Organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors can simultaneously transport ionic and electronic charges, thus enabling exciting new opportunities for energy harvesting and storage and bio-/opto-electronic applications. This symposium aims to provide a forum for discussing interdisciplinary research in organic ionic, electronic, and mixed ionic-electronic conductors. The emphasis of this symposium will be on the following:
- Provide a theoretical framework for the wide range of ionic, electronic, and mixed ionic-electronic transport processes in organic conductors.
- Understand the fundamental mechanisms of electrical (molecular) and electrochemical doping.
- Explore the impact of chemical functionality, (macro)molecular structure, and film morphology on ionic, electronic, and mixed ionic-electronic transport.
- Discuss the challenges and opportunities for in-operando characterization of organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors, including spectroscopy, scattering, microbalance, microprobe, and electron microscopy.
- Electrical/electrochemical doping
- Structure-property relationships
- In-operando characterization
- Charge transport theory
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Gabriel Gomila has got a PhD in Physics from the University of Barcelona (1997) with a thesis based on the theoretical modelling of electron transport at semiconductor interfaces. Later on, he was post-doctoral researcher at three different universities in Italy, France and Spain where he specialized in the theoretical modelling of nanoescale electronic devices. In 2001 he moved to the Department of Electronics at the University of Barcelona thanks to a Ramon y Cajal fellowship, where he expanded his research interests towards the merge of electronics and biological fields, thus focusing on microsystems for biological applications on-a-chip and on Atomic Force Microscopy for the electrical study of biological samples. In 2005 he became Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona and in 2008 Group Leader at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalunya (IBEC). In 2014 and 2022 he was awarded with the ICREA Academia prize, which recognizes and promotes the research excellence of the university staff of Catalonia. Since 2017 he is Full Professor at the Department of Electronics of the University of Barcelona. His current research interests are centred on the understanding of the bioelectrical phenomena at the nanoscale. He combines research activities with teaching on Nanobiotechnology, Scanning Probe Microscopy, Bioelectricity and Nanomedicine at the University of Barcelona.
Jenny Nelson is a Professor of Physics at Imperial College London, where she has researched novel varieties of material for use in solar cells since 1989. Her current research is focussed on understanding the properties of molecular semiconductor materials and their application to organic solar cells. This work combines fundamental electrical, spectroscopic and structural studies of molecular electronic materials with numerical modelling and device studies, with the aim of optimising the performance of plastic solar cells. She has published around 200 articles in peer reviewed journals, several book chapters and a book on the physics of solar cells.
Bioelectronic systems have recently shown unprecedented potential for developing therapies as well as new diagnostic tools for healthcare. These systems target to controlling cellular activity by delivering local electrical cues, or to sensing bioelectrical signals induced by biological events. Within this multi-disciplinary symposium, we aim to bridge the gap between biology, engineering, and materials science to promote a holistic overview on bioelectronic systems for therapeutic and diagnostics. We aim to bringing together researchers with diverse expertise across various fields, and from around the world, to share their knowledge on bioelectronic systems for a wide range of applications in biology, disease treatment and diagnosis. We hope that this symposium will serve as a comprehensive reference of the state-of-the-art of the field, while also paving the way for further advancements.
Program- Neuronal Bioelectronic interfaces
- Bioelectronic Implants
- In vitro Bioelectronic Systems
- Optical Stimulation of living systems
- Biosensing
- Neuromorphic Bioelectronics
Achilleas Savva is an Assistant Professor in the Bioelectronics group at Delft University of Technology, in The Netherlands. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in chemical engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, in 2010. He then obtained his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Cyprus University of Technology in 2014. His PhD research was focused on organic optoelectronics for renewable energy. In 2017 he joined the group of Professor Sahika Inal in KAUST, Saudi Arabia, as a postdoc, and expanded his research on organic bioelectronics. In 2019, he joined the group of Professor Róisín Owens at the University of Cambridge where he secured the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. He developed several novel organic bioelectronic devices such as biosensors, light sensitive devices for photo-stimulation of neurons, 3D in vitro human stem cell models, among others. Achilleas was born in Limassol, Cyprus.
Husam Alshareef is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). He is also the Director of the newly-established Center of Excellence in Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies at KAUST. He obtained his Ph.D. at NC State University followed by a post-doctoral Fellowship at Sandia National Laboratories, USA.
He spent over 10 years in the semiconductor industry where he implemented processes in volume production for chip manufacturing. He joined KAUST in 2009, where he initiated an active research group focusing on the development of nanomaterials for energy and electronics applications. His work has been recognized by over 25 awards including the SEMATECH Corporate Excellence Award, two Dow Sustainability Awards, the Kuwait Prize for Sustainable and Clean Technologies, and the KAUST Distinguished Teaching Award. He has published over 600 papers and 80 issued patents. He is a Fellow of several prestigious societies including the American Physical Society (APS), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), US National Academy of Inventors (NAI), Institute of Physics (IoP), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He has been a Clarivate Analytics Highly-cited Researcher in Materials Science for several years.
Maria Asplund is professor in Bioelectronics at Chalmers University of Technolology. Her research expertise is in bioelectronics, flexible microtechnology, tissue-device interaction and electronic biomaterials. After completing her PhD at the Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, 2009) she led her own research group at the University of Freiburg, Germany (2011-22). Her work has resulted in new technologies which contributes to smaller, more energy efficient and durable bioelectronics in the future. She currently holds ERC starting and proof of concept grants, is a Visiting Professor at Luleå University of Technology (2019-23) and an editorial board member of Scientific Reports. Maria Asplund is furthermore the scientific secretary for the Swedish Society for Medical Engineering.
Rainer SCHINDL is a biophysicist with strong interest in bioelectronic medicine and electrophysiology. His research combines in vivo studies on live-cells and in silico simulations. He has done pioneering work in organic light-triggered semiconductors for neuronal stimulation. Currently, he focuses on optoelectronic neuro-stimulation and electronically controlled local chemotherapy.
Georgios Spyropoulos (a.k.a George D. Spyropoulos) joined Ghent University as an assistant professor in the Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Materials Science and Technology from the University of Crete (Greece). He joined the nanomaterials & organic electronics group (Greece) of Prof. Kymakis to work on organic electronics for his bachelor and master thesis. He then moved to Prof. Christoph J. Brabec’s group at Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET), focusing on smart device fabrication strategies for solution-processed solar cells to pursue his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany). He is the recipient of the Cross-disciplinary postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the Human Frontier Science Program Organisation. His postdoctoral research at Prof. Khodagholy's Translational Neuro-Electronics lab of Columbia University (USA) aimed at the development of neural interface devices based on organic electronics.
His multidisciplinary research is focused on innovating neural interfaces that can address fundamental questions regarding the auditory-neurological pathways and the neurobiology of the brain, as well as conduct diagnostics and interventions to mitigate relevant disorders. Prof. Spyropoulos is the principal investigator of the Neural Waves (NeW) lab.
Bioelectrochemical systems combine biological and electrochemical processes to engineer sensors, novel sustainable catalysts and/or treat wastewater. By interfacing microorganisms, enzymes or plants with electrochemical methods/ materials novel technologies are introduced, aiming at improving the reducing or oxidizing metabolism. Research in this area focuses on the selection and design of novel (sustainable) electrode materials, the design of the electrochemical setup (including microfluidics for on chip integration) and subsequently the screening of electrochemically active or inactive model compounds/microorganisms. This symposium thus covers state-of-the-art technologies and fundamental studies related to electron transfer (efflux and consumption) for applications ranging from sensing and catalysis to wastewater treatment. We welcome abstracts/studies spanning from materials science and engineering to fundamental understanding of processes aiming to provide a holistic view/understanding of this emerging field.
- Microbial/ cell-based electrochemical systems
- On-chip enzymatic assays
- Engineering biotic-abiotic interfaces
- Self-powered biosensors
- Sustainable electrode materials for catalysis
- Photo-bioelectrocatalysts
- Enzymatic biosensors
- Sustainable electrodes and materials
- Organic electronics for biocatalysis
- 2D materials for biocatalysis
Anna-Maria Pappa is currently Asst Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Khalifa University and Visiting scholar at Cambridge University. She holds a PhD in Bioelectronics from the University of Lyon (2017). Prior to her appointment in KU she was the Oppenheimer research fellow at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at Cambridge University and the Maudslay-Butler Research Fellow in Engineering at Pembroke College, Cambridge. In 2017 she received the L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science award for developing an innovative platform that can be used to test the efficacy of newly synthesized antibiotics and in 2019 she was listed on the Innovators under 35 MIT technology review. Anna-Maria is an SPIE and MRS member as well as a Maudslay Society member. She is also affiliated with Pembroke College, Cambridge. She is an editor in Frontiers in Electronics, Scientific Reports and Biosensors, Mdpi. During her independent career she has served as Visiting Scholar in Cornell University (USA) and in the Institure of laser processes in FORTH Crete, Greece. In KU Anna-Maria is a member of the Healthcare Engineering Innovation Center, leading a team in biomicrofluidics and biosensors. Her current research interests lie in bio-integrated electronics, using polymeric semiconductors and synthetic biology to develop hierarchically organized biological models for point-of-care sensors. She has (co)authored more than 40 peer-reviewed articles, 3 book chapters, and has 1 full patent. She has delivered more than 32 presentations in international conferences (12 invited ones) and has given 10 seminars in leading Universities. Other professional activities include: expert evaluator of projects for EU-ERC, organization/chairing conferences (i.e., MRS Spring 2021), ad-hoc university committees and journal reviewing (RSC, ACS, Wiley) .
Prof. Kyriaki Polychronopoulou is currently a Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Khalifa University, and Visiting Professor at ETH-Zurich. She is also the Founding Director of the Catalysis and Separation Center (CeCaS) at KU, the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates. CeCaS is actively supporting the vision of the UAE towards alterative fuels (hydrogen, biofuels), decarbonization though CO2 conversion to useful fuels and hydrocarbon exploitation. She is regular member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Academy of Scientists (MBRAS, https://mbras.ae).
