International Conference on Materials for Hydrogen Technologies

Registration & Welcome Reception

Badge collection and morning refreshments (45 mins).

Welcome Note

Olivier Guillon & Nicolas Boscher — Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (15 mins)

Official conference opening and introduction.

Materials for Sustainable Energy Technologies: Fast Forward with Theory, Computation, and AI

Prof. Michael Eikerling — Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany (45 mins)

Expert insights on polymer electrolyte fuel cells and computational materials modeling.

Oral Session 1–3 · AI, Modelling and Design

3 oral presentations (15 mins each):
Oral 1 — Matthias Vandichel (University of Limerick, Ireland): Unravelling Hydrogen in Metal Cathodes: The Urgent Need to Look At and Beneath the Surface
Oral 2 — Iman Peivaste (LIST): Escaping the Hydrolysis Trap: An Agentic Workflow for Inverse Design of Durable Photocatalytic Covalent Organic Frameworks
Oral 3 — Jonathan Hadji-Minaglou (LIST): Data-driven conductivity optimization of benzothiadiazole-based thin films via oxidative chemical vapor deposition

Coffee Break

Networking and refreshments (30 mins).

Invited Lecture · Engineered Materials for Hydrogen and Sustainable Chemicals

Dr. Marija Zoric — Paul Scherrer Institut, Switzerland (30 mins)

Title to be confirmed. Research areas: catalysis, electrochemistry, CO₂RR, photochemistry, X-ray spectroscopy.

Oral Session 4–7 · Engineered Materials for Hydrogen and Sustainable Chemicals

4 oral presentations (15 mins each):
Oral 4 — Zahra Hagheh Kavousi (Institut Européen des Membranes, France): Atomic-scale engineering of electrocatalytic interfaces for hydrogen production and biomass electro-valorization
Oral 5 — Muhammad Awais Khan (LIST): Atomic Layer Deposition of Heterostructure of Tantalum Oxide and Tantalum Nitride on CNTs for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting
Oral 6 — David Vidal (KU Leuven, Belgium): Designing low-cost porous membranes for proton exchange membrane water electrolysers
Oral 7 — Kaveh Moulaee (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy): Advancing AEM water electrolysers beyond lab-scale through materials and architectural engineering toward short-stack development for hydrogen production

Lunch Break

90-minute networking lunch.

Invited Lecture: Towards Scalable Hydrogen Storage and Transport: Engineered Redox-Active Iron

Prof. Dr. Viktor Hacker — Graz University of Technology, Austria (30 mins)

Leading expert on hydrogen production, fuel cells, and energy storage systems.

Oral Session 8–12 · Emerging Technologies for Hydrogen and Energy Conversion

5 oral presentations (15 mins each):
Oral 8 — Mohammad Torkian (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium): Asymmetric co-flow membraneless electrolyzer
Oral 9 — Fabio Cameli (LIST): Hydrogen production from methane conversion in nanosecond-pulsed plasma reactor
Oral 10 — Sangeeta Mahala (LIST): Role of Particle Morphology and Size on Pyrocatalytic Activity of Ba₀.₇Sr₀.₃TiO₃
Oral 11 — Cédric Bamberg (LIST): Combining pyro- and photocatalysis by using ferroelectric materials
Oral 12 — Robert Kunzmann (AC Biode): Syngas – The key to a fossil-free Chemical Industry

Poster Session

Interactive poster presentations featuring research across all conference themes (135 mins). Poster awards for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers will be presented at the conference dinner.

Registration

Badge collection and morning refreshments (45 mins).

Developing photoelectrochemical water splitting devices – from understanding charge carrier behaviour to testing prototypes in the field

Dr. Andreas Kafizas — Imperial College London, United Kingdom (45 mins)

Photocatalytic materials for renewable hydrogen fuel from water and carbon-based fuels from CO₂.

Oral Session 13–16 · Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

4 oral presentations (15 mins each):
Oral 13 — Thomas Gries (Université de Lorraine, France): Enhanced photoelectrochemical solar hydrogen production through Cu-substitution in lanthanum-deficient LaFeO₃ perovskite oxide thin films
Oral 14 — Zahra Abdi (LIST): Solvent-Free oCVD Growth of Unsubstituted Thiophene–Benzothiadiazole Polymer Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production
Oral 15 — Khaja Mohaideen Kamal (National Institute of Chemistry, Slovenia): Two-dimensional graphene/g-C₃N₄ in-plane hybrid heterostructure for photocatalytic hydrogen production
Oral 16 — Bouchra Asbani (University of Picardie Jules Verne, France): Mixed-Phase MoS₂ Quantum Dots for High-Activity Hydrogen Evolution

Coffee Break

Networking and refreshments (30 mins).

Invited Lecture: Green hydrogen production by flexible water electrolysis

Prof. Dr. Thijs de Groot — Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands (30 mins)

Alkaline and anion-exchange membrane electrolysis for flexible hydrogen production.

