This special issue of Adsorption is devoted to present selected papers from the 3rd Symposium on Adsorption, Adsorbents and their Applications (SAASA-2018) which was held in the city of Neuquén, Argentina, February 21–23, 2018.

The city of Neuquén is the capital of the homonymous province. It is a relatively young city, founded in 1904, its metropolitan area population of 340,000, makes it the largest city in Patagonia. Its name, originates from its main river’s, which in the Mapuche language Nehuenken signifies fast water. The Neuquén province, situated in the center-west of Argentina is an area famous for the rich outdoor activities, especially in the Andes mountains. The province hosts four National Parks: Lanín (Fig. 1), Los Arrayanes, Nahuel Huapí, and Laguna Blanca, various ski centers, rafting, and other activities. The unique spirit of this city and province helped made this symposium a scientific success and unforgettable experience.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Credit: L. Argerich (CC 2.0, 2007)

Lanín Volcano in Parque Nacional Lanín

Full size image

The first SAASA was organized by Prof. Karim Sapag in the city of San Luis, Argentina in February of 2009; its main objective being to facilitate the emergence of collaborations between the diversity of research groups dedicated to adsorption in Latin America. As a result of this meeting, a network of international collaborations started and led to the creation of thriving international conferences such as the 1st Iberoamerican Symposium on Adsorption (IBA-1) held in Recife, Brazil in 2012. The 2nd SAASA was held again in San Luis in 2013 in conjunction with the 1st “Giorgio Zgrablich” International School on Adsorption, and followed by an International Workshop on Adsorption and Adsorbents (San Luis, Argentina, 2014), IBA-2 in Cartagena, Colombia in 2014, and IBA-3 in Gijón, Asturias, Spain in 2018 (IBA-4 will return to Argentina in 2021).

SAASA-2018 was chaired by Dra. Eugenia Parolo and her colleagues of the Universidad Nacional del Comahue, the Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ingeniería de Procesos, Biotecnología y Energías Alternativas (PROBIEN) and the Centro de Investigaciones en Toxicología Ambiental y Agrobiotecnología del Comahue (CITAAC). Dr. Karim Sapag chaired the scientific advisory committee. SASSA-2018 was financially supported by CONICET, Universidad Nacional del Comahue and the following companies: Microanalitica Argentina SRL and Analytical Technologies.

SAASA-2018 program was comprised of eight plenary and six semi-plenary presentations by international leaders in the general area of adsorption, plus 60 additional oral and poster presentations. SAASA-2018 was attended by 80 delegates from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, and the United States (Fig. 2). The Giorgio Zgrablich award for the best research presentations by a Ph.D. student was shared by Kiara Montiel Centeno and Julián Ortiz Otalvaro.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Credit: Universidad Nacional del Comahue (2018)

SASSA-2018 Participants

Full size image