She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Cyprus (2005). Before her appointment at Khalifa University she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University (IL, USA) and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (IL, USA). During her independent career, she has also worked as a Research Fellow in the National Physical Laboratory (UK), Texas A&M (USA), and KAIST (Korea).
Dr. Polychronopoulou's research contribution is focused on experimental and computational catalysis both from fundamental and applied perspective. She focuses her research on unlocking the reaction mechanisms and understanding of surface phenomena and their association with catalytic material microstructure. Processes of primary focus are: hydrogen (H2) production, CO2 conversion, biofuels production.
Susan Daniel is the Fred H. Rhodes Professor of Chemical Engineering and the William C. Hooey Director of the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University. Her research team strives to understand phenomena at biological interfaces and chemically patterned surfaces that interact with soft matter – liquids; polymers; and biological materials, like cells, viruses, proteins, and lipids. Her team pioneered “biomembrane chips” to conduct cell-free, biophysical studies of mammalian, bacterial, and plant cell membranes, and recently merged this technology with organic electronic devices for expanded sensing capabilities.
Onur Parlak earned his PhD in Bioelectronics from Linköping University in 2015. He then received a Fellowship from The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) and started postdoctoral research at Stanford University, focusing on wearable bioelectronics. After spending three years, he turned back to Sweden and joined the Karolinska Institutet to translate his engineering skills into medical settings with KAW starting grant.
He has been recently awarded by KI Strategic Funding as an Assistant Professor and research group leader as a part of the KI investment program to recruit and support leading junior researchers with particularly outstanding scientific merits and future potential. Since 2021, Dr. Parlak has been acting as Assistant Professor at the Department of Medicine, Solna, Dermataology and Venereology Unit in Karolinska Institutet where he specializes in personalized diagnostics and wearable bioelectronics.
Eleni Stavrinidou is an Associate Professor and leader of the Electronic Plants group at Linköping University. She received a PhD in Microelectronics from EMSE (France) in 2014. She then did her postdoctoral training at Linköping University (Sweden) during which she was awarded a Marie Curie fellowship. In 2017 Eleni Stavrinidou became Assistant Professor in Organic Electronics at Linköping University and established the Electronic Plants group. She received several grants including a Swedish Research Council Starting Grant and she is the Coordinator of the HyPhOE-FET-OPEN project. In 2019 she received the L’ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science prize in Sweden. In 2020 she became Associate Professor and Docent in Applied Physics. The same year she was awarded the Future Research Leaders grant of the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research. Her research interests focus on organic electronics for plant monitoring and optimization, energy applications and bio-hybrid systems.
Nature has developed and optimized efficient process to promote energy generation, storage, motion and growth. Recently, scientific community from different fields are interested in exploiting and/or mimicking these naturally available structures and functionalities, for instance by interfacing them with exogenous materials. The realization of new biotic/abiotic interfaces enable several applications depending on the chosen abiotic counterpart, ranging from bioengineering, photonics, power generation and biological function restoration. The scope of this highly interdisciplinary symposium is to provide a venue for open discussion on the field of bio-hybrid, bio-inspired and bio-enabled materials. In particular, the symposium aims to cover the bridge between different scientific approaches, to overcome existing challenges, and to enable the development of next-generation materials, devices and applications.
- Bio-hybrid composites
- Bio-inspired materials
- Biology and biophysics at the abiotic/biotic interface
- Real-life applications
I am a physiologist with more than 10 years of experience in cardiovascular research. I graduated in Biotechnology in 2007 and received my PhD in Physiology and Neuroscience at the University of Pavia in 2012. I then joined IRCCS ICS Maugeri in Pavia and later the Center for Nano Science and Technology (IIT@PoliMI) based in Milan. Currently, I act as an associate professor in Physiology at the University of Milano-Bicocca. I have developed a strong interest in biophysics and acquired a hands-on experience in both basic and translational research. My main goal is to solve problems in physiology and medicine of the cardiovascular system through multidisciplinary and ground-breaking approaches.
Alberto Scaccabarozzi is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Nanoscience and Technology (CNST) of the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Milan (Italy). He received his PhD from Imperial College London (UK) in 2017 under the supervision of Prof. Natalie Stingelin, followed by postdoctoral appointments at CNST in Mario Caironi’s group and at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST, Saudi Arabia) in Prof. Thomas Anthopoulos’ group. His research interests encompass the broad field of organic electronics, in particular the study of structure-processing-property relationships of organic semiconductors for a wide range of devices, especially Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFETs).
The transition to sustainable energy is a pressing challenge facing society, which can be addressed through the use of energy conversion technologies such as water electrolysis and hydrogen fuel cells. However, these technologies are limited by the lack of optimal electrocatalysts that are active, stable, selective, and abundant. To address this issue, several research directions have emerged in recent years: (i) fundamental research on well-defined systems combining advanced theoretical methods and operando experimental techniques, aiming at the knowledge-driven design of improved materials; (ii) automation of materials synthesis, characterization, and performance evaluation to identify promising candidates through fast screening of material libraries; (iii) electrochemical engineering ensuring optimized conditions for electrocatalysts utilization. This symposium brings together researchers working on these approaches to unite efforts and accelerate the discovery and implementation of heterogeneous electrocatalysts for energy conversion processes in the absence of light.
- Understanding electrocatalysts activity and stability: application of operando experimental techniques
- Understanding electrocatalysts activity and stability: application of advanced theoretical methods
- Knowledge-driven design and synthesis of improved electrocatalysts and catalyst layers
- Discovery of new electrocatalytic materials using automatic and autonomous tools
- Electrochemical engineering: optimization of electrocatalysts utilization in electrochemical reactors
Doing my BSc/MSc in Physics and PhD in an interdisciplinary program crossing the disciplines like Chemical Engineering, Nanotechnology, and Electrochemistry made me who I am today – a scientist who enjoys the challenge of multifaceted research.
I enjoy doing basic research in order to solve applied tasks. This explains my research interest in fundamental physical chemistry, e.g. oxidation and dissolution of metals and semiconductors, electrocatalysis, and electrochemistry at modified interfaces but also electrochemical engineering, e.g. development and optimization of catalyst layers in fuel cells and water electrolyzes.
Progress in basic research is often a direct outcome of previous achievements in experimental instrumentation. Hence, a significant part of my interest is in the development of new tools, e.g. electrochemical on-line mass spectrometry, gas diffusion electrode approaches, and high-throughput screening methods.
Assoc. Prof. Nejc Hodnik graduated and later received his PhD from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of Ljubljana. During his doctorate, he was employed as a young researcher at the National Institute of Chemistry (NIC) under the direction of Dr. Stanko Hočevar, who led the research into fuel cells. In 2014, on the basis of an individual prestigious Marie-Curie Scholarship (now Marie Skłodowska-Curie), he completed his postdoctoral training in Düsseldorf, Germany, at the Max-Planck Institute; his mentor was Prof. Dr. Karl Mayrhofer. In 2016, he returned to Slovenia and began working at the Department of Catalysis and Chemical Reaction Engineering at the NIC. Among other things, he obtained a postdoctoral project from the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) and in 2017, with the ARRS scholarship, worked for three months with the Head of an ERC project in Italy. In 2019, he was appointed associate professor at the University of Nova Gorica where he works in the Materials doctoral programme (tertiary study). Based on the acquired ERC StG project (123STABLE) in 2019, a new research Laboratory for electrocatalysis was set up in 2020 at NIC. His main topics are fuel cell and electrolyzer catalyst's activity and stability.
Virgil Andrei obtained his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in chemistry from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, where he studied thermoelectric polymer pastes and films in the group of Prof. Klaus Rademann (2014-2016). He then pursued a PhD in chemistry at the University of Cambridge (2016-2020), where he developed perovskite-based artificial leaves in the group of Prof. Erwin Reisner, working closely with the Optoelectronics group of Prof. Richard Friend at the Cavendish Laboratory. He was recently a visiting Winton fellow in the group of Prof. Peidong Yang at University of California, Berkeley, and is currently a Title A Research Fellow at St John's College, Cambridge. His work places a strong focus on scalability, material design, complementary light harvesting and synthesis of added-value carbon products, introducing modern fabrication techniques towards low-cost, high-throughput solar fuel production.
Academic Career
Since May 2020: W3 Associate Professor at the Department of Physics, TUM.
2014 - 2020: W2 Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics, TUM.
2010 - 2014: Group leader ("Adsorption and Electrocatalysis") at the Center for Electrochemical Sciences (CES) at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.
2008 - 2010: Post-doc, Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark.
2006 - 2008: Post-doc, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, the Netherlands.
2002 - 2005: PhD in Physical and Solid State Chemistry, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus.
Awards
• The German National Ernst Haage Award for the research in the field of chemical energy conversion (2016)
• Hans-Jürgen Engell Award of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE Prize for Electrochemical Materials Science) for the research on electrocatalysis and in situ characterisation of the electrode–electrolyte interface (2013)
Dr. Jasna Jankovic is a Professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Connecticut (UConn) since 2018. Prior to joining UConn, she completed her Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia, Department of Chemical Engineering, followed by a 7 years employment as a Senior Research Scientist at the Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation in Burnaby, Canada, a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and Daimler. Dr. Jankovic’s research focus is in advanced characterization of fuel cells, electrolyzers and batteries using microscopy and spectroscopy techniques, fabrication of novel electrodes for electrochemical devices, as well as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and clean energy education. She has more than 25 years of experience in clean energy sector, more than 50 publications and 2 patents. Dr. Jankovic is a recipient of several Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) awards in Canada, and a number of National Science Foundation (NSF) awards and Department of Energy (DOE) sub-awards in the US.
