30^th International Conference on Materials Chemistry & Science August 27-28, 2018 Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Scientists are investigating in situ studies of nucleation, growth, structure, phase, defects, interface, and facets in nano-, energy-, and 2D-materials and direct imaging or 3D imaging of soft materials (organic or bio-materials). The emerging materials find its future in healthcare industries, medical devices, electronics and photonics, energy industries, batteries, fuel cells, transportation, and nanotechnology.

Organic materials are critical to addressing emerging societal needs through advances in energy, environmental and biomedical research. Macromolecules are extraordinarily large molecules based on the assembly of smaller structural units. Current research is focusing on emulsion-templated porous systems with potential for tissue engineering, drug delivery, sustainable energy, water purification, and smart material applications.

Researchers are exploring many aspects of energy storage materials like large-scale grid storage, solar cells, car batteries, and batteries for devices. For the transition to a hydrogen-based economy to become feasible and economically practical, many materials challenges have to be addressed. Scientists are focusing on metal hydride materials and carbon nanotube-based materials for hydrogen storage.

Current research focuses on the development of new biomaterials by the hybridization of bio-organic and inorganic materials. Scientists are interested in the development of functional biomaterials through the inspiration from nature. Incorporating the biological inspiration with nano-scale design can lead to enhanced performance and properties of materials. Some biomaterial researchers along with medical researchers are trying to bring new innovations in medical implants, stents, and grafts.

Utilizing current insights into the fundamental mechanisms and principles of photosynthesis, it is now possible to create entirely new and distinctive molecular materials and conceive artificial photosystems and applications. The development of piezoelectric composite material helped overcome some of the limitations of the monolithic piezoceramic components, especially brittleness, lack of reliability, and conformability.

Synthetic and natural polymers which play a significant role in everyday life have seen the dawn of a new era in recent years. In materials science, polymers are often studied in connection with chemical engineering and biomaterials. Research in polymers is focused on all aspects of characterizing, processing, recycling, synthesis, testing, modeling, and computing, for expanding the understanding of structure/ process/property relations needed for performance-specific design with polymers.

The fast-developing information technology industry is driving a need for new materials in order to facilitate the development of more reliable microelectronic products. Some of the key concerned aspects of developments are materials for silicon-based semiconductor devices (including high-k gate dielectric materials), materials for non-volatile memories, materials for on-chip interconnects and interlayer dielectrics (including silicides, barrier materials, low-k and ultra-low-k dielectric materials) and materials for assembly and packaging.

Current research focuses on the development of new futuristic materials by the hybridization of bio-organic and inorganic materials. Scientists are interested in the development of functional super and biomaterials through the inspiration from nature. Incorporating the biological inspiration with nano-scale design can lead to enhanced performance and properties of materials. Some material researchers along with medical researchers are trying to bring new innovations in medical implants, stents, and grafts via upcoming futuristic materials.

Coupling of one or more material types (such as ceramics and polymers) to obtain a material behavior that exceeds the sum of the properties of the constituents are trending strategies for the design of material. More recently, researchers have also started to actively include sensing, actuation, computation and communication into composites.

Advanced materials continue to play an important role in the breakthrough of technologies for advanced applications. Through systematic studies and mechanistic understanding of structure-property relationships of the developed novel materials, it is possible to precisely and innovatively control the processing of materials. Material scientists are expected to be able to effectively facilitate the innovation of unique materials functions which will push desirable technology innovations. The research activities under this roof are concerned on materials innovation, platform integration, technology developments and transfers for various advanced applications in Defence.

Much of the research is being focused on gallium nitride and related materials, an extremely interesting family of semiconductors whose light-emitting properties have allowed the development of energy-saving LED light bulbs. The synthesis of bulk crystals, thin films and nanostructures play a significant role in the progress and development of the quantum materials. Researchers are trying to develop single-photon sources for quantum computing applications and secure communication based on single quantum dots, tiny semiconductor crystals only a few atoms in each dimension.

At the recent time, most materials must attain an extremely low energy state via low temperatures and/or high pressures in order to reach superconductivity. While superconductors that are effective at higher temperatures are in progress, superconductivity is typically possible only with expensive, inefficient cooling mechanisms. Many superconductors also exhibit unique features like expelling magnetic fields during the transition to the superconducting state.

Researchers focus on the synthesis, processing and application of materials with advanced physical and chemical properties. These are found in all classes of materials: ceramics, metals, polymers and organic molecules. They are often used in electromagnetic applications from KHz to THz and at optical frequencies where the plasmonic properties of metals assume particular importance.

Technological advances in information storage, processing, and communication are propelled by fundamental developments in new materials, structures, and processes down to the nanoscale level. Synthesizing materials that allow reliable turn-on and turn-off of current at any size scale is very necessary for future electronics. New electronic and photonic nanomaterials promise intense improvement in communications, computing devices, and solid-state lighting.

Predicting and characterizing structure in 4D – from the nanoscale to the mesoscale and over time scales ranging from picoseconds to years – will be crucial for speedy deployment of new materials into advanced engineering systems. Concerned materials systems incorporate amorphous alloys, advanced metallics, ceramics and nanocrystalline materials, with an emphasis on the role of defects and interfaces.

Recent years have seen huge advances in the accuracy, realism, and predictive capabilities of tools for the theory and simulation of materials. Predictive modelling has now become a powerful tool which can also deliver real value through application and innovation to the nano, chemical and process industries. Advances in the quantum mechanical description of interatomic interactions in materials using the density functional theory together with tremendous improvements in computational power have made it possible to predict materials properties starting just from atomic numbers and to simulate their behavior under different conditions.

