Highly advanced courses in topical fields are not typically provided in Academy and often require the specific organization of events specifically tailored to Ph.D. students, postdocs, or young researchers on the verge of their scientific careers. Joining the efforts of the Lake Como School for Advanced Studies, and those of scientists from the University of Insubria and the Crystallography Institute of the Italian National Council of Research (IC-CNR), a successful Summer School was organized in Como at the beautiful location of the 18th century Villa del Grumello (see Figure 1) in late May 2017. This event, labeled “To.Sca.Lake 2.0: Total Scattering for Nanotechnology on the Como Lake 2.0,” follows the first edition of To.Sca.Lake (Masciocchi et al., Reference Masciocchi, Bertolotti and Guagliardi2015), by nearly doubling the number of participants, while adding some new topics and sessions to the scientific program. Figure 2 portrays the group photo.
Figure 1. (Color online) The conference venue, the 18th Century Villa del Grumello, facing the Como Lake.
Figure 2. (Color online) The group photo of the To.Sca.Lake Workshop. In the inset, the To.Sca.Lab logo.
The organization of these activities falls well within the educational section of the To.Sca.Lab project (see also toscalab.uninsubria.it). Indeed, in the intentions of the founders of To.Sca.Lab (a Total Scattering Laboratory co-founded in 2013 by University of Insubria and the Institute of Crystallography of the Italian CNR), theoretical and experimental expertise in chemistry, crystallography, and physics is merged within a unifying project based on scattering techniques (from X-rays to visible light). Specifically, To.Sca.Lab scientific activities aim at reconstructing structural, microstructural, and dynamic behavior of nanocrystalline, partially ordered, and disordered materials at different length scales (ranging from atomic resolution to the mm size), and to correlate it with materials functional properties.
In order to widen the scientific topics pertinent to the To.Sca.Lab project and already discussed in the first To.Sca.Lake School (Masciocchi et al., Reference Masciocchi, Bertolotti and Guagliardi2015), the 2017 event included several talks on single-crystal diffuse scattering, one-dimensional (1D) and 3D pair distribution function (PDF) analyses and sessions dedicated to the daily scientific activities of the young participants. As lecturers of To.Sca.Lake 2.0, world renowned experts in the field of scattering methods, in the preparation and characterization of inorganic and organic nanoparticles, were invited.
In the first day, three introductory presentations on X-ray scattering techniques were delivered. Hans-Beat Bürgi (University of Bern and Zurich, Switzerland) brilliantly presented the basics of diffuse scattering measurement and its interpretation in ionic and molecular crystals, with particular emphasis on correlated defectiveness. Quantum crystallography methods were also introduced. Norberto Masciocchi (University of Insubria and To.Sca.Lab, Italy) presented the basics of the powder diffraction methods, highlighting the occurrence of (highly informative) subtle anomalies and the differences between the Bragg and non-Bragg scattering approaches. Finally, Antonio Cervellino (Paul Scherrer Institut, Switzerland) introduced a few aspects of radiation–matter interaction, and the rigorous derivation of the Debye scattering equation (DSE, Debye, Reference Debye1915), valid for isotropic systems, such as liquids, colloidal suspensions, and randomly oriented powders. Experimental aspects for obtaining the “best” total scattering traces at a synchrotron source were also discussed.
In the following day, Simon Billinge (Columbia University, New York, USA) presented the theoretical basis of the 1D PDF approach, together with some technical aspects and some advanced scientific results obtained in the field of inorganic nanoparticles and in organic (molecular) materials of industrial interest. Few forefront applications of PDF computed tomography on Pd/PdO catalysts and batteries were also presented. This lecture was followed by Antonella Guagliardi's (Institute of Crystallography-CNR and To.Sca.Lab, Italy) fascinating presentation on the innovative Debye function analysis implemented in the highly performing Debussy Suite of programs (Cervellino et al., Reference Cervellino, Giannini and Guagliardi2010, Reference Cervellino, Frison, Bertolotti and Guagliardi2015). Recent applications in the field of inorganic and hybrid quantum dots characterization in the solid and colloidal state were also illustrated (Bertolotti et al., Reference Bertolotti, Dirin, Ibáñez, Krumeich, Cervellino, Frison, Voznyy, Sargent, Kovalenko, Guagliardi and Masciocchi2016, Reference Bertolotti, Protesescu, Kovalenko, Yakunin, Cervellino, Billinge, Terban, Pedersen, Masciocchi and Guagliardi2017).