Alexandr N. Simonov is a physical chemist specialising in (photo)electrochemistry and (photo)electrocatalysis. Research in his group is aimed at understanding and designing new effective ways to generate and use renewable electricity for the sustainable chemistry technologies. His major research focuses on the development of catalysts, electrode architectures and electrolytic devices for generation of hydrogen through splitting of water (including seawater), reduction of nitrogen to ammonia, as well as selective oxidation of ammonia and nitrogen to nitrates for fertiliser generation. He collaborates with Australian and German industry on several projects aiming to develop new cost-effective water electrolysers. He is a co-founder of a spin-out company Jupiter Ionics Pty Ltd. working on the commercialisation of the Monash technologies for ammonia synthesis and oxidation.
The activation and conversion of nitrogen containing molecules (N2, NOx, NO3-) to valuable ammonia and other reduced products at temperatures and pressures lower than the benchmark Haber-Bosch process remains a challenge. However, the field of nitrogen compound reduction has made impressive strides over the last five years. Novel promising approaches, both homogeneous and heterogeneous, have been demonstrated and international collaborations are pushing the field towards standardization of data reporting and benchmarking protocols. As this research community continues to grow, it is imperative that we provide a forum to present and discuss the path forward. This symposium will bring experimentalists, theoreticians, and engineers together for in-depth discussions on state-of-the-art product quantification methods and catalytic systems. Moreover, we hope to include various perspectives of researchers that are now taking their N2X know-how and started their own companies (Atmonia & Nitricity) as part of a special panel discussion session. The Poster session will provide the younger generation of scientists the opportunity to network, exchange ideas and perhaps establish new collaborations that will increase the momentum in the field of nitrogen reduction.
Prize:
🏅 Best Poster prize valued at 225€ from Vigor - Matthew Spry
Symposium sponsored by:
- Homogeneous approaches for nitrogen and nitrogen oxides activation
- Heterogenous systems for nitrogen and nitrogen oxides conversion
- Challenges and opportunities in catalyst benchmarking
- Advances in theoretical methods for mechanistic understanding
- Rare-earth element systems for nitrogen activation
- From academic research to competitive start-up company
Victor Mougel completed his Bachelor's and Master's degree in Chemistry at the ENS of Lyon, and obtained his PhD at the University of Grenoble under the supervision of Prof. Marinella Mazzanti. He then joined ETH Zürich as an ETH/Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow before starting his independent career as a CNRS associate researcher at Collège de France in 2016. Since December 2018, he is a tenure track assistant professor at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences at ETH Zürich.
Dr. Roland Marschall obtained his PhD in Physical Chemistry from the Leibniz University Hannover in 2008, working on mesoporous materials for fuel cell applications. After a one year postdoctoral research at the University of Queensland in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials, he joined in 2010 the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC as project leader. In 2011, he joined the Industrial Chemistry Laboratory at Ruhr-University Bochum as young researcher. From 07/2013 to 08/2018, he was Emmy-Noether Young Investigator at the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen. Since 08/2018, he is Full Professor at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. His current research interests are heterogeneous photocatalysis, especially photocatalytic water splitting and nitrogen reduction using semiconductor mixed oxides, and synthesis of oxidic mesostructured materials for energy applications.
I am currently an Full Professor at the University of Bonn (Germany), Department of Chemistry. My overarching motivation is to discover and implement the chemistry necessary to transition to a sustainable energy-based society. Specifically, I am developing materials to convert electrical energy to fuels and chemicals.
Alexandr N. Simonov is a physical chemist specialising in (photo)electrochemistry and (photo)electrocatalysis. Research in his group is aimed at understanding and designing new effective ways to generate and use renewable electricity for the sustainable chemistry technologies. His major research focuses on the development of catalysts, electrode architectures and electrolytic devices for generation of hydrogen through splitting of water (including seawater), reduction of nitrogen to ammonia, as well as selective oxidation of ammonia and nitrogen to nitrates for fertiliser generation. He collaborates with Australian and German industry on several projects aiming to develop new cost-effective water electrolysers. He is a co-founder of a spin-out company Jupiter Ionics Pty Ltd. working on the commercialisation of the Monash technologies for ammonia synthesis and oxidation.
For the future, CO2 Reduction (CO2R) is an attractive option for storing renewable energy and sustainable production of valuable chemicals and fuels. While most low-hanging fruits have been picked in understanding, development and application. This symposium invites frontier contributions that challenge the current state-of-the-art in CO2R, breaching scientific developments with atomistic level theory, fundamental electrochemistry, spectroscopy, materials synthesis and scaleup applied to push the frontier. The symposium also seeks possibilities in utilizing the product distribution from CO2R in various following process steps and in mixes with other reactants. Within these topics the symposium will discuss opportunities for new research activities that ultimately bring us a step closer towards establishing a low- or zero-emission carbon cycle.
- Electrochemistry
- Catalyst developments
- Simulations
- Spectroscopy
- Electrolyzer
Kazuhide Kamiya received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Tokyo and became an assistant professor at the same university in 2013. He then joined Research Center for Solar Energy Chemistry of Osaka University as an assistant professor in April 2016. He was promoted to associate professor at the same center in 2018. He was a researcher of the PRESTO project of JST from 2014 to 2018. His current research interests include the design of efficient electrocatalysts and electrolysis systems for CO2 valorization.
Prof. Magalí Lingenfelder is a PI with an excellent track record and a passion for atomically controlled interfaces. Her work contributes to the design of new materials by elucidating chemical processes by Scanning Probe Microscopies and Surface Sensitive Spectroscopies, including dynamic (bio) molecular recognition processes at the liquid/solid interface.
She created and led for over 10 years the Max Planck-EPFL laboratory for Molecular Nanoscience at EPFL campus in Switzerland, and is currently leading the Helvetia Institute for Science and Innovation.
She studied physical and biological chemistry at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina. In 2003, she finished her MSc thesis at the Max Planck Institute for the Solid State Research (MPI-FKF in Stuttgart, Germany) with seminal contributions to the field of metal-organic coordination networks on solid surfaces. She continued with her doctoral studies in Physics, and received the Otto Hahn medal of the Max Planck Society in 2008 for the microscopic understanding of the chiral recognition process with submolecular resolution. In her quest to study molecular recognition going from 2D to 3D complex systems, she made postdoctoral stays at the Institute of Materials Sciences in Barcelona, and at the Molecular Foundry of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in the US.
She is a committed mentor who directed 4 MSc theses, 5 PhD theses, and 5 postdocs. She advocates for problem-oriented interdisciplinary research, by pioneering the emerging field of BioNanoarchitectonics. She led 5 international research consortiums, delivered over 50 invited presentations, and organized 9 conferences and 4 doctoral schools. She and her team had received multiple awards and international recognitions for their creative and rigurous work on molecular recognition, chirality and operando studies at catalytic interfaces. In 2018, the Royal Society of Chemistry included her work in the first collection “Celebrating Excellence in Research: 100 Women of Chemistry”.
Prof. Beatriz Roldán Cuenya is currently Director of the Interface Science Department at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin (Germany). She is an Honorary Professor at the Technische Universität Berlin, at the Freie Universität Berlin, and at the Ruhr-University Bochum, all in Germany. Also, she serves as a Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Central Florida (USA).
Prof. Roldán Cuenya began her academic career by completing her M.S./B.S. in Physics with a minor in Materials Science at the University of Oviedo, Spain in 1998. Afterwards she moved to Germany and obtained her Ph.D. from the Department of Physics of the University of Duisburg-Essen with summa cum laude in 2001. Subsequently, she carried out her postdoctoral research in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of California Santa Barbara (USA) until 2003.
In 2004, she joined the Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida (UCF) as Assistant Professor where she moved through the ranks to become a full professor in 2012. In 2013 Prof. Roldan Cuenya, moved to Germany to become Chair Professor of Solid State Physics in the Department of Physics at Ruhr-University Bochum until 2017.
During her academic career, Prof. Roldan Cuenya received an Early CAREER Award from the US National Science Foundation (2005) and the international Peter Mark Memorial award from the American Vacuum Society (2009). In 2016 she became Fellow of the Max Planck Society in Germany and also received the prestigious Consolidator Award from the European Research Council. In 2020, she became a member of the Academia Europaea (Academy of Europe). She received the AVS Fellow Award (2021), the International Society of Electrochemistry-Elsevier Prize for Experimental Electrochemistry (2021), the 2022 Paul H. Emmet Award of the North American Catalysis Society, and the Röntgen Medal of the City of Remscheid (2022).
Prof. Roldan Cuenya is the author of more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, 6 book chapters, and 6 patents. She has given 245 invited talks, with 13 plenary talks and 33 keynote lectures since 2017. Her H-factor is 74 (Google Scholar) and her work has received over 21,500 citations.
She presently serves on the editorial advisory boards of the Journal of Catalysis and Chemical Reviews. In addition, she also contributes to a number of advisory committees, including the Liquid Sunlight Alliance (USA), the Advanced Research Center Chemical Building Blocks Consortium (Utrecht, the Netherlands), the Spanish Synchrotron Facility ALBA (Barcelona, Spain), the German Synchrotron DESY (Hamburg, Germany), the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for the strategic development of BESSY II (Berlin, Germany), the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ in Tarragona, Spain), the UK Catalysis Hub and the Ertl Center for Electrochemistry & Catalysis (South Korea).
Prof. Roldan Cuenya’s research program explores physical and chemical properties of nanostructures, with emphasis on advancements in nanocatalysis based on operando microscopic and spectroscopic characterization.
Peter Strasser is the chaired professor of �Electrochemistry for energy conversion and storage� at the Chemical Engineering Division of the Department of Chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin. Prior to his appointment, he was Professor at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston. Before moving to Houston, Prof. Strasser served as Senior Member of staff at Symyx Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, USA. In 1999, Prof. Strasser earned his doctoral degree in Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry from the �Fritz-Haber-Institute� of the Max-Planck-Society, Berlin, Germany, under the direction of the 2007 Chemistry Nobel Laureate, Professor Gerhard Ertl. In the same year, he was awarded the �Otto-Hahn Research Medal� by the Max-Planck Society. In 1996, Dr. Strasser was visiting scientist with Sony Central Research, Yokohama, Japan. He studied chemistry at Stanford University, the University of Tuebingen, and the University of Pisa, Italy. Professor Strasser is interested in the fundamental Materials Science and Catalysis of electrified liquid solid interfaces, in particular for renewable energy conversion, energy storage, production of fuels and chemicals.
