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Russian Journal of Electrochemistry, Vol. 37, No. 6, 2001, pp. 647–649. Translated from Elektrokhimiya, Vol. 37, No. 6, 2001, pp. 759–762.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2001 by Petrii, Pleskov, Safonov, Tsirlina.

ISE-51 took place on September 3–8, 2000, in War-saw. More than 600 scientists and specialists that tookpart in this forum entitled “Electrochemistry at the Turnof the Millennium” delivered over 800 contributions.The hospitable Local Organizing Committee washeaded by Prof. Z. Stojek. The role of M. Palys, Com-mittee’s Secretary, in coordinating the preparation andrunning of the meeting cannot be overestimated.

The ISE-51 scientific program included four ple-nary lectures and nine parallel symposia. In addition tooral lectures, the program included two poster sessions.

Plenary lectures, delivered by world-known scien-tists, were devoted to central problems of electrochem-istry. The first lecture, “Electrochemistry in the 20thCentury: Achievements and Prospects for the Future,”was read by Prof. Z. Galus (Poland) who stressed thatthe main steps in the development of electrochemicalkinetics and the theory of charged interfaces had beenmade precisely in the 20th century. He emphasized thetrend for close integration of electrochemistry withbiology, medicine, and other sciences, which was char-acteristic of the second half of the century. He alsonoted important changeover from phenomenologicalmodels to molecular ones, which became possible dueto active introduction of computers and spectroscopicand probe techniques to the electrochemistry.

In a plenary lecture “Long- and Short-Range Inter-actions of Charged Surfaces in Electrolytes,” Prof.J. Israelachvili (USA) touched upon important border-line problems of electrochemistry, colloid chemistry,and biology, showing that biospecific interactions,which involve large groups of molecules and are char-acterized by irreversible structures and pronouncednon-steady-state effects, cannot be described by theknown simplified models.

A plenary lecture “Golden Nanoparticles,” by Prof.R.W. Murray (USA) reviewed a large series of recentexperimental works on the electrochemistry of colloidsystems based on gold and thiol-containing stabilizers(various size effects in systems with particles of 1–3-nm diameter, electrical double layer charging on sin-gle particles, and electrochemical behavior of singleclusters).

A plenary lecture “Nanoscale Electrochemistry andLocalized Electrode Processes” by Prof. G. Ertl (Ger-many), focused on the possibilities and limitations ofprobe techniques in studying surfaces and localizedelectrochemical phenomena and on the prospects of

combining these methods with pulsed electrochemicalmodes of a nanosecond range, including electrochemi-cal micro- and nano-structurization.

Symposium 1, “Frontiers of Surface Electro-chemistry”

gathered a lot of famous names andshowed that modern experimental research on thestructure of charged interfaces is in fact atomic-levelinvestigation. Fine aspects of the state of single-crystalsurfaces in solutions in the context of problems ofkinetics of various electrode processes and adsorptionwere discussed in keynote lectures by D.M. Kolb (Ger-many), R. Fawcett (USA), and S. Trasatti (Italy). Themolecular structure of adsorption layers became thesubject of a number of invited lectures delivered byT. Wandlowski (Germany), and J.M. Feliu, J.M. Orts,

et al.

(Spain). The progress in elucidating the structureof complex nanosize systems achieved with

in situ

methods was reflected in keynote lectures by A. Wieck-owski (USA) and U. Stimming (Germany). In the lattercase, a new technique for studying the processes on sin-gle nanoparticles was put forth. J.P. Badiali (France)outlined his theoretical approach to describing thestructure of the ionic double layer. A substantial contri-bution was made by Russian participants, such asO.A. Baturina, A.I. Danilov, A.D. Modestov, E.R. Savi-nova, and M.A. Choba. Most interesting papers will bepublished in a special issue of

Electrochimica Acta.

Symposium 2 “Environmental Monitoring andAnalytical Electrochemistry”

clearly demonstratedefficiency and unique possibilities of electrochemicalgas, flow-through, enzyme, and other sensors for ana-lyzing different real systems. The operation of sensorsand approaches to their modernization were presentedin keynote lectures by M.E. Meyerhoff (USA), J. Janata

et al.

(USA), and M.A. Brett (Portugal). A brilliantapplication of fine mechanisms of microelectrode oper-ation to analytical tasks was shown in the invited lec-ture by A.S. Baranski (Canada).

