Functionalized materials are designed and engineered to exhibit desired properties
to serve a specific purpose in a controlled way. Such materials may be completely
new, and therefore generate new applications, or they may replace existing materials
by offering better performance or economic advantage. Functionalized materials
may be designed for stable physical and chemical properties (e.g. catalysts,
structural materials) or engineered to maximize their sensitivity to changes
in the environment (e.g. sensing materials).
By their very nature, functionalized and sensing materials require an interdisciplinary
approach; at the same time, these new materials are of interest to many diverse
scientific disciplines and economic sectors (the petroleum and pharmaceutical
industry, for example). This ability to polarize the interest of researchers
and operators of different backgrounds will be fully reflected by the FuSeM
2009 International Conference.
Research on functionalized materials ranges from organic materials such as
polymers, natural fibres and drugs to inorganic materials such as ceramics and
semiconductors. The search for new routes to prepare materials and the effort
to understand the relationship between structure and properties are equally
important. The International Conference on Functionalized and Sensing Materials
is aimed at bringing together scientists, engineers and industry operators with
interests in understanding the functional properties of materials as well as
in the development of end-user applications.
The FuSeM 2009 conference will enable attendees to keep abreast of recent
developments in the area of functionalized and sensing materials and to liaise
with researchers from around the world to share knowledge in the field and develop
a profitable international network.