In the global energy context, the direct conversion of sunlight into fuels and high added-value chemicals is gaining momentum as a promising strategy to contribute to decarbonize the energy sector and the chemical industry. In this scenario, the development of novel efficient and durable photoactive and catalytic materials and architectures, as well as a deep understanding of the role of interfaces, plays a pivotal role to drive these technologies towards more mature technology readiness levels. The present symposium will focus on the development of novel materials and architectures for photocatalytic (PC) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) applications for energy conversion and the production of high added-value chemicals, particularly highlighting the synthesis, characterization and mechanistic insights.
- Direct solar water splitting (hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution,…)
- Direct solar-driven valorization reactions of CO2, biomass, organics, and/or plastics
- Novel semiconductor and co-catalyst materials for PEC and PC (e.g., ternary oxides, perovskites, 2D materials, organics, MOFs, COFs, and SACs)
- Novel architectures and approaches for PEC and PC (e.g., heterojunction, Z-scheme, tandem, and decoupled cells or systems)
- Advanced characterization techniques (e.g., in-operando) of PEC and PC systems covering e.g., performance, stability, charge transfer dynamics, and syntheses
Sixto Giménez (M. Sc. Physics 1996, Ph. D. Physics 2002) is Associate Professor at Universitat Jaume I de Castelló (Spain). His professional career has been focused on the study of micro and nanostructured materials for different applications spanning from structural components to optoelectronic devices. During his PhD thesis at the University of Navarra, he studied the relationship between processing of metallic and ceramic powders, their sintering behavior and mechanical properties. He took a Post-Doc position at the Katholiek Universiteit Leuven where he focused on the development of non-destructive and in-situ characterization techniques of the sintering behavior of metallic porous materials. In January 2008, he joined the Group of Photovoltaic and Optoelectronic Devices of University Jaume I where he is involved in the development of new concepts for photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical devices based on nanoscaled materials, particularly studying the optoelectronic and electrochemical responses of the devices by electrical impedance spectroscopy. He has co-authored more than 80 scientific papers in international journals and has received more than 5000 citations. His current h-index is 31.
Jong Hyeok Park is professor at Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Yonsei university, Republic of Korea. His research focuses on solar-to-hydrogen conversion devices, Li & Na ion batteries, perovskite solar cells.
He received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from KAIST, Republic of Korea, in August 2004. Then, he joined University of Texas at Austin, USA, as a postdoctoral researcher in 2004 (under Prof. Allen J. Bard). He is an author and a co-author of 320 papers and 100 patents (h-index: 78).
He has received various prestige awards such as PBFC Award (2012) from The Korean Electrochemical Society, SKKU Young Fellowship (2012) from SKKU, Horace G. Underwood Fellowship (2018) from Yonsei University, Award of Excellence (2017) from Korean Academy of Science and Technology, S-Oil Next Generation Researcher Award (2021).
Kevin Sivula obtained a PhD in chemical engineering from UC Berkeley in 2007. In 2011, after leading a research group in the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces at EPFL, he was appointed tenure track assistant professor. He now heads the Laboratory for Molecular Engineering of Optoelectronic Nanomaterials (http://limno.epfl.ch) at EPFL.
Ludmilla is an Associate Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the Univeristy of Oxford. She obtained her B.Sc and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Siegen (Germany). During her undergraduate studies she developed an interest in electrochemistry and semiconductor physics driving her to pursue a M.Sc. project on dye-sensitized solar cells in the group of Professor Michael Grätzel at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland). Staying in the same group, Ludmilla worked on oxide thin film photoelectrodes applied in photoelectrochemical water splitting and perovskite solar cells during her Ph.D. degree which she obtained in 2016. She then joined the group of Professor James Durrant at Imperial College London to study photochemical and photophysical processes in semiconductors using time-resolved spectroscopy and shortly after was awarded the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (2017-2019). Ludmilla began her independent research career as Imperial College Research Fellow (2019-2021) before moving to Oxford in October 2021. Her research at Oxford aims at the design of atomically defined photo- and electrocatalysts that convert CO2, water and other “waste products” to energy-rich fuels and chemicals with high conversion efficiency, selectivity and long operational stability.
The abundance of solar energy on Earth and the natural photosynthesis in plants has motivated extensive worldwide research into photon capture by synthetic materials and conversion into storable fuels. This remains focused largely on the development of materials for solar fuel production that are: (i) efficient in converting photons to chemical product(s), (ii) inexpensive to fabricate and (iii) robust. However, despite substantial progress in material development, the question ‘How might an industrial scale, efficient photoelectrochemical reactor system ultimately look?’ still remains unanswered. This will remain so until the performance, durability and cost of scalable reactor demonstration units are understood from the atomic to the industrial scale, via modelling, design, fabrication and characterisation. Development of up-scaled reactors is a multidisciplinary challenge, involving material science, (photo)electrochemistry, electrochemical engineering and optics, supplemented by numerical modelling of the complete system to guide its design and optimisation. These many considerations need to be addressed simultaneously and will be the focus of this symposium.
- Photoelectrochemical reactor engineering – Experimental approaches
- Photoelectrochemical reactor engineering – Multiphysics modelling approaches
- Material charge transfer and interfacial charge transfer modelling and evaluation
- Thermo-photo-electrochemical system integration – understanding synergetic effects
- Photoelectrode and surface engineering via scalable methods
- Corrosion/photo-degradation in photoelectrochemical devices and mitigation strategies
- Understanding of photoelectrochemical systems on the atomic scale, from experimental to ab initio modelling
Fatwa Abdi is an Associate Professor at the School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong. Until July 2023, he was a group leader and the deputy head of the Institute for Solar Fuels, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB). He obtained his PhD (cum laude) in Chemical Engineering from TU Delft, the Netherlands, in 2013. He was the recipient of the Martinus van Marum prize from the Royal Dutch Society of Sciences and Humanities. His research focusses on the development of novel (photo)electrode materials as well as engineering and scale-up of devices for solar fuels and chemicals conversion.
Doing my BSc/MSc in Physics and PhD in an interdisciplinary program crossing the disciplines like Chemical Engineering, Nanotechnology, and Electrochemistry made me who I am today – a scientist who enjoys the challenge of multifaceted research.
I enjoy doing basic research in order to solve applied tasks. This explains my research interest in fundamental physical chemistry, e.g. oxidation and dissolution of metals and semiconductors, electrocatalysis, and electrochemistry at modified interfaces but also electrochemical engineering, e.g. development and optimization of catalyst layers in fuel cells and water electrolyzes.
Progress in basic research is often a direct outcome of previous achievements in experimental instrumentation. Hence, a significant part of my interest is in the development of new tools, e.g. electrochemical on-line mass spectrometry, gas diffusion electrode approaches, and high-throughput screening methods.
Sixto Giménez (M. Sc. Physics 1996, Ph. D. Physics 2002) is Associate Professor at Universitat Jaume I de Castelló (Spain). His professional career has been focused on the study of micro and nanostructured materials for different applications spanning from structural components to optoelectronic devices. During his PhD thesis at the University of Navarra, he studied the relationship between processing of metallic and ceramic powders, their sintering behavior and mechanical properties. He took a Post-Doc position at the Katholiek Universiteit Leuven where he focused on the development of non-destructive and in-situ characterization techniques of the sintering behavior of metallic porous materials. In January 2008, he joined the Group of Photovoltaic and Optoelectronic Devices of University Jaume I where he is involved in the development of new concepts for photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical devices based on nanoscaled materials, particularly studying the optoelectronic and electrochemical responses of the devices by electrical impedance spectroscopy. He has co-authored more than 80 scientific papers in international journals and has received more than 5000 citations. His current h-index is 31.
In recent years there is a growing interest in designing new catalytic materials that could in principle benefit from the virtues of both molecular and bulk (photo)-electrocatalysts. An ideal catalyst material should in one hand exhibit the well-defined nature of a molecular active site, allowing easier understanding of operation mechanisms as well as high TOFs. On the other hand, the catalyst should also possess the robustness, high conductivity, and overall efficiency of a heterogeneous bulk catalyst. Possible strategies to achieve this goal: 1) imprinting of single-atom sites in carbon-based materials 2) using porous framework materials that contain molecular active sites 3) hybrid systems with immobilized molecular catalysts on inorganic heterogeneous catalysts 4) bulk materials with bio-inspired functionalities. The symposium will cover a wide range of (Photo)-electrochemical reaction for energy conversion as well as environmental remediation (e.g. organic transformations). This cross-disciplinary symposium will bring together experts in homogenous (molecular) and heterogeneous catalysis to discuss the latest developments in these fast-growing topics.
