Conferences, Meetings and Events

In this section are listed all the meeting and event that the UNIBO and UP universities took part to and those one programmed for the future.

Waste-Water-Energy as Resource for a Sustainable Future 7th and 9th of August 2019 , University of KwaZulu-Natal- Howard College Campus UNITE building, Durban (SA)

Clean water and energy underpin the economic and social development of Countries. Water is needed for energy production, and energy is crucial for the provision and treatment of water. Sustainable energy harvesting/storage technologies and water treatment systems are required for an efficient managing of renewable energy sources and water. Challenging is also addressing the interdependence between water, energy, climate change and pollution (by civil, mining and industrial sectors). Therefore, innovative technologies are globally needed.

The proposed workshop aims at bringing together scientists, municipalities, industries in a forum to discuss about current and future directions of materials and technology innovations that address the global water-energy nexus challenges.


The workshop will be organized within the ISARP Project Italy-SouthAfrica "Integration of High Power Energy Storage Systems for Sustainable Water and Renewable Sources Management" (university of Bologna-University of Pretoria) and as satellite event of the 70th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry "Electrochemistry: Linking Resources to Sustainable Development "

 The event is sponsored by the Italian Embassy in South Africa, the SARCHI Chair in waste and climate change, The Italian-South Africa Bilateral Project ISARP Project.

 

Open event, free of charge. To register by email to realeg1@ukzn.ac.za with the indication of Name Surname, Affiliation and dietary requirements.

 
Registration deadline: 30 June 2019

 

Provisional program:

- 7th August Wednesday 2019 (Venue UKZN Howard College Campus –UNITE building):
   -15:00 to 17:30 Round Table on the ISARP Projects. Open event to students and scientists
   -17:30 Cocktail hosted by the Italian Embassy in South Africa

 
- 9th August Friday 2019 (Venue UKZN Howard College Campus –UNITE building)
   - 13:00 Light Lunch hosted by the Italian Embassy
   - 14:00 to 17:00 Round table/Panel sessions/Workshop
   - 17:00 to 18:30 Cocktail hosted by SARCHI Chair in waste and climate change

 

Confirmed invited guest speakers:

1. Francesca Soavi (University of Bologna)

2. Carlo Santoro (University of West of England)

5. Ncholu Manyala (University of Pretoria)

6. Cristina Trois (University of KwaZulu-Natal)

7. Daniela Spiga (University of Cagliari)

8. Chris Buckley (University of KwaZulu-Natal)

Seminars at UNIBO

Opportunities to strengthen Italy-South Africa collaboration were: i) Prof. Manyala's visit (13-19 May 2018) at UNIBO during which the project kick-off meeting was scheduled, and two seminars: one held by Prof Manyala, titled "Electrochemical perfomance of hybrid supercapacitor based on porous activated carbon nanostructures", and one by Prof. Santoro - University of West of England, UK, entitled "Microbial Fuel Cells and their role in bioenergy"

International Workshop on Supercapacitors and Energy Storage, Salerno (Italy) 29/05-2/06/2018)

Energy storage is a key topic for research, industry and business, gaining more and more interest.

Supercapacitors (also known as ultracapacitors, electrochemical capacitors or double-layer capacitors) feature exceptional capacitance values reaching hundreds or even thousands of farads. This is several orders of magnitude higher than traditional devices.

Developments in supercapacitor technology and supporting electronics, combined with reductions in cost, have created extraordinary new opportunities for electrical and electronic systems in both research and industrial applications. The number of manufacturers grows every day as performance potential increases, costs fall and estimated business turnover rises.

This workshop provides an overview of the exciting applications and advances made possible by supercapacitor technology. It will also provide a forum to discuss and compare other energy storage solutions. In fact, several related topics are addressed in every workshop edition: batteries, high-voltage capacitors, superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), flywheels, power electronics, novel control and modeling techniques, special applications.

The workshop program is conceived to be more than a simple overview: this will offer a way for people in related fields to meet and share ideas. A specific area will be available for exhibitors.

We invite you to come learn about the latest developments in supercapacitor and energy storage technology, which has the potential to revolutionize everything from transportation to clean energy to consumer electronics.

The tagline for this edition "New roots for new plants" is a word play to stress that the roots of electrochemistry can lead to new applications and new performances. The path from the roots to the large power plants is followed in the workshop program.

Presented Work:

1.Supercapacitors: key systems for energy sustainability – F. Soavi, University of Bologna, Italy
2.Hybrid materials as cathode and carbon based materials as anode for asymmetric supercapacitor applications - Ncholu Manyala, University of Pretoria, South Africa

69th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE), Bologna, 2-7/09/2018

Bologna, seat of the oldest university in the western world, has been for centuries the place where academic knowledge is generated and transmitted throughout generations. Now the town is the centre of a vibrant, innovation-driven, high-tech area. To mark the continuity between academic culture and technological progress, the scientific theme of the meeting is Electrochemistry from Knowledge to Innovation.
The scientific program of the 69th Annual Meeting will comprise symposia sponsored by all ISE Divisions, covering all the scientific interests of the ISE membership and of the electrochemical community at large. Fundamental aspects of analytical, molecular, physical and bioelectrochemistry will be discussed, as well as their applications to (nano)materials science, energy, environment and biomedicine.