On the third day, Maksym Kovalenko (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) delivered a mesmerizing presentation on the field of nanosized perovskites of high technological interest in photovoltaics, light emitting and γ-rays detection devices, and energy storage fields. Their synthesis, characterization, structural aspects, and implementation into innovative devices were deeply discussed. Hans-Beat Bürgi (University of Bern and Zurich, Switzerland) gave another interesting talk, where 3D PDFs and deviations from ideality made it possible to determine the correct structural models for technologically relevant up-conversion materials, such as sodium fluorolanthanides.
On the next day, Nora Ventosa (ICMAB-CSIC, Spain) delivered a presentation on organic nanomaterials, illustrating the rich world of micelles, liposomes, and quatsomes, and their innovative applications in nanomedicine. Later, Jan Skov Pedersen (University of Aarhus, Denmark) showed the power of small-angle X-ray scattering technique in biosciences and, with recent examples from the literature, in characterizing colloids or powders of inorganic nanomaterials. His lecture was followed by a talk by Fabio Ferri (University of Insubria and To.Sca.Lab, Italy), focusing on visible light scattering techniques, in static and dynamic mode, with emphasis on the theoretical aspects and applications to sub-micrometer-sized materials.
Tutorial sessions were also presented, with attendees working on their laptops with the PDFGui (Farrow et al., Reference Farrow, Juhás, Liu, Bryndin, Božin, Bloch, Proffen and Billinge2007) and Debussy (Cervellino et al., Reference Cervellino, Frison, Bertolotti and Guagliardi2015) software to extract useful structural and microstructural information from total scattering data collected at dedicated Brookhaven National Laboratory and Swiss Light Source beamlines. The teachers [Simon Billinge and Maxwell Terban (Columbia University, USA), and the entire Debussy Team – Antonella Guagliardi (Como, Italy), Federica Bertolotti (Aarhus, Denmark), Ruggero Frison (Zurich, Switzerland), and Antonio Cervellino (Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland)] did an excellent job in showing most features of both PDF and DSE approaches to the very interested audience. A computational demo session was also provided by an additional talk by Jan Skov Pedersen (University of Aarhus, Denmark), while, on the last day, a live Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) experiment with subsequent data treatment, was organized by Fabio Ferri (University of Insubria and To.Sca.Lab, Italy), who showed the benefits (and the pitfalls) of DLS analysis.
Additionally, four technical presentations were also proposed by Geert Vanhoyland (Bruker, Germany), Marco Sommariva (Panalytical, The Netherlands), Jürgen Grässlin (Rigaku, Japan), and Alexander Pilcher (Anton Paar, Austria), all raising a wide interest in the young audience. Finally, two sessions dedicated to short presentation by the young attendees were organized, with nearly 20 presentations of the highest levels; motivations for participation in this Summer School clearly emerged, most talks immediately fostering scientific contacts among the participants.
Of course, this event could not have existed without the help of several public bodies and private companies, here collectively gathered in a non-ordered list: Lake Como School for Advanced Studies, To.Sca.Lab, University of Insubria, IC-CNR, the Italian Crystallographic Association, the International Union of Crystallography, and, as generous commercial sponsors, Bruker, Panalytical, Assing/Rigaku, Anton Paar, and Excelsus. The International Center for Diffraction Data (ICDD) sponsored the attendance to a few participants, by assigning a special prize (see Figure 3). The patronage by INSTM (Istituto Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali) was also offered. We are heartily indebted to all of them for their financial support.
Figure 3. (Color online) Four attendees receiving the ICDD prize. Left to right: Pradeep Shambogh (India), Maia Mambrù Frutos (Uruguay), Oleksii Konotop (Ukraine), and Rodrigo Uchida Ichikawa (Brasil), between the School Directors Antonella Guagliardi and Norberto Masciocchi.
As things cannot be expected to turn out right every time, we need to add a sad remark. Despite fully adopting “IUCr Scientific Freedom Policy Statement”: The Organizing Committee of the To.Sca.Lake 2.0 shall observe the basic policy of non-discrimination and affirms the right and freedom of scientists to associate in international scientific activity without regard to such factors as ethnic origin, religion, citizenship, language, political stance, gender, sex, or age, in accordance with the Statutes of the International Council for Science. At this meeting, no barriers will exist which would prevent the participation of bona fide scientists; we faced unexpected difficulties in obtaining the visa to enter Italy for a couple of attendees: Zhaled Ebrahiminejad from Alzahra University of Tehran (Iran) and Nzikahyel Simon from the University of Uyo (Nigeria) (see Figure 4), to whom this report is dedicated.
Figure 4. (Color online) Zhaleh Ebrahiminejad (Alzahra University of Tehran, Iran; left) and Nzikahyel Simon (University of Uyo, Nigeria; right), who were denied, for inexplicable reasons, their visa to enter the Schengen Area.