- Novel catalytic materials (e.g. MOF, COF, Carbon Nitride, Organic and Inorganic materials) inspired by molecular catalysts
- Catalytic schemes for environmental remediation
- Bio-inspired molecular catalysts
- Study of catalytic mechanisms
- Advancements in Water splitting, CO2 reduction, Ammonia production, biomass conversion and other organic transformation reactions
Prof. Dr. Matthias Driess
Born: 1961 – Eisenach, Germany
Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, TU Berlin, Straße des 17 Juni 135, 10623 Berlin
Telephone: +49 (0) 30 314–22265
Email: matthias.driess@tu-berlin.de
https://www.tu.berlin/en/metallorganik
Scientific vita:
2005– Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (Metalorganics and Inorganic Materials), TU Berlin 1996–2004 Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (Cluster and Coordination Chemistry), U Bochum 1996 Professor at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, U Freiburg
1993 Habilitation in Inorganic Chemistry, U Heidelberg
1990–1996 Junior Scientist at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, U Heidelberg 1988–1989 Postdoc, Department of Chemistry (R. West), Madison, WI, USA
1988 PhD Chemistry (W. Siebert), Metalorganic Chemistry, Boron Chemistry 1985 Diploma in Chemistry, U Heidelberg
Fields of interest:
Molecular models of heterogeneous catalysts and bioinspired homogeneous catalysts; Molecular approach to heterogeneous catalysts for efficient light-driven and electrocatalytic energy conversion (e.g., overall water-splitting); Organometallic precursors for low-temperature synthesis of nanoscaled metal oxides; Coordination chemistry for activation of small molecules and homogeneous catalysis; Development of multifunctional, low-valent silicon-based strong s-donor ligands in homogeneous catalysis
Awards (selection):
2016 Davison Lecture of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of the MIT (USA) 2016 Visiting Professor, ETH Zürich (Switzerland)
2014 Member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities 2013 Member of the German National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina
2011 WACKER Silicone Award
2010 Alfred-Stock-Memorial Award of the German Chemical Society
Industry cooperations:
BASF SE; Wacker AG
Organizational activities (selection):
2016– Vice coordinator of the Einstein Center of Catalysis 2012– Scientific Director of the UniCat-BASF Jointlab (BasCat) 2007–2018 Spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence UniCat
2017- Scientific Director of the Chemical Invention Factory (CIF, John Warner Center for start-ups in Green Chemistry)
2019- Deputy of the Cluster of Excellence UniSysCat
Publications (selection):
N. J. Lindenmaier, S. Wahlefeld, E. Bill, T. Szilvási, C. Eberle, S. Yao, P. Hildebrandt, M. Horch, I. Zebger, M. Driess, An S-oxygenated [NiFe] complex modelling sulfenate intermediates of an O2- tolerant hydrogenase, Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2017, 56, 2208–2211.
Y. Wang, A. Kostenko, S. Yao, M. Driess, Divalent Silicon-Assisted Activation of Dihydrogen in a Bis(N-heterocyclic silylene)xanthene Nickel(0) Complex for Efficient Catalytic Hydrogenation of Olefins, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2017, 139, 13499-13506.
A. Indra, P. W. Menezes, K. Kailasam, D. Hollmann, P. StrasserM. Schröder, A. Thomas, A. Brückner, M. Driess, Nickel as a co-catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution on graphitic-carbon nitride (sg-CN): what is the nature of the active species?, Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 104-107.
Yao, F. Meier, N. Lindenmaier, R. Rudolph, B. Blom, M. Adelhardt, J. Sutter, S. Mebs, M. Haumann, K. Meyer, M. Kaupp, M. Driess, Biomimetic [2Fe-2S] clusters with extensively delocalized mixed-valence iron centers, Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2015, 53, 12185.
T. Mätsenen, D. Gallego, T. Szilvasi, M. Driess, M. Oestreich, Peripheral mechanism of a carbonyl hydrosilylation catalysed by an SiNSi iron pincer complex, Chemical Science 2015, 6, 7143–7149.
P. W. Menezes, A. Indra, N. R. Sahraie, A. Bergmann, P. Strasser, M. Driess, Cobalt–manganese- based spinels as multifunctional materials that unify catalytic water oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions, ChemSusChem 2015, 8, 164–171.
P. W. Menezes, A. Indra, O. Levy, K. Kailasam, V. Gutkin, J. Pfrommer, M. Driess, Using nickel manganese oxide catalysts for efficient water oxidation, Chemical Communications 2015, 51, 5005– 5008.
P. W. Menezes, A. Indra, D. González-Flores, N. R. Sahraie, I. Zaharieva, M. Schwarze, P. Strasser, H. Dau, M. Driess, High-performance oxygen redox catalysis with multifunctional cobalt oxide nanochains: Morphology-dependent activity, ACS Catalysis 2015, 5, 2017–2027.
G. Tan, T. Szilvási, S. Inoue, B. Blom, M. Driess, An elusive hydridoaluminum(I) complex for facile C–H and C–O bond activation of ethers and access to its isolable hydridogallium(I) analogue: Syntheses, structures, and theoretical studies, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2014, 136, 9732.
B. L. Tran, B. Li, M. Driess, J. F. Hartwig, Copper-catalyzed intermolecular amidation and imidation of unactivated alkanes, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2014, 136, 2555.
Head of the Laboratory of Solar Fuels at the Centrum Nowych Technologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. She obtained a PhD in Biological sciences in 1999 from the University of Warwick, UK. Postdoctoral research conducted in the group of James Barber at Imperial College London, UK led to several discoveries of novel molecular mechanisms of photosynthetic adaptation to changing environment (e.g. dissecting the molecular components of state transitions) and refining the crystallographic structure of the PSII oxygen evolving complex. Habilitation in 2009 from the University of Warsaw (UW). Since 2011 Associate Professor having established an independent research group at the UW. In 2011 Prof. Kargul established a node for solar fuels research in Poland and has led several projects on application of robust natural light-harvesting molecular nanomachines for construction of biohybrid solar cells and solar-to-fuel devices. She has extensive experience and success in leading several national and international initiatives (e.g. Founding Partner of ESF EuroSolarFuels and H2020 SUNRISE consortia; Member of Scientific Executive Board of SUNERGY large-scale R&I initiative) as well coordinating the international projects (e.g. bilateral Polish-Turkish consortium POLTUR/GraphESol and Polish/German/French/Turkish consortium Solar driven chemistry 2/SUNCOCAT) which have been focused on natural and semi-artificial solar energy conversion systems. She serves as the International Ambassador of the British Biochemical Society and serves on several editorial and strategic executive boards, e.g., as member of the Scientific Advisory Board of European Society for Photobiology, as Senior Editor of the International Journal of Biochemicstry and Cell Biology, member of the Grants Committee of the Biochemical Society (UK), expert of the NAWA programme of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, expert in NZ1 Panel of the National Science Centre, member of the Advisory Board of the European Green Deal, member of KIS4 Workgroup of Poland’s Ministry of Economic Development and Technology. Prof. Kargul’s highly interdisciplinary research spans structural biology, biochemistry, and plant physiology with electrochemistry, biophysics and material science. In her current research she focuses on structural and mechanistic aspects of the function and adaptation of the natural photosynthetic apparatus in extremophilic biophotocatalysts. She and her group apply this fundamental knowledge for the rational construction of biomolecular solar-to-fuel devices for optimised solar conversion, incorporating photoenzymes and various materials decorated with plasmonic nanoparticles.
Antoni Llobet was born in Sabadell (Barcelona) in 1960.
He obtained his PhD at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) with Prof. Francesc Teixidor in July 1985, and then moved to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for a postdoctoral stay with Prof. Thomas J. Meyer, until the end of 1987.
After a short period again at UAB and at University of Sussex-Dow Corning (UK) he then become a Scientific Officer for the Commission of the European Communities, based in Brussels, Belgium (1990-1991).
Then he was appointed Senior Research Associate at Texas A&M University in College Station (USA) from 1992 till 1993, working with the groups of Prof. Arthur E. Martell and Donald T. Sawyer. From 1993 till 2004 he joined the faculty of the Universitat de Girona where he was promoted to Full Professor in 2000. At the end of 2004 he joined the faculty of UAB also as Full Professor.
In September 2006, he was appointed as Group Leader at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) in Tarragona.
His research interests include the development of tailored transition metal complexes as catalysts for selective organic and inorganic transformations including the oxidation of water to molecular dioxygen, supramolecular catalysis, the activation of C-H and C-F bonds, and the preparation low molecular weight complexes as structural and/or functional models of the active sites of oxidative metalloproteins.
In 2000 he received the Distinction Award from Generalitat de Catalunya for Young Scientists. In 2011 he was awarded the Bruker Prize in Inorganic Chemistry from the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) and in 2012 he has been awarded with the “Hermanos Elhuyar-Hans Goldschmidt” lecture jointly by RSEQ and the German Chemical Society (GDCh).
At present he is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of “Catalysis Science and Technology” from the Royal Society of Chemistry, “Inorganic Chemistry” from the American Chemical Society and “European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry” from Wiley-VCH.
Charles Machan (muh-hahn) was born in Madison, WI and grew up in Wauwatosa, WI where he attended Marquette University High School before going to Washington University in St. Louis (WashU). While at WashU he played football for four years as a defensive tackle and majored in Chemistry and German (B.A. 2008). Charles attended Northwestern University for graduate school and completed a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry (2012) under the supervision of Chad A. Mirkin. At Northwestern he served as President of the Alpha Gamma Chapter of Phi Lambda Upsilon, a co-ed chemistry honors fraternity, and received the Edmund W. Gelewitz Award for Outstanding Senior Graduate Student (2012). From 2013-2016 he was a postdoctoral researcher with Clifford P. Kubiak at the University of California, San Diego. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Virginia.
Peter Strasser is the chaired professor of �Electrochemistry for energy conversion and storage� at the Chemical Engineering Division of the Department of Chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin. Prior to his appointment, he was Professor at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston. Before moving to Houston, Prof. Strasser served as Senior Member of staff at Symyx Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, USA. In 1999, Prof. Strasser earned his doctoral degree in Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry from the �Fritz-Haber-Institute� of the Max-Planck-Society, Berlin, Germany, under the direction of the 2007 Chemistry Nobel Laureate, Professor Gerhard Ertl. In the same year, he was awarded the �Otto-Hahn Research Medal� by the Max-Planck Society. In 1996, Dr. Strasser was visiting scientist with Sony Central Research, Yokohama, Japan. He studied chemistry at Stanford University, the University of Tuebingen, and the University of Pisa, Italy. Professor Strasser is interested in the fundamental Materials Science and Catalysis of electrified liquid solid interfaces, in particular for renewable energy conversion, energy storage, production of fuels and chemicals.
