Editorial

Luis Alberto Avaca ; Olga P. Márquez ; Benjamín R. Scharifker

Guest Editors

Continuing with the editorial practice of the Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, of publishing a selection of contributions originally presented at scientific meetings held in Brazil or elsewhere but with strong Brazilian participation, this special issue on Electrochemistry covers some of the materials presented and discussed during the “XII Congreso Iberoamericano de Electroquímica (CIBAE) and the IX Encuentro Venezolano de Electroquímica”, held jointly in Mérida, Venezuela, on 24-29 April 1996. The series of CIBAE biannual meetings allows scientists from Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, linked inter alia by common languages (Portuguese and Spanish, or what has became the official language at these meetings, “Portuñol”), to discuss their research advances and strengthen international collaborative links. The preceding CIBAE (XI, 1994) was held in Águas de Lindóia, Brazil; the next (XIII, 1998) will convene in Chile.

Electrochemistry is a growing field in the region. Consideration of the number of communications discussed during the past two CIBAE meetings, as outlined in Table 1, shows a healthy growth (ca. 14%), and also that the topics of prevailing interest are corrosion, electrodeposition and surface treatment, together with the study of electrode and electrolyte materials and the fundamental aspects of electrochemistry, although molecular and bio-electrochemistry as well as the concerns of industry and engineering are quickly catching up. In spite of the still relatively small interest in electrochemical energy conversion, these tendencies show that portuñol-speaking electrochemists are responding not only to scientific curiosity, but also to social and economic needs.

During the XII CIBAE, Dr. Alejandro J. Arvia, of INIFTA, La Plata, Argentina, was elected the first Honorific Member of the Sociedade Iberoamericana de Eletroquímica (SIBAE), in recognition to his outstanding contributions to electrochemical science. The opening paper in this issue was therefore especially commissioned, and we are grateful to Dr. Arvia for accepting our invitation. In addition, 36 papers were submitted for this special issue, representing about 1/10th of the materials communicated at the meeting. Each paper was sent to two experts, most of them from the Iberoamerican scientific community. Space and time limitations imposed by the publication schedule of the J. Braz. Chem. Soc. forced us to include in this issue only those papers that, according to the referees, could be published without modification or with minor changes. Those requiring major revisions or new data will continue to be considered for publication in the Journal, in normal issues. Thus the rejection rate appearing at the bottom of Table 1 is just a provisional figure that will certainly improve substantially in due course, as so far only 6 papers (17% of those received) have been returned to their authors.

Finally, we would like to acknowledge the authors of all the papers submitted for their contributions, but particularly warm thanks are due to our numerous – and now anonymous – colleagues from over 10 countries, for sparing their precious time in helping us in the timely production of this special issue.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  30 Oct 2012
• Date of issue
  1997