Oral Session 17–20 · Alkaline Water Electrolysis & AEM

4 oral presentations (15 mins each):
Oral 17 — Hari Gopi Kuppusamy (Université de Lorraine, France): Electrode engineering strategies for improving performance in anion exchange membrane water electrolysis
Oral 18 — Alireza Sharifirad (LIST): Transition Metals for Sustainable Green Hydrogen: Atomic Layer Deposition of Ni-Co Thin Layers to Study the Synergistic Effect between Transition Metals on HER in Alkaline Electrolyte
Oral 19 — Maarten Cools (KU Leuven, Belgium): A new class of polymeric separators for advanced alkaline water electrolysis
Oral 20 — Pegah Shadmanheidary (KU Leuven, Belgium): Dense, tunable, and low-cost membrane for hydrogen applications

Lunch Break

90-minute networking lunch.

Invited Lecture: Integrated solar hydrogen panels – technology challenges and cost evaluation

Prof. Dr. Pascal Buskens — Dutch Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Netherlands (30 mins)

Nanostructured materials for photoelectrochemical production of fuels.

Oral Session 21–23 · Fully-Integrated PV-EC & PEC Systems

3 oral presentations (15 mins each):
Oral 21 — Haochen Li (University College London, United Kingdom): Hierarchical Engineering of WO₃/BiVO₄ Photoanodes: From Permeable Architectures to ALD-Regulated Interfaces
Oral 22 — Sara Lotito (LIST): Oxidative Chemical Vapor Deposition of Benzothiadiazole-Based Polymeric Homojunction for Photoelectrocatalytic Conversion
Oral 23 — Ahmed El Hattab (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Canada): Dual Photoanode Architecture for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting beyond TiO₂/BiVO₄ Heterojunction

Coffee Break

Afternoon refreshments (30 mins).

Invited Lecture: Microstructural-based mitigation strategies to improve the hydrogen embrittlement resistance

Prof. Tom Depover — Ghent University, Belgium (30 mins)

Mechanical testing and hydrogen trapping mechanisms in high-strength materials.

Oral Session 24–26 · Characterisation, Storage, Transport & Safety

3 oral presentations (15 mins each):
Oral 24 — Athira Suresh Kumar (LIST): In-situ backside electrochemical hydrogen charging cell for correlative microscopic studies of hydrogen-materials interactions at high resolution
Oral 25 — Karim Bouzid (Institut Lafayette, France): Active GaN Semiconductor Sensor Technology for Robust, Miniaturized, High-Sensitivity Hydrogen Detection for Safety Applications
Oral 26 — Kevin Raja (University of Luxembourg): Multiaxial Characterisation for Improved Modelling and Design of Ultra-Thin SS316L in Hydrogen Technologies

Free Time in Luxembourg City

Explore Luxembourg city centre before departure to Remich (30 mins).

Travel: Luxembourg City → Remich

Group travel to the conference dinner venue in Remich (60 mins).

Free Time in Remich

30 minutes to explore Remich before the conference dinner begins.

Conference Dinner & Poster Awards

Conference gala dinner in Remich, including the Poster Awards ceremony for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers (240 mins).

Registration

Morning refreshments and final day welcome (45 mins).

Invited Lecture · Next-Gen Fuel Cells & Advanced Materials Synthesis

Dr. Nada Zamel — Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Germany (30 mins)

Title to be confirmed. Research areas: fuel cells, life cycle analysis, energy science.

Oral Session 27–30 · Next-Gen Fuel Cells & Advanced Materials Synthesis

4 oral presentations (15 mins each):
Oral 27 — Edin Kozar (LIST): Assessing sPEEK as a Partially Fluorine Free Ionomer for PEMFC Electrodes
Oral 28 — Emut Sukma Sejati (LIST): Pt-free Porphyrin-Based Approach Towards M-N-C-like single atom catalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction
Oral 29 — Stefan Saager (Fraunhofer Institute FEP, Germany): Plasma activated EB PVD pre coating of metallic and composite bipolar plates and its transfer potential for hydrogen technologies
Oral 30 — Caroline Knapp (University College London, United Kingdom): Precursor Solutions: How Careful Molecular Design can Facilitate Versatile Functional Material Deposition

Coffee Break

Final networking and refreshments (30 mins).

Invited Lecture · Strategy, Markets & European Regulation

Mr. Jean-François Schneiders — Creos Luxembourg S.A. (30 mins)

Title to be confirmed. Focus: industrial hydrogen strategy, European energy markets and regulation.

Oral Session 31–33 · Industrial Strategies for a Thriving Ecosystem

3 oral presentations (15 mins each):
Oral 31 — Xavier Maka & Philipp Fisch (Green Power Storage Solutions, Luxembourg): Title to be confirmed
Oral 32 — Jaime Buitrago-Osorio (LIST): Atmospheric Plasma Functionalisation of Carbon Fibres for Enhanced Mechanical Performance of Composite Hydrogen Storage Vessels
Oral 33 — Masoud Bodaghi (LIST): SCMM#DEMO3: Sustainable Composite Manufacturing for Recyclable Type IV Hydrogen Storage Tanks

Closing Ceremony

HYMAT Organising Team

Recognition of outstanding contributions and conference closing remarks. A guided visit of the LIST facilities can be arranged for interested attendees from 12:15 onwards.