Call for Papers

Please contact the symposium organizers with questions.

Protons are essential lightweight building blocks in all organic materials, the dominating element in universe and basic constituent of water. Protons are intermediates in water splitting, carbon and nitrogen fixation reactions; they are small and can intercalate materials, form bonds with the host and become part of their structure. The proton is an important, yet elusive, ionic charge carrier in electrochemistry and virtually also a hydrogen carrier in proton pumps and hydrogen separation membranes. In nature, proton gradients across membranes serve the photo-induced production of chemical energy in cells, and involved into neuro transmission and cellular communication. Protons are the foundation of a hydrogen economy.

This symposium features the logistics of protons with respect to their importance to energy materials in technology and nature, in experiment and computational modeling: proton conductivity, hydrogen storage, fuel cells, and artificial photosynthesis and synapse networks. The symposium is the discussion platform where engineers and scientists from seemingly unrelated fields may find common ground for the transition from basic science to applied sciences and technology.

In addition to applications and devices, the symposium will include the important and frequently underestimated basic science of the proton hosted in solids; the transition from hydrogen bonding to proton-phonon coupling; and its benign or malign impact on functionality, stability, and integrity of materials. A further aspect is the proton transport in liquids and molecules, because it is important in biological systems including photosynthesis and the metabolism in living cells. Since hydrogen is taking center stage in a future clean and renewable energy technology and economy, we welcome also contributions from industries.

Topics will include:

• Protons in electrocatalysis and photocatalysis
• Ceramic proton conductors
• Polymer proton conductors
• Protons in biological energy conversion and catalysis
• Fuel cells and electrolyzers
• Protons as information carriers for signaling and neurotransmitters
• Molecular dynamics calculation for proton trajectories
• Measuring low and high hydrogen concentrations

Invited Speakers (tentative):

• Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou (The University of Sydney, Australia)
• Hyun S. Ahn (Yonsei University, Republic of Korea)
• Seukheun Choi (Binghamton University, The State University of New York, USA)
• Huyen Dinh (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA)
• Chuancheng Duan (The University of Utah, USA)
• Maria A. Gomez (Mount Holyoke College, USA)
• Shu Hu (Yale University, USA)
• Mantao Huang (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
• Min Hwan Lee (University of California, Merced, USA)
• Qiyang Lu (Westlake University, China)
• Igor Lubomirsky (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel)
• Jörg Pieper (University of Tartu, Estonia)
• Alexey Rulev (Empa–Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Switzerland)
• Noriko Sata (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., Germany)
• Sankaranarayanan Subramanian (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)
• Massimo Trotta (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy)
• Paul Weiss (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
• Yoshihiro Yamazaki (Kyushu University, Japan)
• Arthur Yelon (Polytechnique Montréal, Canada)
• Bilge Yildiz (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)

Symposium Organizers