Symposium 3 “Electrochemistry in Surface Fin-ishing and Protection against Corrosion”

pointed outa substantial contribution made by fundamental elec-trochemical concepts and new methods to the progressin this field. The keynote lectures were dedicated to useof impedance spectroscopy and electrochemical-noisespectroscopy, F. Mansfeld (USA); protective films onaluminum materials, J. Vereecken (Belgium); and elec-trochemical characterization of vapor-phase depositedcoatings, D. Landolt (Switzerland). Technologies andproperties of protective coatings were reviewed by

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P.L. Bonora (Italy). The invited lectures were devotedto the application of impedance spectroscopy in anti-corrosion studies, R.D. Armstrong (England) and J. Flis(Poland); electroplated ultrathin films with unique cor-rosion properties, T. Osaka (Japan); and protective pos-sibilities of conducting polymers, W. Plieth (Germany).An example of a comprehensive manifold material-sci-ence study was the invited lecture by R. Romanauskas(Lithuania).

Symposium 4 “Electrochemistry in Industry andEnvironmental Protection”

was widely diversified. Ageneral review of modern applications in industrial andenvironmental fields was made by O. Vittori (France).Principles of the electrochemical simulation weredescribed in a keynote lecture by P. Ozil (France). Thedevelopment of environmentally compatible high-power current sources was touched upon in a keynotelecture by D. Aurbach (Israel). The prospects of usinglignin in different technologies were surveyed byP. Zuman (USA). A keynote lecture on the fundamentalproblems of electrochemistry in supercritical carbondioxide was delivered by J.W. Weidner (USA). Lessgeneral oral lectures and posters were devoted to elec-trode materials and application-important processes onthem; their subject matter to a large degree overlappedthat of Symposium 8.

Symposium 5 “Organic and SupramolecularElectrochemistry”

was interesting as an example ofintrascience integration, in which organic electrochem-istry went beyond its traditional scopes of electrosyn-thesis and research of stage mechanisms and progres-sively turned toward studying elementary acts of indi-vidual stages. Within the framework of unifiedconcepts, the behavior of complex compounds, den-drimers, and cyclodextrine systems was considered, aswell as that of “derived” nanosize clusters. Keynotelectures by A.E. Kaifer (USA), S. Roffia (Italy), andH. Plenio (Germany) were dedicated to the electrontransfer in supramolecular systems. A keynote lectureon the electrochemistry of complexes of zero-valencepalladium by C. Amatore (France) aroused a livelyinterest. A survey of the electron transfer in complexmolecules was made by A.M. Kuznetsov (Russia).Some lectures discussed fundamental problems of theelectrochemistry of conducting polymers, and relevanttheoretical approaches were generalized in an invitedlecture by M.A. Vorotyntsev (Russia).

Symposium 6 “Electrochemical Energy Conver-sion and Storage”

dealt mainly with the developmentand modernization of lithium batteries. Specifically, itincluded keynote lectures by O. Haas (Switzerland) andE. Cairns (USA). Electrode materials and electrolytesfor chemical power sources were also discussed.Invited lectures by J. Garche (Germany) and P. Zelenay(USA) were devoted to current problems in methanolfuel cells. A keen attention was stirred up by a keynotelecture of R.A. Osteryoung (USA) on achievements in

the development of low-temperature chloroaluminatemelts.

A small but very impressive

Symposium 7 “NewTrends in Bioelectrochemistry”

appeared to be widerthan the name chosen for it by the organizers, first of alldue to the fact that the charge transfer in self-organizedsystems plays a great role in modern bioelectrochemi-cal studies. Keynote lectures by Y. Umezawa (Japan)and M. Majda (USA), invited lectures by R. Guidelli(Italy) and S.D. Evans (England) dealt mainly withproperties of two-dimensional layers at interfaces. Akeynote lecture by F.A. Armstrong (England) wasdevoted to active centers of charge transfer in proteins.Achievements in applying microelectrodes for solvingbioelectrochemical problems were illustrated in key-note lectures by C. Amatore and Y. Bouret (France) andD. Mandler (Israel). The latter lecture included aninformative review of the scanning-tunneling-micros-copy methods designed for studying electrode/solutionand liquid/liquid interfaces. Parallels between studiesof two-dimensional systems and those of differentpolymer films on electrodes could be traced in invitedlectures delivered by E. Vieil (France) and M. Hepel(USA).

Symposium 8 “Electrochemistry for MaterialScience,”

which discussed the electrochemicalapproach to the development and characterization ofnew materials for different branches of science andengineering, gathered probably the greatest number ofparticipants. In a keynote lecture, J.W. Schultze (Ger-many) showed the possibility of using microellipsome-try and back-scattering electron diffraction in a combi-nation with mobile microcells for revealing propertiesof individual crystals on polycrystalline surfaces. Akeynote lecture by K. Hashimoto (Japan), an invitedlecture by R. Schulz (Canada), and a lecture byS. Meguro (Japan) were dedicated to the developmentof promising metal materials (by partial amorphizationand other kinds of nanostructurization) and their appli-cation. The electrodeposition of corrosion-resistantchromium coatings with carbide inclusions(V.A. Safonov, Russia) and palladium deposits withunusual properties (O.A. Petrii, Russia) were also dis-cussed.

In the Meeting program, high attention was focusedon electrochemistry of diamond-like materials. In par-ticular, an oral report, presented by Yu.V. Pleskov (Rus-sia) on behalf of a Russian–American research group,and several poster communications were devoted tothis subject.

Many reports dealt with oxide nanostructures,among which a keynote lecture by M. Graetzel (Swit-zerland) and invited lectures by J. Augustynski (Swit-zerland) and M. Musiani (Italy) should be mentioned.A separate group of papers on the oxide analogues(polyoxometalates), where nanostructurization pro-ceeds actually on a molecular level, included invitedlectures by A. Kuhn (France) and G.A. Tsirlina (Rus-

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sia). One of the sessions was entirely devoted tohexacyanoferrate films—P. Kulesza (Poland), A. Kary-akin (Russia), K. Ogura (Japan), etc. A trend to exten-sive studies of the so-called hybrid materials, i.e. nano-structures which include organic and inorganic compo-nents simultaneously, became more pronounced—J. Cox (USA), and P. Gomez-Romero (Spain).

The research-method questions of modern spectro-scopic studies were considered in a keynote lecture byB. Pettinger (Germany). Specific features of micro-scopic studies of passivating films and the mechanismof their growth were discussed in a keynote lecture byP. Marcus (France). Interesting applications of surfaceenhanced Raman scattering for some materials werecovered in invited lectures by A. Kudelski (Poland) andZ.Q. Tian (China).

Within

Symposium 9 “General Session,”

a widerange of fundamental problems were discussed, whichpartly overlapped the subjects of Symposia 1, 5, and 7.Keynote lectures by A.M. Kuznetsov (Russia) andW. Schmickler (Germany) described the state-of-the-art of the theory of charge transfer in heterogeneoussystems and directions of its development from some-what different standpoints. In a keynote lecture,S. Feldberg (USA) demonstrated an example of preciseexperimental kinetic studies of the electron transfer tolocalized reactants. The papers by R.R. Nazmutdinov(Russia) was devoted to a quantum chemical modelingof reaction layers in classic reactions of anion reduc-tion. Structural effects in electrocatalysis at the surface-heterogeneous materials were reviewed in an invitedlecture by A. Lasia (Canada). Fundamental problems ofthe impedance spectroscopy measurements were raisedin lectures by C. Gabrielli (France) and Z. Stoynov(Bulgaria). A lecture by A. Wragg (England), whichwas devoted to the mass transfer in plane-parallel elec-trochemical reactors, also deserves attention.

Speaking of the meeting as a whole, it should bementioned that its organizers failed to avoid a very seri-ous problem typical for large scientific forums—theoverlapping of subjects of special symposiums. Theorganization of poster sessions, which, due to lack oftime, did not provide any generalizing discussions, isfar from optimum. Nonetheless, a strong stimulatingimpact of direct professional intermingling as usualplayed an important role and determined the generally

high rating of ISE-51 and the necessity of furtherannual meetings.

At the Meeting, a Frumkin medal, recently foundedon the initiative of Prof. E.G. Perevalova-Frumkin andRussian electrochemists for outstanding achievementsin the field of fundamental electrochemistry, wasawarded. Perevalova-Frumkin was invited to ISE-51for taking part in the award ceremony. Professor R. Par-sons (Great Britain) became the first winner of themedal. His award lecture “Why is Frumkin Famous?”made an indelible impression. From this emotional,deep, analytic speech full of wise humor, illustrations,and biographical facts, and moreover pierced withdeepest respect, we understood how strong the linksthat connected A.N. Frumkin with the worldwide elec-trochemical community were and how stronglyFrumkin’s ideas and unique personal features influ-enced the development of the electrochemistry scienceas a whole.

Prof. A. Tadjeddine (France) who was given a Tac-cusel Prize for the development of novel research meth-ods in electrochemistry read an interesting surveyinglecture “Optics as a Probe of the Electrochemical Inter-faces.” The winner of a Tajima Prize, Dr. S.I.C. Torresi(Brazil) gave a lecture called “SpectroelectrochemicalCharacterization of Polymeric Systems: Doping, Mix-tures, and Applications.”

Owing to the support of ISE leaders and Polish col-leagues, the Russian participation in the Meeting wasquite impressive (nearly 20 persons). During the Meet-ing, working sessions of National Secretaries and Exec-utive, Editorial, and Nomination Committees of ISEtook place, at which current questions of the Societyactivities were discussed. The most important decisionswere discussed at a general session of ISE members.They mostly concerned future ISE meetings and ISE-sponsored conferences.

Polish colleagues did everything possible to ensurethat this ISE Meeting, the last in the 20th century, leftpleasant impressions.

The next ISE Meeting will be held in cooperationwith the Electrochemical Society (USA) in San Fran-cisco in September, 2001.

O.A. Petrii, Yu.V. Pleskov, V.A. Safonov,and G.A. Tsirlina