Theme: Solid State Materials

Plenary Speaker on Tuesday 3 July:

The Chemical Imagination at Work in Very Tight Places
Professor Roald Hoffman, Cornell University, USA 

Solid State I, II, III

The revolution in Solid State Materials offers the promise of new materials with tuneable properties and applications spanning, for example: energy storage, catalysis, electronics, sensor and separation technology.
 
Key to success in this area is the increasingly important role of theory and simulation.

Topic: Solid State I: High Pressures, High Temperatures and Confined Dimensions

Keynote speaker:
Roberto Bini, University of Florence, Italy

Contemporary solid state and materials chemistry now has in its repertoire various 'extreme conditions' environments facilitating new synthesis routes and unprecedented insights into the behaviour, structure and properties of materials held at high pressure-high temperature conditions, in confined dimensions and under large chemical, electrical or magnetic field gradients.

Topic: Solid State II: Advanced Ceramics and Functional Materials

Keynote speaker:
Richard Catlow, UCL/RI, UK

Ceramic materials present structural beauty, substance and valuable applications. Recent developments, via innovative synthesis, have facilitated intelligent architectural design and control spanning all length scales.

Topic: Solid State III: Electronic and Magnetic Materials

Keynote speaker:
Robert Cava, Princeton University, USA

The evolution and innovation of computing and communication technologies presents an ongoing challenge to understand and harness the electronic and magnetic properties of solid state materials.  This "Electronic and Magnetic Materials" symposium addressed the central role of solid state chemistry in meeting this challenge through the design, synthesis, structure determination and characterisation of new electronic and magnetic materials.

Topic: Catalysis and Green Materials

Keynote speakers:
John Evans, University of Southampton, UK
Shu Kobayashi, University of Toyko, Japan

The "Catalysis and Green Materials" symposium addressed the 
synthesis, development and characterisation of modern materials for 
catalytic applications.

Topic: Materials for Sustainable Energy: Battery Materials

Keynote speaker:
Professor Jean-Marie Tarascon, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, France

Energy storage will be far more important in the future than at any time in human history. The session discussed a number of developments at the cutting edge of materials for energy storage.

Topic: Materials for Sustainable Energy: Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Generation and Storage

Keynote speakers:
James McGrath, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA
Andreas Zuettel, Universitat Fribourg, Switzerland

Fuel cells utilising either hydrogen or methanol are rapidly approaching techno-commercial viability for both stationary and automotive applications, but their costs and  performance still require significant improvement before their widespread adoption as power-sources can be contemplated.