1) “Nanocarbon Based Materials: Growth and Applications”
Chairperson(s): Professor W. I. Milne, University of Cambridge, UK; Dr Nasar Ali, CNC Coatings, UK

This session will be devoted to the science and technology of nanocarbon based materials. It will cover experimental and theoretical investigations of the electronic properties of e.g. fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphene. Topics will include growth and fabrication methods, theoretical modelling, electrical and optical characterization, electronic transport and spintronics, as well as various potential electronic and optical applications of these materials. 

2) “Carbon for Medicine”
Chairperson: Professor Stanislaw Mitura, University of Koszalinska, Poland

This session will be related to practical applications of carbon and carbon based materials in widely understood biomedical engineering. Topics will be devoted to the scientific and technological issues of synthesis of diamond-like carbon and nanocrystalline diamond layers onto medical implants and carbon powders. The session will cover the relationship of process parameters, structure and properties of those materials including the influence of their further modifications. Special emphasis will be put on problems associated with the implementation of laboratory scale technologies into industrial practice. Examples of successful transfer processes will be highlighted.

Topics for this session include:

- Practical applications of carbon based materials into medical industry,

- Surface/bulk modifications in order to obtain additional properties, unattainable in the initial state

- Carbon powders - manufacturing and properties 

3) "Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Characterization & Applications"

Chairperson(s): Professor Ehrenfried Zschech, Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing IZFP, Germany; Dr Ahmed Shariq, Fraunhofer CNT, Germany

Over the previous decade, nanomaterials and nanotechnologies have attracted tremendous attention. ‘‘There’s plenty of room at the bottom, the principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom, put the atoms down where the chemist says, and so you make the substance.’’, this famous statement of legendary Richard Feynman made in 1959 with immense foresight has been realized in less than half a century by consistent efforts and significant contributions from the scientific community across the globe. New thin film and patterning technologies and devices with essential improved performance evoke on account of the development of nanoscience. Novelmaterialsand  extremely small feature sizes provide one of the greatest potentials for improving performance of advanced products and have the potential for wide-ranging industrial, biomedical, and electronic applications. Nanostructures can be divided into zero-dimensional, one-dimensional, and two-dimensional based on their shapes. The recent emphasis in the nanomaterials research is put on 1D nanostructures at the expense of 0D and 2D ones, perhaps due to the intriguing possibility of using them in a majority of short-term future applications. There is a large number of new opportunities that could be realized by down-sizing currently existing structures into the nanometer scale (<100 nm), or by making new types of nanostructures. The most successful examples are seen in the microelectronics, where ‘‘smaller’’ has always indicateda betterperformance ever since the invention of transistors: e.g. higher density of integration, faster response, lower cost, and less power consumption.

As a result of recent improvement in technologies to see and to manipulate these nanoscalematerials, the nanomaterials field has seen a huge increase in funding from private enterprises and government, and academic researchers within the field have formed many partnerships. Nanostructured materials are not only in the forefront of the hottest fundamental materials research nowadays, but they are also gradually intruded into our daily life. To keep up with the evolution in nanoscience and nanotechnology, the organizing committee would like to focus on the following topics during the next Nanosmat 2012:

1. Nano-scale thin films and film stacks
2. Nanoparticles and granulates
3. Nanoanalysis for failure characterization and quality engineering
4. Metrology techniques for process control
5. Applications, innovative products

This event shall provide a platform to bring together scientists, engineers, students and suppliers to discuss current research & applications, and to shape the future of nanoscience and nanotechnologies.

4) Laser Nano-Fabrication & Nano-Inspection

Chairperson(s): Prof. Dimitri Batani (CELIA, University of Bordeaux, France); Prof. Ashok Vaseashta (IASC/ICWI, NUARI and VTT/AVC, U.S. Department of State, DC); Prof. Davide Bleiner (Institute for Applied Physics, University of Bern, Switzerland)

Laser-produced nano-structured materials are a wide and promising research field, due to intrinsic flexibility, rapidity and purity of methodology. Formation of periodic nanostructures has been demonstrated using femtosecond (fs) laser pulses for a wide range of materials such as dielectrics, semiconductors, and metals. Laser-nanostructures are very attractive for the perspective of sub-wavelength photonics. Laser deposition of thin films (PLD, LIFT, …) is also a widely investigated tool for engineering the optical, mechanical, electrical, thermal, etc. properties of surfaces. Furthermore, high-volume chip manufacturing requires lithography lasers for the deep and extreme UV to keep-up with Moore’s law. Micro- and nanostructuring of surfaces (including polymers), modification of surfaces using EUV radiation produced with laser plasma light sources, laser-driven ion-implantation into different materials, e.g. into semiconductor substrates for production of Ge nano-crystals, laser cleaning of surfaces for fusion technology (e.g. tokamak in-vessel components): all of these are growing exciting fields for research and applications.

