2024 9th International Workshop on Characterization of Porous Materials “From Angstroms to Millimeters” (CPM-9)

This award provides funds to offset the travel and registration expenses for up to 20 graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career faculty members attending the 9th International Workshop on Characterization of Porous Materials: From Angstroms to Millimeters (CPM-9), held on May 19-22, 2024, in Delray Beach Florida, USA. Porous materials are abundant in nature and critical to many engineering applications. The pores within porous materials affect the materials’ structures and functional properties, which are distinct from those of non-porous materials. The unique properties of porous materials can be leveraged in technologies to separate chemical mixtures, purify water, catalyze reactions, and store electrochemically generated energy. CPM-9 is an interdisciplinary workshop that brings together participants from academia, industry, and government laboratories to discuss novel methods and best practices to integrate molecular modeling and theory with experimental techniques to characterize porous materials. Advancing knowledge and characterization capabilities in this field is vital to developing tomorrow’s clean energy technologies, energy-efficient chemical and biological separations, and sustainable fuels and chemical production. The workshop also provides valuable educational, career development, and networking opportunities for students and early-career researchers. The 9th International Workshop on Characterization of Porous Materials is centered around the “From Angstroms to Millimeters” theme. The format includes lectures from leaders in the porous materials science and engineering field, including experts in theoretical principles and modern experimental techniques. Oral presentations and poster sessions complement the invited and keynote lectures. The program covers a wide range of topics, from the characterization of adsorption by novel synthetic and geological porous materials to advanced microscopy and scattering techniques for porous structure analysis. The workshop is a forum for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, academics, and industrial and national laboratory researchers to discuss state-of-the-art characterization techniques and current research trends, share mutual experiences, and build peer networks that may lead to future collaborations and scientific achievement. The attendees’ shared knowledge will enable the design of advanced porous materials and produce new insights into processes within naturally occurring porous materials. The workshop organizers will use an application-based process to select the travel support recipients. The selection criteria prioritize the engagement of students and young investigators from diverse backgrounds. Selected peer-reviewed papers submitted by workshop participants will be published in a special edition of the journal Adsorption. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.