ISSN 1023-1935, Russian Journal of Electrochemistry, 2006, Vol. 42, No. 11, pp. 1262–1263. © MAIK “Nauka /Interperiodica” (Russia), 2006.Original Russian Text © O.A. Petrii, Yu.V. Pleskov, 2006, published in Elektrokhimiya, 2006, Vol. 42, No. 11, pp. 1404–1405.

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The main topic of the Meeting was “NanoscaleElectrochemical Material Science.” The Meeting thusfell in the line with the 1st (Alicante, 2003) and 2nd(Xiamen, 2004) ISE Spring Meetings (the 3rd one inCoimbra was devoted to problems of bioelectrochemis-try). The Meeting was organized by the National Uni-versity of Singapore (Chairman—Prof. Chee-SengToh). The Meeting was attended by more than 300researchers from 30 countries.

The program comprised three plenary lectures,about 120 keynote, invited, and oral presentations, and90 posters. They were divided into seven sections:hybrid and composite materials, molecular tailoring andengineering, supramolecular chemistry, MEMS/NEMS(micro- and nanoelectro-mechanical systems), scan-ning probe microscopy, nanoelectronics and nanode-vices, and nanobiotechnology.

Some of the papers were of nonelectrochemicalcharacter but aimed at the developing of methods of thenanostructures preparation and characterization.

The plenary lecture of D.M. Kolb (Germany) wasdedicated to the metallization of organic thiol layers atmetal electrodes with the goal of preparing electricalconnections in microelectronics. The method wasdescribed by example of Rh, Pd, and Pt deposition ontoa self-assembled mercaptopyridine monolayer at theAu(111) surface. The procedure consisted of theadsorption of metal ions at the monolayer surface andtheir successive electroreduction in a supporting elec-trolyte. The monolayer surface was eventually coveredwith the metal nanoislets (coverage 30–70%) thatformed a system of nanosized capacitors having a com-mon plate.

In her plenary lecture, J. Ying (Singapore) over-viewed nanostructure preparation methods. The nano-structures were grouped as nanoporous and nanocrys-talline systems and nanoparticles. In particular, shedescribed methods for preparation of catalyst

ëÂé

2

–

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for desulfurization (

SO

2

reduction with CO), nanocata-lyst

TiO

2

, CdTe with nanodots for cell imaging, etc. Theemphasis in her lecture was on biomedical applicationsof nanostructures, in particular, for transporting drugswithin the patient’s body.

The third plenary lecture, which was devoted to theregular structure template deposition, was to have beendelivered by Ph.N. Bartlett (Great Britain); unfortu-nately, he could not come to Singapore on time. There-

fore, the topic was covered in a plenary lecture deliv-ered by G. Denault (Great Britain) who used both thematerials sent up by Prof. Bartlett and own originaldata, as well as some papers presented in the Meeting.

The hottest problems, in the Organizing Commit-tee’s view, concerning the main topic were discussed inthe keynote lectures by M. Musiani (Italy) “Electrosyn-thesis of Nanocomposite Materials for Electrocataly-sis,” Jim Yang Lee (Singapore) “Nanostructured DirectMethanol Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts with ControllableInterfaces,” V. Dubin (Great Britain) “ElectrochemicalMaterials and Processes in Silicon Nanotechnology,”N. Chandrasekhar (Singapore) “Probing Charge Trans-fer from a Metal Electrode into a Molecule/Polymerwith Nanometer Lateral Resolution,” T. Osaka (Japan)“A Challenge of New Materials for Next Generation’sMagnetic Recording,” A.T.S. Wee (Singapore) “Clusterand Molecular Self-Assembly on Surface Nanotem-plates,” Z. Gao (Singapore) “Ultrasensitive Electro-chemical Nucleic Acid Biosensors,” F.-S. Sheu (Sin-gapore) “Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes: NewRoutes Towards the Development of Novel Electro-chemical Sensors,” P. Ho (Singapore) “Organic Semi-conductor Devices: An Electrochemical Viewpoint,”F.E.H. Tay (Singapore) “Cell Manipulation in Dielec-trophoretic Chip with 3D Electrode,” and H. Kim(Korea) “Electrochemical Investigation on Protein–Protein Interactions with Calix[4]Crown-6.”