Presented work:

1.The Structural and Electrochemical Properties of Onion-like Carbon Nanostructures - Bridget Mutuma, University of Pretoria, South Africa
2.Stable high energy symmetric supercapacitors based on nanoporous carbons from waste pepper seed operated in ionic electrolytes – Damilola Momodu, University of Pretoria, South Africa
3.Electrochemical performance of a hybrid supercapacitor based on porous activated carbon nanostructures with manganese oxide decorated on functionalized carbon nanotubes – Damilola Momodu, University of Pretoria, South Africa
4.Analysis of the Pore Structure Formation of Activated Carbon from Compactivation of Plant Biomass Waste for Electrochemical Device Electrodes – Tjatji Tjebane, University of Pretoria, South Africa
5.Bio-Inspired Components of Supercapacitor - F. Soavi, University of Bologna.

46th National Meeting on Inorganic Chemistry, Bologna 10-13/09/2018

The congress aims to illustrate the most recent results of research carried out in Italy in the various sectors of inorganic chemistry, and to promote the exchange of ideas and interactions between scientists working in this discipline. Particular attention is paid to the participation of young researchers, favored by a reduced enrollment fee and the awarding of scholarships.

The scientific program will include plenary lectures and keynotes, held by internationally renowned experts, oral communications and poster sessions. The congress venue is located in the historic center of Bologna, one of the largest and most beautiful in Italy, a few steps from Piazza Maggiore. Social events will also be organized to spend pleasant and relaxing moments together.

The congress is sponsored by the University of Bologna and by three different Departments: CHIM-Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", CHIMIND-Department of Industrial Chemistry "Toso Montanari" and DISTAL-Department of Agro-Food Sciences and Technologies.

Presented Work:

Inorganic oxide-based supercapacitors for energy and water sustainability, F. Soavi, F. Poli, A. Brilloni, A. Terella, J. Seri, F. De Giorgio, C. Santoro, K. Malaie, D. Momodu, B. Mutuma, N. Manyala,.

NanoInnovation, Conference and Exhibition, Roma (Italy) 11-14/9/18

NanoInnovation is the reference national event for the wide and multidisciplinary community involved in the study and development of micro and nanotechnologies and in their integration with other enabling technologies (KETs) in all application fields.
Main goals of NanoInnovation 2018 still are:
• Providing a meeting forum among academy, research and companies.
• Displaying the State of the Art in applied research on nanotechnology.
• Acting as a showcase for the most important innovation deriving from nanotechnology and KETs
• Supporting the knowledge transfer among different application sectors.

The Event has seen the presence of more than 1.200 participants, who accepted the invitation to join us. The technical-scientific sessions have been proposed and organized by 26 co-organizers, whose contribution is warmly acknowledged. They fully understood and interpreted at the best the bottom-up principle, which is traditionally the structuring method of our Event.

Presented Work:

Supercapacitive microbial fuel cells : key systems of the Water-Energy Nexus. - F. Soavi, University of Bologna

The 1°Italian-Korean Bilateral Workshop on Electrochemical Energy Storage, Milano 25-26 November 2018:

The ItaKa Workshop will provide a wonderful opportunity to promote the collaboration between the Italian and the Korean researches on the Storage of Energy by Electrochemistry.

Presented Work:

Electrochemical systems for energy and environmental sustainability. - F. Soavi, University of Bologna

MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit 2018 – Boston 25-30 September 2018

Presented Work:

Bio-inspired supercapacitors. - F. Soavi, University of Bologna

International Conference on Surfaces, Coatings and Nanostructured Materials (NANOSMAT), CapeTown (South Africa), 19-23 November 2018

NANOSMAT is an established name in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology conferences. NANOSMAT conferences provide a unique platform for discussing key aspects of materials-related Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. The first ever NANOSMAT conference was held in 2005 at the University of Aveiro in Portugal. Subsequently, NANOSMAT-2 (in 2007), NANOSMAT-3 (in 2008), NANOSMAT-4 (in 2009), NANOSMAT-5 (2010), NANOSMAT-6 (2011), NANOSMAT-7 (2012), NANOSMAT-8 (2013), NANOSMAT-9 (2014), NANOSMAT-10 (2015), NANOSMAT-11 (in 2016) and NANOSMAT-12 (in 2017) were successfully organised and held in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, UK, Portugal and France, respectively. Since its inception in 2005, NANOSMAT has rapidly established itself to become a leading conference in the field of nanomaterials related nanoscience and nanotechnology. The NANOSMAT conference series foster the gathering of talented and truly international people to exchange ideas, share new knowledge and technical know-how in the broad NANO fields.