This symposium invites contributions on the broad topic of battery diversification as the cornerstone to achieve sustainable energy storage and enable the growing demands of our future electrified world. This includes beyond Li-ion research on other alkali- and multivalent-ion storage, dual and hybrid systems, solid state, metal-air, Li-S or anode-less batteries and their advanced fabrication methods. Related topics are cuttingedge operando characterisation techniques, advanced applications (e.g. structural or health-monitoring systems), tools to understand SEI formation and evolution, multiscale modelling, sustainability analysis (e.g. recyclability, LCA, circularity and future policy) and 'whole system' optimisation approaches (e.g. high throughput screening and data science for materials discovery).
- Beyond Li-ion
- Operando Characterisation
- Advanced applications
- Understanding the SEI
- Advanced fabrication methods
- Multiscale modelling
- Sustainability, recyclability, LCA and circularity
- 'Whole system' optimisation approaches
Philipp Adelhelm is a physical chemist and works at the interface between the research disciplines of materials science and electrochemistry. His current main interest is research on sustainable batteries.
After studying materials science at the University of Stuttgart, he moved to the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam (Department of Prof. Antionetti / Smarsly, 2005-2007) for his doctoral project. This was followed by a 2-year postdoctoral stay at the University of Utrecht (Prof. de Jongh) and then a position as a junior research group leader at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Justus Liebig University in Giessen (Prof. Janek, 2009-2015). From 2015-2019 he was a professor at the Institute for Technical Chemistry and Environmental Chemistry at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
He has been a professor at the Institute for Chemistry at Humboldt-University since 2019 and heads a joint research group on operando battery analysis at the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB).
Heather is a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London.
She obtained her PhD in 2017 from Imperial College developing covalent modification strategies on carbon nanomaterials. She was a postdoctoral research associate at Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College, where her research interests shifted to investigating charge storage mechanisms in sodium-ion battery anodes, and later a Faraday Institution Research Fellow, working on the development of engineered carbon hosts for sulfur cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries.
Heather was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in 2023, allowing her to establish an independent research team exploring sustainable materials for structural energy storage.
Dr. Fellinger is Head of the Division 3.6 Electrochemical Energy Materials at the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM). He is a nanostructure and molecular scientist by training (diploma at University of Kassel, DE), who received his PhD in colloid chemistry (with summa cum laude) at the University of Potsdam/DE under the direct supervision of Prof. Markus Antonietti in 2011. After a short postdoctoral stays at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Prof. Ichiro Yamanaka) he was a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam-Golm (2012-2017). In 2016/17 he was an awarded Researcher-in-Residence at Chalmers Institute of Technology in Gothenburg (Prof. Anders Palmqvist), followed by one term as W2-substitute professor for inorganic chemistry at the University of Applied Science Zittau/Görlitz. Afterwards until 2020 he joined Prof. Hubert Gasteiger´s Chair for Technical Electrochemistry (Technical University Munich) with a fuel cell project. In 2020 Dr. Fellinger´s group joined the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in Berlin. Dr. Fellinger received the Donald-Ulrich Award 2017 of the International Sol-Gel Society and the Ernst-Haage Award for Chemistry of the Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion. His research interests are the synthetic chemistry of novel materials and their usage in energy-related applications with a focus on different carbon-based materials like nitrogen-doped carbons, M-N-C catalysts or hard carbon anodes. He has published ~60 articles in peer-reviewed journals (>6000 citations, H-index: 41).
Dr. Gustav Graeber is the principal investigator of the Graeber Lab for Energy Research (GER) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in the Department of Chemistry. He earned his B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from TU Berlin; his M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University; and his PhD from ETH Zurich. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) from 2019-2021 and a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2021-2023. He joined Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in March 2023 as the principal investigator of GER. His research interests range from thermodynamics, to functional materials and electrochemistry with the goal to increase performance of energy conversion processes.
Professor Emma Kendrick, CChem FIMMM FRSC FIMMM - Chair of Energy Materials, School of Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham.
Prof Kendrick’s career to date has included industrial and academic roles leading to her current role as Chair of Energy Materials, where in addition to group lead of the energy materials group (EMG), she is co-director of the Centre for Energy Storage (BCES) and part of Birmingham Energy institute (BEI) and Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials (BCSECM). The EMG investigates sustainability in novel battery technologies from materials, manufacturing, performance and parameterisation, and recycling. Her recent work has led to a 2021 joint UoB - Imperial College London (ICL) spin out company, based around the methods of experimental parameterisation of applied multi-physics cell models, called About:Energy, for which she is founder and director.
Prior to UoB, she spent two years as Reader in WMG, University of Warwick. Before academia, she led innovations in the battery industry, latterly as Chief Technologist in Energy Storage at SHARP Laboratories of Europe Ltd (SLE) and prior to that for two lithium-ion battery SMEs, Fife Batteries Ltd and Surion Energy Ltd.
She is fellow of the Royal Society of chemistry (RSC) and Institute of Metals, Mining and Materials (IoM3). Recently, she has been recognised through several awards; 2021 Faraday Institution (FI) Researcher Development Champion, RSC 2021 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division Mid-Career Award, and the 2019 Hothersall Memorial Award for outstanding services to Metal Finishing.
Prof Kendrick holds a PhD from Keele University, obtained as part of a postgraduate transfer partnership (PTP) scheme with CERAM Research, a MSc in new materials from the University of Aberdeen and a BSc in chemistry from the University of Manchester.
Ozlem Sel joined “Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)” as a principle investigator in 2011, and currently working at the “Solid-State Chemistry and Energy Lab (CSE)” at College de France, Paris. Her research interests include piezoelectric sensors employed in junction with electrochemical analysis, for a real-time monitoring of the interfacial processes occurring in energy storage devices.
She has obtained her Ph.D. degree in materials chemistry at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, in Germany (2007), on the synthesis, characterization and applications of hierarchically porous metal oxides, under the supervision of Prof. Markus Antonietti. Following her Ph.D. degree, she moved to France, joined the group of Prof. Clement Sanchez (LCMCP, Sorbonne University-UPMC, 2007-2009) as a post-doctoral researcher, focusing on the nanostructured hybrid materials and their characterization for energy conversion devices. In the period of 2010-2011, she was at the UC-Davis (group of Prof. Alexandra Navrotsky), USA within a framework of Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) program. Prior joining the CSE lab at the Collège de France, she has worked at “Laboratory of Interfaces and Electrochemical Systems, CNRS” and obtained her research habilitation at the Sorbonne University, Paris.
Through these years, she has developed an expertise in nanostructured energy materials and electrochemistry, as well as operando methods for surface and interface characterization. She is particularly interested in EQCM and its coupling with EIS, and has been actively working on, already more than 15 years.
Electrochemical devices are beginning to provide platforms from which to launch new methods to manipulate and study material systems. For example, recent investigations have provided new insights into the interactions between mixed ionic-electronic conductors and light. The ability of influencing the properties of mixed conductors with light presents the possibility of new energy-related applications. Similar developments have led to new photo(electro)chemical devices such as light-rechargeable batteries and light-tuneable resistive switches. Electrochemical methods have also found their way into semiconductor research, facilitating novel techniques such as doping for improved optoelectronic properties. To understand the complex phenomena inside an operating electrochemical device, non-invasive techniques based on the optical properties of battery materials are beginning to facilitate closer, real-time insights into the dynamic mechanisms of energy storage. This symposium invites contributions based on novel ways of characterising and using electrochemical materials, from both a perspective of the underlying phenomena and device applications.
- Photo(electro)chemical effects
- Mixed ionic-electronic conductivity
- Advanced tools for in-situ and operando characterization
- Integration for novel applications such as (photo)catalysis, (photo)batteries, and synaptic transistors
Dr. Moritz H. Futscher obtained his PhD in physics from the University of Amsterdam in January 2020 for his work performed at the research institute AMOLF. His PhD thesis focused on degradation channels related to ion migration and performance limitations of metal halide perovskites. After completing his PhD, he joined the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) as a postdoctoral researcher and Rubicon Fellow working on metal halide perovskites and thin-film solid-state batteries. His main interest lies in understanding and harnessing the mixed ionic-electronic conductivities of different materials for novel applications related to renewable energy conversion and storage.
Bruno Ehrler is leading the Hybrid Solar Cells group at AMOLF in Amsterdam since 2014 and is also a honorary professor at the University of Groningen since 2020. His group focuses on perovskite materials science, both on the fundamental level, and for device applications. He is recipient of an ERC Starting Grant and an NWO Vidi grant, advisory board member of the Dutch Chemistry Council, recipient of the WIN Rising Star award, and senior conference editor for nanoGe.
Before moving to Amsterdam, he was a research fellow in the Optoelectronics Group at Cambridge University following post-doctoral work with Professor Sir Richard Friend. During this period, he worked on quantum dots, doped metal oxides and singlet fission photovoltaics. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Neil Greenham, studying hybrid solar cells from organic semiconductors and inorganic quantum dots. He received his MSci from the University of London (Queen Mary) studying micro-mechanics in the group of Professor David Dunstan.
