Photochem Webinar | Harvesting the Sun: Solar-Light-Activated Materials, Photonics & Emerging Technologies
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1st Photochem Webinar
Harvesting the Sun: Solar-Light-Activated Materials, Photonics & Emerging Technologies
How can we better harness sunlight to address global challenges in energy, environment, and technology? Join us for the Photochem webinar "Harvesting the Sun: Solar-Light-Activated Materials, Photonics & Emerging Technologies", where our invited experts from academia and research institutions will present their latest developments in advanced functional materials and innovative approaches that transform solar energy into practical solutions and explore emerging technologies driven by light.
Register now and be part of the discussion shaping the future of solar-light-enabled science and technology.
Date: 29 June 2026
Time: 11:00 am CEST | 5:00 pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 891 3166 1663
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Meet Our Speakers
Dr. Petronela Pascariu
“Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of Romanian Academy, Iași, Romania, National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies - IMT-Bucharest, Romania;
Petronela Pascariu is a scientific researcher working in the area of semiconducting (nano)materials produced by electrospinning–calcination techniques and electrochemical methods. She received a Ph.D. in Physics at “Al. I. Cuza” University from Iasi (Romania) in the field of functional multilayered nanostructures for spintronic applications (September 2011). Currently, she is an experienced researcher (CSII) at the "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry from Iasi, Romania. Since 2024, she is group leader of the project "Physico-chemical interactions in photosensitive systems", Department of Physical Chemistry of Polymers, Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry "Petru Poni", Iași, Romania, https://icmpp.ro/laboratories/l8/g1/topics.php. She has authored/coauthored more than 76 ISI papers with a high ISI impact factor (most over 5 and classified in the Q1 area), 1 national patent (No.: 133050), 8 book chapters, and over 100 presentations at national and international conferences/workshops. Since 2023, she was included in the World Ranking of Top 2% Scientists Worldwide 2023 Stanford University for the category Materials and Applied Physics. She was awarded the prize of the Romanian Academy “Cristofor I. Simionescu” in 2018. Starting from 2022, she is an associate researcher at Hellenic Mediterranean University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Center of Materials Technology and Photonics, Heraklion, Creta, Grecia. Since July 2023 she is also a member of National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies - IMT-Bucharest, Romania, working as an experienced researcher in the project PNRR/2022/C9/MCID/I8 CF23/14 11 2022 contract 760101/23.05.2023. Dr. Pascariu is also a member of the editorial board of the prestigious international journal Surfaces and Interfaces (Elsevier).
Scientific profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KqTCAO4AAAAJ&hl=ro; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5516-151X
Prof. Cláudia Gomes da Silva
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal;
Cláudia Gomes Silva graduated in Chemical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) in 2001 and completed an MSc in Environmental Engineering in 2003 at the same institution. She obtained her PhD degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the University of Porto in 2008.
She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto and a Senior Researcher at the Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering (ALiCE). Her main research interests extend into distinct but complementary areas, such as materials science (synthesis, functionalization and characterization of nanomaterials), environmental (photo)catalysis (chemical synthesis, hydrogen production, water treatment) and process engineering (design and optimization of reactors and intensification of chemical processes).
She is the co-author of more than 150 articles published in Scopus-indexed journals, which have received more than 9000 citations, and has an h-index of 45.
She is currently the vice-president of the Iberian Association of Photocatalysis and president of the Industrial Chemistry group of the Portuguese Chemical Society.
Dr. Narcis Duteanu
Department of Applied Chemistry and Engineering of Inorganic Compounds and Environment, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Biotechnologies and Environmental Protection, Politehnica University Timisoara, Romania;
Work experience:
Specialist areas: Environmental protection, Microbial fuel cells, Fuel cells, electrochemical analysis, Classical methods of analysis, UV-Vis spectrometry, Atomic absorption spectrometry or AAS, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry or ICP-MS, Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy or SEM-EDX.
Results: co-author at 122 scientific article published in Web of Science-Clrivate Analytics indexed journals; co-author at 3 book chapter in international publishing house, 1 edited book in international publishing house. member in research team of 5 International Research Projects; director in 2 National Research Project; research team member in 10 National Research Projects;
2821 citations in Web of Science-Clarivate Analytics;
Hirch Index on ISI web of science:26
Education:
2018: Habilitation certificate in the field of university studies: Chemical Eengineering
From 2001 to 2007: PhD Diploma
Professional training:
From 2017 to present: Associated Professor, Politehnica University Timisoara, Faculty of Industrial Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Departament: Inorganic and Applied Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Timişoara, Romania
From 2018 to present: PhD supervision, Politehnica University Timisoara, Field: CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
01.10.2012 – 20.09.2017: Lecturer. Politehnica University Timisoara, Faculty of Industrial Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Departament: Inorganic and Applied Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Timişoara, Romania
29.09.2008 – 31.03.2009: Associate researcher, Newcastle University, School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Solar-Light-Activated Materials, Photonics, and Emerging Technologies: Fr om Fundamentals to Real-World Impact
Edited by Dr. Mirela Petruta Suchea and Dr. George Kenanakis
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026