Solid State Chemistry

The 12^th Solid State Chemistry conference (SSC 2016), endorsed by IUPAC, was held 18-23 September 2016 in Prague, Czech Republic. The conference was organized in honour of Professor Miloslav Frumar (University of Pardubice, Czech Republic) on the occasion of his 80th birthday, to celebrate his life-long scientific contribution, particularly to the fields of solid state chemistry and inorganic chemistry.

SSC 2016 is a part of the series of conferences on solid state and materials chemistry, with the scope and themes of special significance and challenges currently interlinking research, development, and technology. The conferences are held biannually, alternatively in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. SSC 2016 was a forum for the presentation of new research results in the area of solid state chemistry to bridge the gap between scientific understanding and technical requirements and applications, so that the enormous future potential of solid state chemistry, materials, and technologies can be realized effectively. SSC 2016 encompassed different facets of solid state chemistry, physics, and related fields, and therefore attracted an extremely wide audience. In total, 101 scientists from 24 countries around the world participated. Specific topics included: preparation and synthesis; phase and properties characterization; nanomaterials, nanocomposites and catalysis; magnetic, metal, and alloy materials; optical and photovoltaic materials; and theoretical approaches to solid-state chemistry.

IUPAC representative, Milan DRÁBIK, made a short presentation about IUPAC, its mission and role.

(1) Best Oral Presentation Certificates to three young scientists”:

1. Daniela Nýblová—Comenius University Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Inorganic Chemistry - Synthesis of layered alpha alumina by heat-treatment of aluminium carbide

2. Filip Varga - University of Pardubice, Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry - Synthesis, crystal structures and spectral, redox and magnetic properties of cobalt(II)/(III) complexes with chelating s-, p-donor ligands

3. Bo Zhang - University of Pardubice, Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry - Investigation of the resistive switching in Ag_xAsS₂ layer by conductive AFM

(2) Best Poster Certificates to three young scientists:

1. Eunji Lee - Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea - Anion-controlled assemblies of silver(I) coordination polymers and their anion-exchange exhibiting dimensional changes in the solid state

2. Vasyl Karabyn - University of Pardubice, Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry - Physico-chemical properties of the Ge₈Sb_2−xBi_xTe₁₁ bulks and thin film

3. Max Fraenkl - University of Pardubice, Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry - Study of ionic properties of Ag-Ge-Sb-S glasses by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and radioactive tracer diffusion

The SSC 2016 conference has enabled the mutual exchange of knowledge and ideas directly during the oral and poster sessions, as well as at various informal discussions in the course of the six days of the conference. Selected contributions, mostly plenary and invited lectures representing the content of the conference, will be published in the special issue of IUPAC scientific journal Pure and Applied Chemistry (PAC), with Dr. Mariana Klementová as the Conference Editor. We are convinced that the quality of plenary and invited lecturers guarantee that the special issue of PAC will be a representative profile not only of SSC 2016, but also of the challenging fields of Solid State and Materials Chemistry.