From the nanometer for quantum devices to meters for smart or adaptive structures, materials synthesis and processing techniques span length scales. Techniques like Hydro/solvothermal are used for the synthesis of micro-and mesoporous materials. Typically researchers are making use of teflon lined autoclaves. Metalorganic/organometallic molecules synthesis is being taken as high importance in some labs, both for studies of homogeneous catalyst systems, as precursors for MOF synthesis and as precursors for thin film deposition methods.

2D and 3D imaging techniques are plays much important role in Materials Science. The applications of such imaging techniques are numerous, from understanding how the shape and surface chemistry of catalysts affects their ability to affect chemical processes through to studying medical implants and structures containing biological cells. The 2D images recorded using microscopy approaches also provide valuable information about the samples.

Material researchers have combined new materials with silicon chips in order to further the creation of next-generation smart devices. There is a considerable amount of research being conducted on composite materials in the nano-world, with nano-materials generating much innovation. Some materials being used in the development include multiferroic materials, with both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties. The functional materials applied in this development could ultimately be used with sensors, non-volatile computer memory, and microelectromechanical systems.

Materials may be used to manipulate light via a variety of mechanisms. There are multiple applications of such Chromic Materials. Some of the applications are already developed to the technological level and are commercialized successfully whereas some are in the developmental stage. Some recent progress in electrochromic materials concerned to transition-metal hydride electrochromics have resulted in the advancement of reflective hydrides, which become reflective rather than absorbing.

By making use of high-performance nano-materials and soft electronic technologies researchers are trying to develop 'Self-powered Flexible Electronic Systems' This technology could provide opportunities for printable electronics such as artificial skins, biosensors, flexible displays,  roll-up communication, and biomedical applications. Scientists also aim to develop flexible memory and large scale integration (LSI), self-powered energy source, flexible optoelectronics, and laser material interaction.

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Research agendas are driven by critical national and international needs in the areas of energy, transportation, aerospace and security. This area focuses on the relationships between the chemical and physical structure of materials and their properties and performance as well as emerging high-temperature and lightweight materials (including advanced oxides, carbides, and metallic alloys along with protective coatings), biological and bio-inspired materials.

The synthesis, characterization, and processing of nanostructured materials are part of the emerging and rapidly growing field of nanotechnology. Remarkable variations in fundamental electrical, optical and magnetic properties occur, as one progresses from an infinitely extended solid to a particle of material consisting of a countable number of atoms. Carbon-based nanomaterials and nanostructures including fullerenes and nanotubes are playing a significant role in nanoscale science and technology.

For developing cleaner fuel technologies and eradicate environmentally harmful processes in the pharmaceutical or chemical industries, renovations in the design and function of catalytic materials are pivotal. The advance in the development of heterogeneous catalysts, and particularly single-atom catalysts, is highly promising. Scientists are interested in investigating the photocatalytic properties of metal oxide nanoparticles decorated with noble metal clusters which shows excellent oxidative properties upon illumination with UV or visible light.

Magnetic materials play a significant role in a wide range of technological applications, from motors to medical imaging to information storage. The magnetic response of materials is largely determined by the magnetic dipole moment related to the intrinsic angular momentum, or spin, of its electrons. Researchers are investigating the structure of bulk materials, thin films, and nanoparticle materials by means of HRTEM, EELS, and X-ray diffraction and studying their magnetic properties by standard hysteretic techniques.

Research in the field focuses on the progress of novel sensor materials and devices by making use of a variety of inputs for diverse applications including environmental and safety monitoring, diagnostics and wearable electronics. Optical sensor platforms apply the quantitative change in the signal of photoluminescent molecules or polymers in response to alteration in the local chemical or biological environment.

Scientists are investigating noble electronic and optical materials for real-world applications. Some of the current materials of interest are carbon-based nanoelectronic materials and optical metamaterials. The ability to bend, stretch, and roll metamaterial devices on flexible substrates add a new dimension to aspects of manipulating electromagnetic waves and commits for new potentials of device designs and functionalities in future.

Recent developments in computational methodologies offer truly remarkable insight into materials behaviors, particularly at the nanoscale. Materials chemistry and Sciences significance range from the theoretical forecast of the electronic and structural properties of materials to chemical kinetics and equilibria in a materials processing operation. With this understanding, we can choose materials for targeted purpose and also design advanced materials for new applications.

Performance of materials is often based on understanding the behavior at several scales, requiring, for example, the mechanics of dislocations and other imperfections, grain boundaries, interfaces, and material heterogeneity. The complete theory began with the consideration of the behavior of one and two-dimensional members of structures, whose states of stress can be approximated as two dimensional, and was then generalized to three dimensions to develop a complete theory of the elastic and plastic behavior of materials.

Owing to their bond strengths, crystal structures, and band structures, non-metallic solid materials(ceramic materials) have unique properties and applications. The crystallinity of ceramic materials ranges from highly oriented to semi-crystalline, vitrified, and often completely amorphous (e.g., glasses). They also have unique electrical, optical, and magnetic functionalities. They find application in thermochemically demanding environments as structural materials.

This area of research is concerned to the life cycle and impact of materials, from design to production to distribution to use to recycling or disposal. The challenge is to redesign the materials economy so that it is compatible with the ecosystem. It includes designing products so that they can be easily disassembled and recycled, redesigning industrial processes to eliminate waste generation.

This area focuses on the development of clean energy harvesting, solar fuels and energy storage. Researchers are emphasizing on promising way to meet the future demands for high energy storage – small size and light weight, like integrating supercapacitors with batteries. Researches are also being taken place in the development of artificial photosynthetic materials for H2O and CO2 conversion. Some of the materials developed are metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).