2022 Science Board member Netherlands Energy Research Alliance (NERA)
2021 Member steering committee National Growth fund application Duurzame MaterialenNL
2021 Member advisory board Dutch Chemistry Council
2020 Honorary professor Universty of Groningen for new hybrid material systems for solar-cell applications
2020 ERC starting Grant for work on aritifical synapses from halide perovskite
2019 Senior conference editor nanoGe
2018 WIN Rising Star award
2017 NWO Vidi Grant for work on metal halide perovskites
since 2014 Group Leader, Hybrid Solar Cell Group, Institute AMOLF, Amsterdam
2013 – 2014 Trevelyan Research Fellow, Selwyn College, University of Cambridge
2012-2013 Postdoctoral Work, University of Cambridge, Professor Sir Richard Friend
2009-2012 PhD in Physics, University of Cambridge, Professor Neil Greenham
2005 – 2009 Study of physics at RWTH Aachen and University of London, Queen Mary College, MSci University of London
Juan Carlos Gonzalez-Rosillo obtained holds a M.Sc. in Materials Science and Nanotechnology and a PhD in Materials Science from the University Autonomous of Barcelona. He performed his MSc and PhD research (2011-2017) at the Materials Science Institute of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), where he studied the relation of the resistive switching properties of metallic perovskite oxides with their intrinsic metal-insulator transitions for memristive devices and novel computation paradigms. He also was a visiting researcher at the University of Geneva (CH) and Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE). Then he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) for a postdoctoral position (2017-2020) working on the memristive properties of lithium-based oxides for neuromorphic computing and processing of next-generation solid-state electrolyte thin films for All-Solid-State Batteries and Microbatteries. Juan Carlos has been awarded with a Tecniospring postdoctoral fellowship to join IREC and to develop thin film microbattery architectures to power micro- and nanodevices for the Internet of Things revolution
Antonio Guerrero is Associate Professor in Applied Physics at the Institute of Advanced Materials (Spain). His background includes synthesis of organic and inorganic materials (PhD in Chemistry). He worked 4 years at Cambridge Dispaly Technology fabricating materiales for organic light emitting diodes and joined University Jaume I in 2010 to lead the fabrication laboratory of electronic devices. His expertise includes chemical and electrical characterization of several types of electronic devices. In the last years he has focused in solar cells, memristors, electrochemical cells and batteries.
The research progress of the past ten years in the field of organic and hybrid photovoltaics is marked by important breakthroughs towards their use for a sustainable future. Relentless research endeavours helped to achieve high efficiencies in outdoor and indoor environments. This potential is now underpinned by impressive laboratory-scale efficiencies, for example 18% for organic solar cells and > 25% for perovskites, achieved by sophisticated molecular engineering and a deep understanding of charge generation and voltage loss mechanisms. Thus it is now time to drive these technologies into market adoption and to consider ‘application targets’ such as indoor light-harvesting for internet of things (IoT) or space solar cells, that are opportune platforms to enable adoption. This symposium endeavours to gather leading experts in academia and industries from around the world aiming to identify and describe application targets for next-generation photovoltaic devices. In this regard, the symposium will particularly focus on areas such as state-of-the-art materials for photoactive layers and ancillary components, new material processing and device fabrication techniques, device engineering, characterization and simulation, differences in device physics between standard solar illumination, and more bespoke conditions such as indoor lighting, and cost evaluation of technologically relevant ‘whole systems’.
- Light-weight, high power density PV for communications/aerospace-related technologies
- Stability testing of perovskites and organic solar cells
- Scaling of organic and perovskite solar cells for large-area devices
- Semi-transparent solar cells and building integration of PV technologies
- Indoor PV for Internet of Things (IoT)
- PV-battery integration and system architectures
- Printable solar cells and environmentally friendly manufacturing
- PV cost and life cycle analysis
Prof. Marina Freitag is a Professor of Energy and a Royal Society University Research Fellow at Newcastle University. She is developing new light-driven technologies that incorporate coordination polymers to solve the most important challenges in the research area, including issues of sustainability, stability and performance of hybrid PV. The development of such highly innovative concepts has given Marina international recognition, including recipient of the prestigious 2022 Royal Society of Chemistry Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize 2022.
Her research into hybrid molecular devices, began during her doctoral studies (2007-2011, Rutgers University, NJ, USA) where she was awarded an Electrochemical Society Travel Award and Dean Dissertation Fellowship 2011. Dr Freitag moved to Uppsala University (2013-2015) for a postdoctoral research position, which focused on the implementation of alternative redox mediators, leading to a breakthrough today known as “zombie solar cells”. Dr Freitag was invited to further develop this work at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) with Prof. Anders Hagfeldt ( 2015-2016). From 2016-2020 she was appointed as Assistant Professor at Uppsala University, Sweden, where she received the Göran Gustaffsson Young Researcher Award 2019.
René Janssen is university professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). He received his Ph.D. in 1987 from the TU/e for a thesis on electron spin resonance and quantum chemical calculations of organic radicals in single crystals. He was lecturer at the TU/e since 1984, and a senior lecturer in physical organic chemistry since 1991. In 1993 and 1994 he joined the group of Professor Alan J. Heeger (Nobel laureate in 2000) at the University of California Santa Barbara as associate researcher to work on the photophysical properties of conjugated polymers. Presently the research of his group focuses on functional conjugated molecules and macromolecules as well as hybrid semiconductor materials that may find application in advanced technological applications. The synthesis of new materials is combined with time-resolved optical spectroscopy, electrochemistry, morphological characterization and the preparation of prototype devices to accomplish these goals. René Janssen has co-authored more than 600 scientific papers. He is co-recipient of the René Descartes Prize from the European Commission for outstanding collaborative research, and received the Research Prize of The Royal Institute of Engineers and in The Netherlands for his work. In 2015 René Janssen was awarded with the Spinoza Prize of The Dutch Research Council.
Jenny Nelson is a Professor of Physics at Imperial College London, where she has researched novel varieties of material for use in solar cells since 1989. Her current research is focussed on understanding the properties of molecular semiconductor materials and their application to organic solar cells. This work combines fundamental electrical, spectroscopic and structural studies of molecular electronic materials with numerical modelling and device studies, with the aim of optimising the performance of plastic solar cells. She has published around 200 articles in peer reviewed journals, several book chapters and a book on the physics of solar cells.
Dr. Monika Rai is a senior researcher and group leader at IMO-IMOMEC, University of Hasselt, Belgium. She received her doctoral degree from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), India in 2017. Before she joined IMOMEC, she worked as an Alexander von Humboldt research fellow at the University of Stuttgart from 2021 to 2022, and a post doctoral fellow at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore from 2017 to 2021. She was also a Visiting Researcher at the Hebrew University Jerusalem, Israel in 2018. Dr. Monika Rai has worked on different projects including perovskite solar cells and modules, transparent conducting oxides and printing technologies with expertise in solar cell devices and their optoelectronic characterizations. Her current research interests include strectchable electronics and energy harvesting devices.
Tao Wang is Professor of Materials Science in the School of Materials Science & Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, China. He received his B.S. in Polymer Materials and Engineering (2002) and M.Sc. in Materials Science (2005). He obtained his Ph.D. in Soft Condensed Matter Physics from the University of Surrey (UK) in Feb. 2009. Subsequently, he moved to the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sheffield (UK), where he worked with Prof. Richard Jones (FRS) and Prof. David Lidzey on organic solar cells. He became a professor in Wuhan University of Technology (China) in 2014. He is admitted as Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry in 2019, and is an Editoral Board Member of Reports on Progress in Physics. His current research interests are organic and hybrid optoelectronic devices. He has published over 100 journal papers in Joule, Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials and so on.
Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) have become essential building blocks of many different optoelectronic devices, e.g. efficient photodetectors and vivid color screen displays, and are playing a pivotal role for the development of future quantum technologies, photocatalysis and bio-applications. This symposium aims at bringing together experimentalists and theoreticians who are investigating various fundamental processes in nanomaterials, from the synthesis, surface chemistry and optical characterization to theoretical modelling and device applications. It provides a forum for discussing the latest scientific discoveries in these exciting new research areas bridging material science with optoelectronics and quantum technologies.
- Chemistry: new synthesis methods, novel surface chemistry, self-assembly, new compositions
- Optical spectroscopy: carrier dynamics at ensemble and single dot or 2D-layer level, stimulated emission, photon statistics
- Theory: band structure calculations, exciton-phonon coupling, fine-structure splitting
- Optoelectronics: LEDs, microcavity laser, photodetectors etc.
- Far reaching applications: single photon emission, collective quantum state of light, super resolution microscopy, bio applications
I am an energetic, creative, female scientist with a solid expertise in Material Science and Technology. I have successfully implemented an engineering approach to guide the development of functional nanohybrids through general and simple routes. Throughout my work, I have introduced important mechanisms on the cooperative coupling of dissimilar materials in single structures, which represents a fundamental knowledge for the creation of a new-generation of nano and macro hybrid materials.
I obtained my PhD degree in applied physics at Ghent University in 2009, studying near-infrared lead salt quantum dots. This was followed by a postdoc on quantum dot emission dynamics at Ghent University in collaboration with the IBM Zurich research lab. In 2012 I joined the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, where I led the Nanocrystal Photonics Lab in the Nanochemistry Department. In 2017 I returned to Ghent University as associate professor, focusing mostly on 2D and strained nanocrystals. The research in our group ranges from the synthesis of novel fluorescent nanocrystals to optical spectroscopy and photonic applications.
Maria Ibáñez was born in La Sénia (Spain). She graduated in physics at the University of Barcelona, where she also obtained her PhD in 2013, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Cabot and Prof. Dr. Morante. Her PhD thesis was qualified Excellent Cum Laude and awarded with the Honors Doctorate by the University of Barcelona. Her PhD research was funded by a Spanish competitive grant (FPU) which supported her to conduct short-term research stays in cutting-edge laboratories. In particular she worked at CEA Grenoble (2009), the University of Chicago (2010), the California Institute of Technology (2011), the Cornell University (2012) and the Northwestern University (2013). In 2014, she joined the group of Prof. Dr. Kovalenko at ETH Zürich and EMPA as a research fellow where in 2017 she received the Ružička Prize. In September 2018 she became an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) at IST Austria and started the Functional Nanomaterials group.
Alexander S. Urban studied Physics at the University of Karlsruhe (Germany) obtaining an equivalent to an M.Sc. degree (German: Dipl. Phys.) at the University of Karlsruhe (Germany) in 2006. During his studies he spent a year at Heriot Watt University (UK), where he obtained an M.Phys. in Optoelectronics and Lasers in 2005. He then joined the Photonics and Optoelectronics Chair of Jochen Feldmann at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich (Germany) in 2007 where he worked on the optothermal manipulation of plasmonic nanoparticles, earning his Ph.D. summa cum laude in 2010. He expanded his expertise in the fields of plasmonics and nanophotonics in the group of Naomi J. Halas at the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice University (Houston, TX, USA), beginning in 2011. He returned to the LMU in 2014 to become a junior group leader with Jochen Feldmann, where he led the research thrusts on optical spectroscopy, focusing on hybrid nanomaterials such as halide perovskite nanocrystals and carbon dots. In 2017 he was awarded a prestigious Starting Grant from the European Research Council and shortly after that in 2018 he received a call as a Full Professor of Physics (W2) at the LMU. Here, he now leads his own research group working on nanospectroscopy in novel hybrid nanomaterials.
