About the Workshop

This workshop focusses on the use of green solvents such Deep Eutectic Solvents for applications in areas such as Environmental Remediation and Energy Storage. These unique solvents comprise of mixtures of one or more hydrogen bond acceptor molecules (HBA); and one or more hydrogen bond donor molecules (HBD). When mixed in proper molar ratio, they show a substantial decrease in the melting point as compared to the initial starting components. In these context research is aimed at the formulation of green or task specific solvents where favourable properties such as low vapour pressure, wide liquid range, along with their unique non-flammability characteristic are some outcomes. Due to their tunable nature, they are sometimes termed as analogues of Ionic Liquid. While the behaviour of Ionic Liquid is dominated by ionic interactions, DES exhibit a strong contribution from hydrogen bonding. These solvents are widely gaining attention in applications such as water cleansing, energy storage devices, gas absorption, bioproducts and processes.

The workshop shall bring group of specialists in this emerging field where new developments and discoveries coupled with interaction with students and other participants. Within the workshop there shall be two pedagogic sessions namely for technical writing and a demonstration of Reactive Force Field Simulation using ReaxFF.The workshop shall finally conclude by celebrating the 150^th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, where the Gandhian thought and philosophy will be widely disseminated.

About the Sponsor

The Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) under Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Government of India aims at improving the research ecosystem of India’s Higher Educational Institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best institutions in the world from 28 selected nations to jointly solve problems of national and/or international relevance. The current workshop is an outcome between Universidade Nova De Lisboa (Portugal), Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and Federal University of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

About the Speakers

Ramesh Gardas born and brought up in Surat, Gujarat. He completed B. Sc. (Chemistry) from P. T. Sarvajanik College of Science, Surat (Gujarat) in 1998 and M. Sc (Physical Chemistry) from Department of Chemistry, South Gujarat University, Surat in 2000. He has been awarded the Ph. D in Chemistry in 2004 by the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, India, for his work on thermodynamic studies of non – electrolyte binary and ternary liquid mixtures under the supervision of Professor S. L. Oswal. He joined the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in August 2010, as an Assistant Professor in Chemistry and promoted to Associate Professor in July 2015. He has more than 19 – years of research and 9 – years teaching experience. He is a co-author of 4 patents, 2 book chapters and 145 research papers in the journals of international repute and received more than 5100 citations with h-index of 34.

Luis C. Branco is graduated in Chemistry from University of Lisbon (1998) and then he received in 2006 his PhD in Organic and Sustainable Chemistry (FCT-NOVA). He is currently Principal Researcher and Invited Professor at the FCT-NOVA and his research interest are mainly focused in the development of Sustainable Chemical Processes and Applied Functional Materials including Task-specific Ionic Liquids and Deep Eutectic Solvents.

Isabel M. Marrucho obtained her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico (Portugal)/Colorado School of Mines (USA), in 1997. She is currently Associate Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico of Universidade de Lisboa and her research interests are centered on Green and Sustainable Chemistry, in particular the study of ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents and their applications to develop more efficient separation processes.

Mert Atilhan has been active in the fields of applied and computational thermodynamics (DFT and MD) with the emphasis on development of novel materials for energy and environmental related fields. His research activities focuses on the development of high-stability and high-capacity novel gas storage sorbents, acid/sour gas capture through novel solvents and applications of deep eutectic solvents as eco-friendly and sustainable alternative novel solvents for various applications. Prof. Atilhan has authored >180 peer reviewed publications. He was honored with “Research Award” three times in 2008, 2011, 2016, “Teaching Award” in 2016 and “Elsevier-Scopus Best Researcher of the Year Award” in 2015. Prof. Atilhan is an Editor for Molecules journal.

Bernardo Dias Ribeiro graduated in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2005), Master's (2008) and Doctorate (2012) in Chemical and Biochemical Process Technology from UFRJ. He is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biochemical Engineering at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and since 11/2018, Visiting Researcher at the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Has experience in the area of ​​Clean Technologies, with emphasis on Enzymatic Processes, Valorization of Natural Products and New Solvents, having already worked on the following themes: guaraná (tannins and caffeine), Brazil nuts and amaranth (proteins), buriti (carotenoids), roses (anthocyanins), saponins from Brazilian biodiversity, carboidrases, proteases, lipases, oxidases, ionic liquids and biocompatible eutectic solvents.

Mara G. Freire graduated in Chemistry in 2003 by University of Aveiro, Portugal, receiving the “Best Chemistry Student Award” from Dow Portugal. By the end of 2007 she completed her PhD in Chemical Engineering by University of Aveiro, having during her PhD studies trainees at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Claude Bernard University, Lyon, France, followed by post-doctoral activities at ITQB2, New University of Lisbon, Portugal. In 2012, Freire was an invited professor at Tiradentes University, Sergipe, Brazil. From June 2013 to January 2014, Freire was an Assistant Researcher at CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, Chemistry Department, University of Aveiro, Portugal, and since February 2014 she is a Coordinator Researcher at the same institution. Currently, Mara Freire is the Coordinator of Group 5 of CICECO, Biomedical and Biomimetic Materials, and member of the Cooperation and Scientific Dissemination Committee of the Chemistry Department at University of Aveiro. Since January 2017 she is member of the Young Scientists Seminar of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences.