ERC Grant Day

Plenary Talks

ERC Awarded

Luis M. Liz-Marzán

Ikerbasque Professor at CIC biomaGUNE, Spain.

Pedro Barquinha

Associate Professor at NOVA School of Science and Technology, Portugal.

Maria Clelia Righi

Full Professor at Bologna University, Italy.

Keynote Talks

ERC Awarded

Goreti Sales

Associate Professor at University of Coimbra, Portugal. 

Damien Voiry

CNRS researcher at University of Montpellier, France.

Federico Bella

Professor at Politecnico di Torino, Italy.

PCO Secretariat:
Organideia – Organização Profissional de Congressos, Lda.
Av. da Guarda Inglesa, N.27, Santa Clara
3040-193 Coimbra, PORTUGAL
euromat22@organideia.pt

Chairs:
Sandra Carvalho

Co-chairs:
Albano Cavaleiro
Jorge Coelho

Junior Euromat 2022 is pleased to announce Prof. Rodrigo Martins as Moderator of our ERC Grant Day event.

Rodrigo Martins currently is:

Full Professor at FCT-NOVA |President of European Academy of Sciences EurASc

President of the International Union of Materials Research Societies

Director of Centre of Excellence in Microelectronics, Optoelectronics and Processes of UNINOVA

Member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council

Topics

Rodrigo Martins | How materials answer to the demands of society in critical areas: energy; water; food and IoT, among others?

Telma Carvalho | What is the impact of the new panel in Physical Sciences and Engineering domain on attraction of talents in the area of Materials?

Tomas Polcar | How a suitable strategy for education can be used for the attraction of talents in the area of Materials?

Francesco Matteucci | How to educate young talents on science frontiers raised by brightest minds keeping entrepreneurial mindset in materials?

Luis M. Liz-Marzán

Ikerbasque Professor at CIC biomaGUNE, Spain.

Luis M. Liz-Marzán is a PhD from the University of Santiago de Compostela and was postdoc at the van’t Hoff Laboratory (Utrecht University) and professor at the University of Vigo. He is currently Ikerbasque Research Professor and Scientific Director of the Basque Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), in San Sebastian. Liz-Marzán has been one of the pioneers in the colloidal synthesis and self-assembly of metal nanoparticles and applications in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) toward the detection of disease biomarkers.

Contribution:

Title: From nanoparticles to artificial tumors: A lifetime scientific journey

Abstract: Nanoplasmonics can be defined as the science studying the manipulation of light using materials of size much smaller than the radiation wavelength. This technology finds applications in various fields including sensing and diagnostics. An essential component of nanoplasmonics are nanostructured noble metals, which absorb and scatter light efficiently, through coherent oscillations of conduction electrons. Although the remarkable optical response of “finely divided” metals is well known since more than 150 years ago, the recent development of sophisticated characterization and modelling methods has dramatically reactivated the field.

This talk will provide an overview of the gradual shift in research approach, from colloidal synthesis methods, through self-assembly, optimization of plasmonic properties and ultimately performance in biosensing applications. Several examples will be presented in which nanostructured materials comprising gold nanoparticles have been used as substrates for ultrasensitive detection of biorelevant molecules.

Pedro Barquinha

Associate Professor at NOVA School of Science and Technology, Portugal.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5446-2759

Pedro Barquinha (PhD in Nanotechnologies and Nanoscience, FCT-NOVA, 2010) is an Associate Professor at the Materials Science Department, FCT-NOVA. Low-temperature oxide electronics has been his core research area since 2004, through >40 research projects, including two ERC Grants: Starting (TREND) and Proof of Concept (FLETRAD). He co-authored >170 peer-reviewed papers (h-index=51, as June 2022) and several books and is editor for TFTs at IEEE EDL.