Of great interest were some invited and oral presen-tations. For example, J. Feliu (Spain) reported somenew data concerning the size effects in electrocatalysiswith the platinum-group metals and the carrier effects onthe electrocatalytical activity. P. Krtil (Czech Republic)demonstrated the role of the particles’ size and shape inthe electrocatalytical behavior of nanocrystalline oxides.The paper of P.H.L. Notten (Netherlands) was devoted toproperties of palladium-coated

Mg

y

M

1

–

y

H

x

thin filmsand thermodynamic models of layered hydride-form-ing materials. A.G. Volkov (United States) offeredsome curious examples of nanodevices in living naturethat are governed by electrochemical mechanisms.F. Endres (Germany) highlighted advances in the elec-trochemistry of ionic liquids, in particular, in the dep-osition of Al, Ta, Ge, and Ti from these media. AnSTM study of metal clusters and adatom islets electro-chemically generated in ionic liquids was reported byB.-W. Mao (China). H. Girault (Switzerland) discussed

The 4th Spring Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry (Singapore, April 17–20, 2006)

DOI:

10.1134/S1023193506110140

CHRONICLES

RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF ELECTROCHEMISTRY

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No. 11

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THE 4th SPRING MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY 1263

the perspectives of using thin-layer cells in photoelec-trochemical conversion of solar energy. Attention ofT. Homma (Japan) was focused on the advantages ofelectrochemical formation of functionalized nanostruc-tures and possibilities of the metal and alloy nanoparti-cle formation by using stable liquid/liquid interfaces.H. Masuda (Japan) reported on specific features of alu-minum-oxide nanotube film formation at large-areasurfaces and devices. Effects of the size of nanoparticleon their activity toward hydrogenation of aromaticswere discussed by C.-J. Mu (Taiwan). V.Z. Barsukov(Ukraine) described composite materials for lithium-ion batteries as regards to their use in manufacturingelectrodes with optimal capacity and cycling ability.

The Russian Federation was represented by four sci-entists. Yu.V. Pleskov compared electrochemical prop-erties of crystalline diamond–nondiamond-carbonnanocomposites prepared by various means. O.A. Petriianalyzed properties of electrolytic Pt–Ru deposits asregards to their stability toward the Ru crossover in themethanol direct oxidation fuel cells. The paper ofG.A. Tsirlina was devoted to synthesis and propertiesof oxotungstate-based polyfunctional materials. TheE.A. Nizhnikovskii’s poster presented data on the pen-tamethylenediazirine electrochemical synthesis on thenanostructured electrodes.

It is anticipated that a special issue of the

Electro-chimica Acta

journal will be dedicated to the Meeting.

The specific feature of the 4th Meeting was a muchwider representation of scientists from the South-East-Asian countries (India, Australia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan,etc.) as compared with other electrochemical confer-ences. The Meeting will undoubtedly promote theirextensive implication into the ISE activities.

Unlike the 1st and 2nd Spring Meetings, in the 4thone several sections (up to four, in some days) operatedin parallel. The Organizers thus tried to allow the scien-tists to present their papers to as many attendants aspossible. To our view, this experience is hardly a suc-cess. Some oral presentations failed, due to non-arrivalof their authors; as a result, the parallel work of the sec-tions appeared meaningless, which made the excel-lently organized Meeting somewhat less impressive.

The social program aimed at acquainting the partic-ipants with the specific beauty of the city and the stateof Singapore. Unforgettable Night Safari allowed us towatch piece of tropics with their forest inhabitantsunder their natural behavior.

The 5th Spring ISE Meeting is to be held in 2007 inDublin (Ireland).

O.A. PetriiYu.V. Pleskov