel, professor Amaral had been following-up on that matter within CAPES, where he was the coordinator of the Physics and Astronomy Area. According to Amaral, by means of evaluations conducted every three years, it was possible to verify that several post-graduation programs, regardless of the names they had and by which of CAPES’s areas they were encompassed, were awarding master and doctorate degrees with intellectual production in Materials. “Since, in addition to being department coordinator, I also took part in CAPES’s Technical and Scientific Council, I had the opportunity to take that entire matter to debate in such Council”, the professor  comments.

At that time, Jorge Almeida Guimarães, who would become CAPES’s president in 2004, was the coordinator of the Biological Sciences II Area and, like professor Amaral, took part in the Technical and Scientific Council and was a professor in the UFRGS. “We discussed at length the need to create two new areas, the Materials and Biotechnology areas”, Lívio Amaral tells us.

In addition, Amaral recalls that another favorable coincidence then occurred. CAPES’s president at the time was Professor Abílio Afonso Baeta Neves, who had previously been the dean of post-graduation in UFRGS when the program of post-graduation in Materials Science had been submitted to the university, by initiative from professors of the Physics department, Amaral included, and of the Engineering and the Chemistry departments. “In summary, in that scenario, the discussion regarding new areas, inside and outside the Technical and Scientific Council, was very frequent due to such circumstances”, professor Amaral sums it up.

Meeting of CAPES’s Technical and Scientific Council, at the time of professor Abílio Baeta Neves’s presidency. At the table, the third one from the right is the president; the sixth, the one speaking, is professor Jorge Guimarães; the seventh is profesor Lívio Amaral. (Picture provided by Lívio Amaral)

The decision for the creation

According to Amaral, in July, 2007, CAPES held a meeting in Brasília, to consider the possible creation of a new area of knowledge, to be called “Materials”. Representatives from several post-graduation programs were invited, including professor Lívio, who was at the time the coordinator of UFRGS’s program.

The official letter-invitation sent by CAPES’s Evaluation Office contained: “The agency has been granted to such area the importance it deserves, considering the relevance of the creation of new materials for the current science and technology. CAPES’s Superior Council, in addition, has already authorized this Office to create the area at hand. For such decision, the meeting to be held in July 31st shall be decisive, for it will allow us to conclude if such innovative measure is in the interests of the programs – and of the Brazilian science and technologies. The new area would encompass all programs that – currently divided into different areas of knowledge – highlight this theme, which is a priority for the Country and for applied sciences”.

“The meeting was, therefore, conclusive for the creation of the new area and designed the initial milestones for the same”, Amaral states. Thus, on January 25th, 2008, CAPES’s Ordinance No. 09 was published, which ordinance, in its article 3, created two new areas of knowledge, “Materials” and “Biotechnology”, and designated their pro tempore coordinators.

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List of post-graduation programs that adhered to the Materials area (as of March, 2008).

1. Program of Post-Graduation in Materials – UNIVERSIDADE DE CAXIAS DO SUL

2. Program of Post-Graduation in Materials Science – UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL  DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL

3. Program of Post-Graduation in Materials Engineering and Science – UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO CEARÁ

4. Program of Post-Graduation in Materials Science – UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE PERNANBUCO

5. Program of Post-Graduation in Materials Science and Technology – UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA “JÚLIO DE MESQUITA FILHO” – UNESP-BAURÚ

6. Program of Post-Graduation in Materials Engineering – UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO – ESCOLA DE ENGENHARIA DE LORENA

7. Program of Post-Graduation in Materials Engineering and Science – UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO NORTE

8. Program of Post-Graduation in Materials Engineering and Science – UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO – SÃO CARLOS

9. Program of Post-Graduation in Materials Science and Technology – UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA “JÚLIO DE MESQUITA FILHO” – UNESP- CAMPUS DE ILHA SOLTEIRA

10. Program of Post-Graduation in Materials Engineering and Science – UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SANTA CATARINA.

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