Contribution:

Title: Flexible oxide electronics: where functionality meets sustainability

Abstract: The recent demonstration of a flexible 32-bit microprocessor by PragmatIC and Arm using indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) technology clearly shows the interest of taking flexible electronics to applications beyond displays. Indeed, an anticipated vision would be to seamlessly integrate electronic functionalities into everyday objects, which would require researchers to conceive a high-performance multifunctional technological platform using sustainable processes and materials, tackling simultaneously More Moore and More than Moore concepts.
This presentation will focus precisely on the work being carried out at NOVA toward this direction. Topics to be covered include: replacement of IGZO by zinc-tin oxide (ZTO), a critical-element free semiconductor, without compromising low-temperature fabrication and TFT performance; oxide TFT integration in multiple analog and digital flexible circuits; use of oxide TFTs as ionizing radiation sensors; synthesis of ZTO nanostructures by hydrothermal synthesis and its combination with PDMS to create mechanical nanogenerators; integration of fibre-TFTs with fibre-QLEDs into a smart textile display system.

Maria Clelia Righi

Full Professor at Bologna University, Italy.

Prof. Righi’s research activity focuses on the development and application of computational tools to understand and predict the behaviour of materials from first principles, particularly of surface and interface phenomena.  She adopted pioneering computational approaches in tribology and applied them for understanding chemical reactions activated by mechanical stresses and designing materials to reduce friction. M. Clelia Righi is visiting professor at the Imperial College London, and actively collaborates with multinational industries.

Contribution:

Title: Advancing Solid Interfaces and Lubricants by First Principles Materials Design

Abstract:  Friction and wear result in massive economic and environmental costs. By advancing tribological materials impressive energy savings, and consequent reduction of CO2 emissions, can be obtained. However, optimizing lubricant materials is challenging because their performances are ruled by molecular-level processes that occur at the buried interface, which are extremely difficult to monitor by experiments. Simulations can play a decisive role here, in particular those based on quantum mechanics, which is essential to accurately describe materials in conditions of enhanced reactivity as those imposed by the mechanical stresses applied.

In this talk I will describe the computational tools we developed to i) perform multiscale simulations and design materials to reduce friction and provide fundamental understanding on chemical reactions activated by mechanical forces. ii) perform high throughput screening of solid interfaces. A database for interfacial properties, such as adhesion and shear strength will be presented and discussed.

Goreti Sales

Associate Professor at University of Coimbra, Portugal. 

She is Associate Professor at the Chemical Engineering Department of Sciences and Technology Coimbra University and Coordinator of BioMark research group at the University of Coimbra (BioMark@UC).  Her research interests are mainly devoted to research on biomimetic nanomaterials and biosensing devices. She was awarded (in 2012) a Starting Grant by the European Research Council, targeting a new technical approach that merges biosensors with solar cells, and nominated by the European Innovation Council an EIC National Champion. She is the coordinator of the FET-Open project (H2020) MindGAP.

Contribution:

Title: Innovative designs in (bio)sensors with plastic antibodies.

Abstract: (Bio)sensors combine in a single device a (bio)recognition element and a transducing element. The biorecognition element is the one responsible for the selectivity of the biosensor, holding the ability to discriminate a target compound among several others.  Many (bio)recognition elements may be employed, including materials from natural or synthetic origin. Plastic antibodies are synthetic biomimetic materials that have become attractive alternative to natural antibodies in (bio)sensors. They are tailored by imprinting a given target molecule on a polymeric network and then extracting this molecule from it. The vacant sites so generated display great affinity for the specific target molecule used at the imprinting stage, due to complementary spatial and electrostatic interactions.

Combining (bio)sensors and plastic antibodies is a long and successful scientific story that has also been extended to the integration of renewable forms of energy to generate self-powered devices. Several approaches have been developed for this purpose. Some include photovoltaic and fuel cells, which will be discussed in this presentation.

Acknowledgements: European Research Council, through the Starting Grant 3P’s/GA311086, and the European Commission, through Symbiotic/FET-Open/H2020/GA665046 and MindGAP/FET-Open/H2020/GA829040.

