ICTP-EAIFR is pleased to announce two virtual seminars taking place in early October:

1 October, 16:00: Petra Rudolf of the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, will give a talk on "New pillared clay and graphene oxide structures". 
Abstract: Over the past decade clay and graphene oxide have given enormous impetus to using layered materials as functional materials, leading to novel methods on how to exfoliate the bulk material into one- or few-atom thick sheets, to intercalate it with atoms and (macro)molecules, and to construct hybrids in a layer-by-layer fashion. Many insights have been gained on the laminar structure of these hybrids and on their peculiar properties. In this presentation I shall illustrate different ways to build pillared clay and graphene oxide with various pillaring agents as to obtain nanopores of the right size and chemical affinity for applications in gas storage, catalysis, drug delivery and environmental remediation.

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To participate: Participants are required to register in advance at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvc-GurTgsGtNZ2s9OMCRTm5Nj1a8pch3D

8 October, 16:00: Maria Chan, Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Lab, Ilinois, U.S.A.
Abstract: 

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite halides have been intensely investigated due to their exemplary properties for diverse optoelectronic applications including photovoltaics.  An understanding of the design of hybrid perovskites can benefit significantly from density functional theory (DFT) and machine learning approaches. In this talk, we will discuss (1) electronic properties of methlyammonium lead halide (MA-Pb-halide) perovskites having different cation and halide compositions with various defects and impurities, obtained using first principles DFT calculations and machine learning; (2) dynamics of lattice thermal equilibration, especially between the organic and inorganic sublattices,  from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. We will also discuss the availability of computational resources and staff scientist expertise at Nanoscale Science Research Centers funded by the United States Department of Energy.

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To participate: Participants are required to register in advance at: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAsc-mrpzgoE9dSiS1q8yOe0CqBYone9Bwi