Check out the highlights of some symposiums according to their organizers.
Symposium D: Advanced materials applied in sensors for health, agricultural, and environmental applications.
Our symposium featured the presentation of approximately 130 papers, 28 of which were oral. We had a presentation by 4 invited speakers from Spain, England, Austria, and Brazil. Regarding oral presentations in the form of posters, we had the participation of Brazilian researchers from practically all regions. Thirteen students submitted their work to compete for RCS and ACS awards. Notably, one of the competitors was selected to receive both awards.
In summary, the objectives proposed for this symposium were fully achieved.
Symposium G: Photocatalytic materials applied in energy conversion and environmental remediation.
162 works were presented, 134 works in the form of posters, 23 works in the form of oral presentation and 5 lectures (invited lecture), with the presence of 2 renowned speakers from abroad: Dr. Conchi Ania from the University of Orléans – France and Dr. Andrea Folli from Cardiff University- United Kingdom.
Of the 162 participants in Symposium G, 69 were from the Northeast region, 60 participants from the Southeast region, 19 from the South region, 4 from the North region, 2 participants from the Center-West of Brazil and 8 from abroad. 9 students competed for prizes, being awarded a prize for the presentation in the form of a poster and a prize for the oral presentation.
This Symposium promoted interaction between researchers and students on advances in the development of new nanostructured materials for the conversion and storage of solar energy, mainly photocatalytic materials for solar water splitting for hydrogen production, conversion of CO 2 into fuels and environmental remediation.
Symposium H: New developments in battery materials: designing and producing more efficient systems via nanoscale characterization.
The Symposium H and the workshop of 2023 B-MRS meeting focused on the latest advances and challenges in the field of battery materials and were held successfully.
Both events gathered a good number of participants. The symposium featured 4 high- level invited speakers from Harvard University, University of Lisbon, Wien University and Thermo Fisher Scientific, 5 oral presentations with one from Thermal Fisher Scientific, one from Italy and 3 from different institutions of Brazil and 10 posters.
There were two invited speakers from China and one invited speaker from USA who could not make their trip due to visa issues. There were less participants than we expected, and the main reason might be that there were three similar symposia for energy storage materials. We believe that the research about battery materials would be significantly boosted in the next years due to the discovery of the Lithium ore in Bazil and thus, a battery symposium will attract a larger interest in the future, namely participants from Industry. Another point that we would like to address is the student awards. There were only a few extended abstracts submitted for awards. We visited all the posters and asked why the students did not apply for the award and the answer was lacking courage. In this case, we should really encourage all the students for extended abstract submission. Overall, the symposium and the workshop were successful, and the symposium organizers would like to thank all the speakers, participants, sponsors and reviewers for their contribution to the success of the event.
Symposium R: Organic electronics, photonics and bioelectronics: fundamentals, applications and emerging technologies.
Symposium R on organic electronics, photonics, and sensing applications was an outstanding success, showcasing the vibrant and innovative landscape of research in this field. We were honored to host renowned international researchers who delivered inspiring talks, shedding light on the cutting-edge developments in this area. The impressive talks from Brazilian presenters highlighted the exceptional quality of research carried out in the country, despite the persistent funding cuts we have faced in recent years. Moreover, the contributions from our talented student speakers demonstrated the remarkable potential of the next generation in advancing the field and filled us with hope for the future of research in Brazil. Symposium R was a true demonstration of the collaborative spirit of our community, and we look forward to replicating its success next year in Santos.
Symposium U: Sustainable production of nanomaterials and ink formulations for affordable, efficient, and reusable printed electronics.
The XXI BMRS Symposium U received a total of 25 submissions, of which 8 were oral presentations covering a wide range of topics. These submissions were mainly represented by bright young researchers from Brazil. In terms of invited talks, the symposium was marked by high-level presentations from international researchers, namely Dr Sergio Pinilla from the Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies (IMDEA); Prof. Jeff Kettle from the University of Glasgow; Dr Emanuel Carlos from CENIMAT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Dr João Coelho from CENIMAT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa/Facultad de Física, Universidad de Sevilla. These were high-quality presentations that led to a very fruitful discussion session. In fact, in all the presentations, with an audience of around 50 people, there were always interesting questions for the speakers, which raised the scientific level of the symposium. It is also important to mention that Merck also had a representative, Carla Decandio, at the symposium. This participation provided a very interesting overview of how big companies are trying to move towards sustainable chemicals and green-printed electronics.
In terms of awards, the oral presentation “Electrodeposition of manganese oxide on paper-based laser-induced graphene for sustainable supercapacitor fabrication” by PhD student Maykel dos Santos Klem ((FCT-UNESP)) was awarded the Bernhard Gross Prize for Best Symposium Presentation. The best poster award went to Júlia Ketzer Majewski (UFPR).
Overall, the symposium was a success and hopefully an inspiration for all young researchers interested in sustainability and printed electronics.
Symposium V: Advanced nanocomposites for photonics : materials synthesis, optical properties and applications.
The symposium focused on recent developments of photonic nanocomposites: synthesis, characterization and potential technological applications. Overview of recent works and experiments that are still being conducted were presented based on advanced nanocomposites: glasses, glass-ceramics, colloids, two-dimensional materials, photonic crystals, hybrid systems, flexible and nanostructured thin films, quantum dots, among others. Several applications for photonics were highlighted as follows: nanothermometry, color displays, optical amplifiers, photovoltaic devices, magneto-optical sensors and random lasers
Poster sessions occurred (October 2nd to 4th) with 70 presentations; the work about tellurite glasses doped with Er3+ ions with potential for thermometry sensing applications, presented by Gaston Lozano Calderón, from Instituto de Física de São Carlos (São Paulo-Brazil), received the Bernhard Gross Award for poster presentation. Oral sessions took place from October 2nd to 5th with 37 presentations, including 14 invited lectures from Brazil (3), Canada (1), Italy (2), France (2), Mexico (1), Spain (1), and USA (4). João Antonio Oliveira Santos, from Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, received the Bernhard Gross Award for the oral presentation about smart nanohybrid platform for temperature sensing. It is important to emphasize the broad audience in all the sessions and the permanent interaction with the presenters. The enthusiasm of the students deserves to be mentioned and motivates all of us to continue persistently.