Damien Voiry

CNRS researcher at University of Montpellier, France.

Damien Voiry received B. Eng degree in Materials Science from the Graduate School of Chemistry and Physics of Bordeaux, France in 2007. He obtained his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the Center Paul Pascal, University of Bordeaux in 2010 under the supervision of Dr. Alain Pénicaud. His PhD focused on the dissolution and covalent functionalization of carbon nanotubes. In 2011, he joined the group of Professor Chhowalla as postdoctoral associate to work on exfoliated 2D materials. Since February 2016, he is a CNRS researcher at the European Institute of Membranes (IEM, UMR5635) in Montpellier and was awarded the European ERC-Starting Grant in July 2018. Damien Voiry has deposited 8 patents and published more than 55 research articles for a total number of citations greater than 15,000. He was received the CRNS Bronze Medal in 2020 and was nominated to the Young Academy of Europe in 2020. His research deals with the engineering of low dimensional materials for novel membranes and energy conversion.

Contribution:

Title: Molecular doping of metal catalysts for improving the electrochemical conversion of CO2 to multicarbon products

Abstract: The conversion of CO2 via electrochemical processes is a relevant technology to close the carbon cycle; especially when combined with renewable energy sources. Because of their high market value and their high energy density, research has aimed at developing catalysts for the electrochemical conversion of CO2 into multicarbon molecules. Copper (Cu) is one of the few transition metals that can efficiently catalyze the electrolysis of CO2 to multicarbon products such as ethylene, ethanol, acetate, propanol. The design of Cu-based catalysts by adapting some of the concept of molecular catalysts in order to finely tailor the behavior of the active sites of metallic surfaces is currently regarded as the long-standing interest for the controlled design of novel electrocatalytic materials. Increasing the oxidation state of copper has been suggested to improve the CO2RR performance and notably the formation of C2+ species.

In this context, we have proposed a new strategy to improve the conversion of CO2 into hydrocarbon molecules with two or more carbon atoms (C2+) via molecular doping of a metal catalyst. Specifically, we identified electrophilic functional groups that allow to direct the electrochemical reactions towards the production of C2+ species such as ethanol and ethylene and improve the reaction rates at the surface of the catalyst. In my presentation, I will review our recent findings on how the control of the oxidation state of Cu for controlling the selectivity of the CO2 reduction reaction.

Federico Bella

Professor at Politecnico di Torino, Italy.

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Federico Bella is Professor of Chemistry and works in the Electrochemistry Group, leading the research activities on post-lithium batteries, electrochemical nitrogen reduction and hybrid photovoltaics. In 2021, he was the recipient of the USERN Prize, awarded among 10000 candidates by a jury of previous Nobel awardees for his studies on applied electrochemistry. He is author of 95 publications (h-index 62) and leads the ERC Starting Grant “SuN2rise”, a 1.5 M€ EU-project for redesigning the ammonia production process.

Contribution:

Title: Electrochemistry for energy: conversion, storage and integration for a self-powered society

Abstract: Efficiency, stability, sustainability and integration of energy devices are milestone targets towards world electrification and renewable sources-dependent society.

In this talk, new strategies for materials design, use of biosourced components, unconventional device architectures and structure-propriety-performance correlation will be shown for the design of different energy devices for the storage and conversion of energy.

In particular, the lecture will cover these intriguing aspects in the current energy scenario:

  • Solar fuels from emerging conversion technologies.
  • The design of stable cell components for post-Li batteries;
  • The transition towards aqueous photovoltaics.
  • The use new materials for allowing the design of integrated conversion/storage systems for cities and industries.

The importance of considering sustainability, stability and industrial scalability as main targets in the research work will be stressed, along with a real consideration of efficiency results presented in the literature. 

 

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (grant agreement No. 952169, project title: SYNERGY).