NanoQAM awarded at the 9th Annual QCAM Symposium

The 9th Annual Symposium of the Quebec Centre for Functional Materials (CQMF) was held on May 12 and 13 at UQAM’s Science Campus. This major scientific gathering highlighted recent advances in functional materials, particularly for biomedical, environmental, and energy applications. Funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies, the CQMF brings together researchers around key topics such as nanotechnology, polymers, and self-assembly.

Several students affiliated with NanoQAM were honored for the outstanding quality of their research work:

Best Poster

Anna Bisio (supervised by Prof. François Perreault)
Title: Development of New High-Permeability Membranes for Ammonia Capture via Membrane Distillation

Anna Bisio presented a novel approach to designing membranes capable of efficiently recovering ammonia from wastewater—a toxic contaminant that is difficult to capture. By integrating additives into PVDF-HFP-based mixed membranes, the team aims to promote the selective adsorption of ammonia, thereby increasing the gas flux while maintaining strong separation performance.

Second Best Poster

Lucas Paris (supervised by Prof. Ali Nazemi)
Title: N-Heterocyclic Carbene Polymers for Plasmonic Nanomaterials

Lucas Paris distinguished himself with his work on stabilizing air-sensitive metal nanoparticles using polymers containing N-heterocyclic carbenes. Thanks to a simple and efficient “click” chemistry, these polymers provide excellent stability to the nanomaterials while preserving their optoelectronic properties, paving the way for numerous catalytic and optical applications.

People’s Choice Award

Samaneh Salek (supervised by Prof. Joshua Byers)
Title: Voltammetric Measurements in an Ionic Liquid at Room Temperature Using SECCM Electrochemical Microscopy

Samaneh Salek captivated the audience with an innovative presentation on the use of the SECCM technique in an ionic liquid, enabling high-precision electrochemical measurements. Her study particularly explores how the size of the micropipette affects the mass transport of the redox mediator, yielding promising results for the detailed characterization of electrochemical materials.