Biohybrids and biomaterials

Combining advanced materials with biology has become one of the most innovative research fields. This symposium will highlight recent advances in the design of functional materials that mimic, or are inspired by, materials found in nature. Materials prepared using biological systems, including living organisms and renewable sources and materials, will also be covered. Nanostructural control for the delivery of biological molecules and cells will be reviewed. Another topic of focus will be hybrid materials specifically designed for biomedical applications.

Topics include bioinspired, biomimetic materials, biomineralisation, green materials, synthetic/biopolymer conjugates

Symposium chairs

• Helmut Cölfen, MPIKG Golm, Germany
• Paul Ducheyne, U. Pennsylvania, USA
• Jacques Livage, Collège de France, France
• Stephen Mann, University of Bristol, UK
• Daniel E. Morse, UC at Santa Barbara, USA

Functional hybrid nanomaterials, nanocomposites and their applications

Hybrid nanocomposites offer unique advantage to enable integration, miniaturisation and multi-functionalisation of devices. This symposium will focus on nanochemistry and nanotectonic based approaches to hybrid materials, including polymer-matrix nanocomposites, hybrid nanomaterials and functional nanostructures. Equal attention will be paid to recent development in polymer science, metallic/oxide nanoparticle design and characterization/properties of the organic-inorganic interface at the nanoscale.

Topics include sol-gel, functional nanoparticles and nanotubes, polymer-matrix nanocomposites

Symposium chairs

• Frank Caruso, University of Melbourne, Australia
• Marc Drillon, IPCMS, Strasbourg, France
• Eugenia Kumacheva, University of Toronto, Canada
• Axel H.E. Müller, Universität Bayreuth, Germany
• Donald R. Paul, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
• Michael Popall, Fraunhofer-Institut für Silicatforschung, Würzburg, Germany 
• Ulrich Schubert, Technische Universität Wien, Austria

Functional porous materials

The ability to tailor materials properties over broad length scales suggests that research on hybrids can significantly impact diverse fields, such as nanophotonics, separation techniques, catalysis and smart coatings. This symposium will be dedicated to preparation and applications of porous hybrid materials, including zeolites, MOFs and meso/macroporous materials, with special emphasize on self-assembly and templated growth processing and rational design of hierarchical structures.

Topics include zeolites, MOFs, mesoporous materials, foams, hierarchically structured materials

Symposium chairs

• C. Jeffrey Brinker, University of New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories, USA
• Gérard Férey, Université de Versailles, France
• Kazuyuki Kuroda, Waseda University, Japan
• Matthew Rosseinsky, University of Liverpool, UK
• Bao-Lian Su, Université de Namur, Belgium
• Dongyuan Zhao, Fudan University, Shanghai, China