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Vol.
27 No. 1
January-February 2005
Solubility Phenomena
by Heinz Gamsjäger
The
11th
International Symposium on Solubility Phenomena—Including
Related Equilibrium Processes was held 25–29
July 2004 at the University of Aveiro in Portugal, under the
auspices of IUPAC. The extended title reflects the broadening
of scientific interest and competence, resulting from the
merger of the solubility and equilibrium data groups of IUPAC.
The joint organizers of the symposium were the University of Aveiro, the Portuguese Chemical Society, and the IUPAC Subcommittee on Solubility and Equilibrium Data. Sponsors of the symposium were University of Aveiro, CICECO-Centro de Investigação em Materiais Cerâmicos e Compósitos; US Army-Research, Development, and Standardization Group UK; Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia; Fundação Oriente; Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento; Câmara Municipal de Aveiro; Universidade de Coimbra; John Wiley and Sons; Rota da Luz, and Millenium BCP. The symposium was chaired by Maria Clara Magalhães, with assistance from members of the local organizing committee, Maria Celina Silva, and Luísa Barroso Oliveira, all of whom are from the Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro.
The
Subcommittee on Solubility and Equilibrium Data of IUPAC’s
Division V (Analytical Chemistry) met over the two days prior
to the symposium, with Heinz Gamsjäger (Austria) presiding
as the chair.
The symposium attracted 151 participants from 25 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA. Of the participants, 40 were from Portugal, 10 of whom were secondary school teachers, and 109 were from other countries.
The opening ceremonies were presided over by the vice rector of the University of Aveiro, Francisco Vaz. Welcoming remarks were given by Clara Magalhães, symposium chair, Paulo Claro, the representative of the Portuguese Chemical Society, Artur Silva, president of the Chemistry Department of the University of Aveiro, and Heinz Gamsjäger, the representative of IUPAC.
Dana
Knox (USA) gave the opening plenary address, entitled
“Solubilities in Supercritical Fluids,” a topic
that served as an excellent introduction to the industry-oriented
part of the symposium. The concluding plenary address was
given by Peter Williams (Australia), whose fascinating lecture
on “Solutions in the Big Laboratory: Towards a Model
for Metals at the Earth’s Surface” evoked a standing
ovation after an elucidating demonstration.
The symposium was organized in nine sessions: Industrial Applications, Ionic Liquids and Electrolytes, Modelling and Computational Aspects, Gas-Liquid Equilibria, Solution Thermodynamics, Polymers and Nonelectrolytes, Experimental Determination of Solubilities, Teaching Aspects of Solubility, and Environmental and Geochemical Applications. Four plenary and nine invited lectures, as well as 27 contributed papers made up these sessions. During afternoon and morning sessions, 53 posters were presented. The contributions themselves covered a wide spectrum of solubility phenomena, from fundamentals of phase equilibria to new data and modelling of solubility processes to many applications, including the field of radioactive waste disposal.
The participation of delegates not only from universities but also from industry and from institutes studying waste management provided a stimulating application-oriented atmosphere. For the sessions “Modelling and Computational Aspects” and “Experimental Determination of Solubilities,” roundtable discussions were organized that were well received by the audience, especially the student participants.
The two IUPAC poster prizes were given to Mara G. Freire (Department of Chemistry University of Aveiro) for posters on “Oxygen Solubility in Perfluorocarbon Emulsions” and “Water Solubility in Pure Perfluorocarbons,” and Ada Villafáfila García (Department of Chemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby) for a poster on “Solid-Liquid-Vapour Equilibrium for Sparingly Soluble Salts Found in Natural Waters.” The poster prize sponsored by John Wiley and Sons, consisting of the book The Experimental Determination of Solubilities was given to Martin Slavík (Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic).
The plenary and invited lectures given at the symposium are to be published in Pure and Applied Chemistry under the editorship of Clara Magalhães, Glenn Hefter, and Heinz Gamsjaeger. All other presenters were invited to submit their papers to Monatshefte für Chemie/Chemical Monthly.
Symposium participants enjoyed an art exhibition at the University of Aveiro called “Solubility: Art and Science,” which featured works of invited artists and art teachers and postgraduate students from the university. Participants were delighted by Portuguese folk music at the welcome-get-together and a Portuguese guitar concert at the symposium dinner. The half-day excursion to Coimbra University was most interesting; the wonderful day ended with a delicious dinner at Restaurante Mugasa in Sangalhos. Accompanying persons enjoyed excursions to Costa Nova beach and the Natural Preserve of S. Jacinto, a boat trip through the channels of the Ria de Aveiro, visits to the Aveiro Museum, the China Clay Museum of Vista Alegre, and the Maritime Museum in Ílhavo.
The 12th ISSP will be held in July 2006 in Freiberg, Saxonia, Germany.
Heinz
Gamsjäger <[email protected]>
served as the IUPAC representative at the 11th International
Symposium on Solubility Phenomena. He is a professor in the
Department of Physical Chemistry at the University of Leoben
in Austria.
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last modified 28 December 2004.
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