Vanmaekelbergh's research started in the field of semiconductor electrochemistry in the 1980s; this later evolved into the electrochemical fabrication of macroporous semiconductors as the strongest light scatterers for visible light, and the study of electron transport in disordered (particulate) semiconductors. In the last decade, Vanmaekelbergh's interest shifted to the field of nanoscience: the synthesis of colloidal semiconductor quantum dots and self-assembled quantum-dot solids, the study of their opto-electronic properties with optical spectroscopy and UHV cryogenic Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy, and electron transport in electrochemically-gated quantum-dot solids. Scanning tunnelling spectroscopy is also used to study the electronic states in graphene quantum dots. More recently, the focus of the research has shifted to 2-D nano structured semiconductors, e.g. honeycomb semiconductors with Dirac-type electronic bands.
Kaifeng Wu obtained his B.S. degree in materials physics from University of Science and Technology of China (2010) and his PhD degree in physical chemistry from Emory University (2015). After his postdoc training at Los Alamos National Laboratory, he moved to China to start his independent research in 2017. His current work focuses on the ultrafast spectroscopy of carrier and spin dynamics in low-dimensional optoelectronic materials, as well as relevant applications in quantum information and energy conversion technologies. He is the winner of the 2022 Distinguished Lectureship Award by the Chemical Society of Japan, 2021 Future of Chemical Physics Lectureship Award by the American Physical Society, 2020 Chinese Chemical Society Prize for Young Scientists, 2019 Robin Hochstrasser Young Investigator Award by the Chemical Physics journal, and 2018 Victor K. LaMer Award by the American Chemical Society. He also serves as the Editorial Advisory Board of J. Phys. Chem. Lett.
Lead halide perovskites have become a game changer for solar cells and light-emitting devices. In spite of intense, worldwide studies in recent years, there are still challenges to overcome, and also, new opportunities to explore. One of the major challenges is the toxicity of lead-halide perovskites. Researchers have been searching for a lead-free perovskite compound alternative, in the hope of developing a cost-effective, highly efficient and environment-friendly PV technology. In terms of new opportunities, the fundamental aspects of halide perovskites (hot carriers, polarons, excitons, defects, anharmonicity, self-trapping) continues to fascinate the community, and understanding these fundamentals may help design future, super-high efficiency devices. Further opportunities exist in the field of quantum information and quantum optics, which stimulate nascent research into spins and chirality, exciton fine structures and exciton-polaritons in halide perovskite. Thus, it is necessary and timely to hold a symposium on new materials, new mechanisms, and new opportunities to collect the most recent, cutting-edge progress and insights into these related fields.
- New mechanisms and new phenomena in halide perovskites:
- Advanced spectroscopy studies, hot carriers, polarons, excitons
- Spins and chirality, exciton fine structure, quantum light-sources, exciton-polaritons
- New computational insights, defects, anharmonicity, self-trapping
- Lead-free Perovskite-Tin perovskite, double perovskite, perovskite-inspired materials:
- Suppression of tin oxidation in tin perovskite, defects in tin perovskite/double perovskite
- Perovskite-inspired metal halides and chalcogenides
- Energetic level alignment modification
- Additive incorporation, novel ETM/HTM, Novel device structure
Kaifeng Wu obtained his B.S. degree in materials physics from University of Science and Technology of China (2010) and his PhD degree in physical chemistry from Emory University (2015). After his postdoc training at Los Alamos National Laboratory, he moved to China to start his independent research in 2017. His current work focuses on the ultrafast spectroscopy of carrier and spin dynamics in low-dimensional optoelectronic materials, as well as relevant applications in quantum information and energy conversion technologies. He is the winner of the 2022 Distinguished Lectureship Award by the Chemical Society of Japan, 2021 Future of Chemical Physics Lectureship Award by the American Physical Society, 2020 Chinese Chemical Society Prize for Young Scientists, 2019 Robin Hochstrasser Young Investigator Award by the Chemical Physics journal, and 2018 Victor K. LaMer Award by the American Chemical Society. He also serves as the Editorial Advisory Board of J. Phys. Chem. Lett.
Iván Mora-Seró (1974, M. Sc. Physics 1997, Ph. D. Physics 2004) is researcher at Universitat Jaume I de Castelló (Spain). His research during the Ph.D. at Universitat de València (Spain) was centered in the crystal growth of semiconductors II-VI with narrow gap. On February 2002 he joined the University Jaume I. From this date until nowadays his research work has been developed in: electronic transport in nanostructured devices, photovoltaics, photocatalysis, making both experimental and theoretical work. Currently he is associate professor at University Jaume I and he is Principal Researcher (Research Division F4) of the Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM). Recent research activity was focused on new concepts for photovoltaic conversion and light emission based on nanoscaled devices and semiconductor materials following two mean lines: quantum dot solar cells with especial attention to sensitized devices and lead halide perovskite solar cells and LEDs, been this last line probably the current hottest topic in the development of new solar cells.
Atsushi Wakamiya received his Ph.D. degree from Kyoto University in 2003. He began his academic carreer at Nagoya University as an assistant professor in 2003. In 2010, he moved to Kyoto University as an associate professor and was promoted to full professor in 2018. He received several awards: The Chemical Society of Japan Award for Creative Work (2020), Commendation for Science and Technology by MEXT Japan: Award for Science and Technology Research Category (2022), etc. He is a project leader of the Green Innovation Program (NEDO) and JST-Mirai Program. He is a co-founder and a director (as Chief Scientific Officer, CSO) of “EneCoat Technologies, Co. Ltd.”, a startup company for perovskite solar modules. His research interests include physical organic chemistry, elemental chemistry and materials chemistry.
From transistors to solar cells, light-emitting diodes to sensors, the unique optical, electronic and magnetic properties of molecular materials have been harnessed in a wide range of technologies. Alongside their application in devices, molecular electronic materials provide the ideal playground to explore fundamental physical phenomena. A plethora of new molecular designs has been met by a newfound ability to probe, understand and manipulate the quantum world.
This symposium will consider emerging molecular materials in which the quantum properties can be leveraged to improve device efficiency and sustainability. We will highlight how consideration of shape, symmetry and packing will play an important role in the next revolution of quantum devices. We will discuss the challenges facing our disciplines, and identify the future developments needed to advance the field. We will showcase how multi-disciplinary research that combines molecular design, synthesis, characterisation and theory is critical in the pursuit of molecular materials that benefit society.
- Materials for quantum technologies
- Structure-property relationships
- Metal ion incorporation
- Organometallic thin films and organic molecular crystals
- Spin and topology
Jess is an Imperial College Research Fellow investigating spin selective charge transport through chiral systems in the Department of Materials. She currently works in SPIN-Lab at Imperial, which is led by Professor Sandrine Heutz. She previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Fuchter group at Imperial College London, where she optimised these chiral systems such that can absorb/emit circularly polarised (CP) light for CP OLEDs and OPDs. For her PhD Jess concentrated on organic photovoltaics and the development of advanced characterisation techniques to better understand molecular packing under the supervision of Dr Ji-Seon Kim. Outside of the lab, Jess is involved with several science communication and outreach initiatives. She is committed to improving diversity in science, both online and offline, and since the start of 2018 has written the Wikipedia biographies of women and people of colour scientists every single day.
Jeanne Crassous studied at the “Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon” (ENS Lyon, France). In 1992, she passed the national exam “Concours de l’Agrégation de Sciences Physiques, option Chimie”. In1993, she obtained a DEA (“Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies”, Master degree) in Organic Chemistry from the University of Lyon 1. She received her PhD in 1996, prepared under the supervision of Prof. André collet (ENS Lyon, France), on the Absolute Configuration of Bromochlorofluoromethane (CHFClBr). After a one-year postdoctoral period studying the Chirality of Fullerenes in Prof. François Diederich’s group (ETH Zurich, Switzerland), she received a CNRS researcher position at the ENS Lyon in 1998 and then she joined the Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes (University of Rennes, France) in 2005. She became Director of Research in 2010.
Her group is dealing with many fields of chirality (metal-based helicene derivatives, chiral π-conjugated assemblies, fundamental aspects of chirality such as parity violation effects) and chiroptical activity (electronic and vibrational circular dichroism, circularly polarized luminescence) with potential applications in optoelectronics, spintronics and chirality-coded systems.
She is co-author of more than 170 articles and book chapters and has presented her work in more than 60 invited lectures and 65 seminars in laboratories. She is co-author/co-editor of two monographs: « Molécules Chirales : Stéréochimie et Propriétés », Editions du CNRS, 2006 and « Helicenes - Synthesis, Properties and Applications », Wiley, 2022.
She is currently coordinating a French national network (GDR CHIRAFUN, Chirality and multifunctionality) and a European ITN Project (HEL4CHIROLEDs, Helical molecules for Chiral OLEDs). She is also currently an elected member of the Executive Board of the DCO-SCF (Division of Organic Chemistry of the French Chemical Society) and member of the Editorial Boards of Chirality and ChemPhysChem (Wiley journals).
In 2013, she was elected distinguished junior member of the French Chemical Society (SCF). In 2020, she received the National Prize of the Organic Chemistry Division of the French Chemical Society (DCO-SCF). In 2021, she was elected Member of the European Academy of Science (EurASc) and Fellow of Chemistry Europe (Class 2020/2021). In 2023, she was awarded the CNRS Silver Medal in molecular chemistry (CNRS Talent).