Besides surface processing, laser have been also used for generation of nano-particles.  An expanding research community has adopted lasers for nano-particles, where besides advantages of rapidity and purity, the major challenge is that of controlling the size distribution width. While nanoparticles can be produced with either ns or fs laser pulses, such production appears to take place along different thermodynamic paths in the two cases, which demands further fundamental research on laser—matter interaction that is application-oriented.  In fact, laser ablation as stoichiometric process, taking place either as vapor or in the form of condensed phase (e.g. nanoparticles), allows for chemically-controlled material synthesis but also analysis with high spatial resolution and very high sensitivity (down to ng/g ultratraces) using techniques as LA-ICP or LIBS.

Finally, the growing interest on nano-structured materials and functionalization demands the availability of laboratory-scale tools for nano-inspection. This implies light sources with short-wavelength to achieve nano-scale probing resolution as well as the short-wavelength optics. Short-wavelength light, i.e. extreme ultraviolet or soft X-rays, can make use of two types of optics: (i) multilayer reflectors, (ii) Fresnel zone plates. The former are nano-coatings (l/4 thickness, where the light wavelength l is approx. 6—12 nm) that should have a controlled thickness and sharp interface for good operation. The latter are nano-structured gratings that achieve large magnifications.

This special session is devoted to various nanomaterials based on laser processing, including synthesis, modification and applications. Contributions, such as original research articles, communications, and comprehensive or brief review articles, are especially solicited on the generation, characterization and applications of laser processed surfaces and nanoparticles. We welcome papers that highlight properties and applications of laser produced nanoparticles and offer comparisons with other production techniques.

• Nanomaterials by Laser ablation in vacuum, gas, and liquid medium
• Nanomaterials by Laser chemical vapour deposition
• Nanomaterials by Laser pyrolysis
• Nanomaterials by other Laser processing
• Nanomaterial modification by Laser-induced size reduction and reshaping
• Nanomaterials patterning by Laser processing
• Properties and applications of nanomaterials by Laser processing
• Surface texturing for the control of cell behavior, adhesion, tribological properties, airflow and heat transfer
• The effects of UV and high intensity ultrafast pulses on surface chemistry of polymers
• Nature and properties of Laser marking and texturing, including issues such as corrosion resistance
• Laser drilling: Effects of hole surface quality on flow characteristics
• Additive Manufacture: Relationship between surface finish and mechanical properties.
• Laser induced ripples
• Ablation for Plasmon resonance
• Novel sensors/detectors
• XUV optics based on nano-structures (zone plates) and nano-coatings (multilayers).
• Nanotechnologies as applied to development of micro-laser devices
• XUV lasers for nano-structures inspection. 

5) “Catalysis Involving Nanostructured Materials”

Chairperson: Dr Giuseppe Fierro, CNR-ISMN, Italy

The NanoCatalysis session will cover all major and highly important topics and aspects of heterogeneous catalysis. The session will review the current state-of-the-art concerning functional surfaces and nano-structured materials in catalysis as well as presenting novel applications and current challenges and opportunities in this strategic field.
This special session will promote high-tech ideas and will endeavour to provide solutions to the many problems underlying the field of Catalysis. In doing so, the session will provide a platform which will act as a hub for finding international partners for innovative research collaborations and research proposals for European FP Projects. 

6) "Graphene and other novel two-dimensional nanostructures"

Chairperson: Dr M. Aliofkhazraei, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran

Two-dimensional nanostructures present a rich playground for scientists to fabricate new materials with novel and desired properties. Unique properties of graphene, graphene oxide, and other form of carbon derivatives, attract a lot of attentions during recent years.

The aim of this session is to collect the advances being made around the globe in the area of two-dimensional nanostructures, focusing on these topics: 

1) New findings related to size affected properties in two-dimensional nanostructures

2) Fabrication methods of new kinds of two-dimensional nanostructures

3) Innovative approaches in both fabrication methods and characterization of two-dimensional nanostructures

4) Theory, calculations and modeling of two-dimensional nanostructures

5) Advances in usage of two-dimensional nanostructures for new applications

7) “Nanotoxicity in Nanoparticulate Materials”

Chairperson: Professor Paulo Morais, University of Brasilia, Brazil

Nanoparticulate materials are already present in consumer products, as for instance in sunscreens, cosmetics, toothpastes, sanitary-ware coatings, and foods. An increasing number of nanoparticulate materials are presently under development and evaluation using pre-clinical tests aiming their application in medicine, either for supporting new diagnostic tools or as a material basis for new therapies. Composition of synthetic nanoparticulate structures ranges from inorganic (e.g. metal, carbon-based, semiconductor, metal oxide) up to organic (e.g. polymers) materials, including hybrid materials (inorganic/organic interfacial materials) in between these two ends. Nevertheless, evaluation of the toxicity (including neurotoxicity) and environmental impact of nanoparticulate materials, using worldwide accepted protocols is at its infancy.

This special session is organized as a forum for presentation and discussion of nanoparticulate materials as opposed to their bulk counterparts regarding their engineering and basic characterization while associated to the in vitro and in vivo tests, site-targeting, blood brain barrier, clinical trials, case studies, potential impacts on human health and the environment, safety and risks associated with their mass production, delivery into the body and to the environmental, and inclusion into consumer products. Submission of abstracts related to the previously-mentioned topics and topics closely related to them is welcome.