February 2011 – PCCP Blog

Archive for February, 2011

Misinterpretation of the nano-size effect?

28 Feb 2011

‘HOT’ PCCP article – ‘Illusional’ high conductivity in nano-scale thin films

The nano-size effect, which indicates a drastic increase in conductivity in solid electrolyte materials of nano-scale microstructures, has drawn substantial attention in various research fields including in the field of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).

‘Illusional’ nano-size effect However, especially in the cases of the conductivity of ultra-thin films measured in an in-plane configuration, it is highly possible that the ‘apparent’ conductivity increase originates from electrical current flowing through other conduction paths than the thin film. As a systematic study to interrogate those measurement artifacts, we report various sources of electrical current leaks regarding in-plane conductivity measurements, specifically insulators in the measurement set-up.

We have observed a ‘great conductivity increase’ up to an order of magnitude at a very thin thickness of a single layer yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) film in a set-up with an intentional artifact current flow source. Here we propose that the nano-size effect, reported to appear in ultra-thin single layer YSZ, can be a result of misinterpretation.

‘Illusional’ nano-size effect due to artifacts of in-plane conductivity measurements of ultra-thin films
Hae-Ryoung Kim, Jong-Cheol Kim, Kyung-Ryul Lee, Ho-Il Ji, Hae-Weon Lee, Jong-Ho Lee and Ji-Won Son
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0CP02673E

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Mystery of natural sunscreen solved

25 Feb 2011

Spanish scientists have established how natural products protect plants from sun damage. The compounds could be used as active ingredients in sunscreens.

Using computational techniques on palythine – a compound found in coral – as a model compound, Diego Sampedro at the University of La Rioja, Logroño, investigated what happens to the molecule after it absorbs UV light.

Mystery of natural sunscreen solved

Sampedro found that when UV light was shone on palythine, the molecule rapidly dissipated the light energy into heat energy without forming reactive, harmful, photoproducts. He looked at the mechanism in detail on both the protonated and neutral forms of palythine, as scientists were unsure which form was active in the coral. He found that both forms underwent a bond rotation to transform light into heat energy, but the protonated form was responsible for the main absorption of the radiation.

Mike Robb of Imperial College, London, an expert in computational chemistry, praises the timeliness of the study. “MAAs are already being studied as industrial photostabilisers. Understanding the details of the mechanism should help in the design of such species”.

Want to find out more?

Read the rest of the Chemistry World story by Yuandi Li

Or view the PCCP article by Diego Sampedro:
Computational exploration of natural sunscreens
Diego Sampedro, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011
DOI: 10.1039/c0cp02901g

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Physical Chemistry Awards – The Winners

24 Feb 2011

Yesterday the RSC Faraday Division Physical Chemistry Awards Symposium was held at Cardiff University, and we wish to congratulate the winners!

Angelos Michaelides – Marlow Award
Avelino Corma – Centenary Prize
Robert Thomas – Surfaces and Interfaces Award

It is also great to see that two of the winners feature at the top of the latest PCCP Top 10, take a look at their Perspectives today:

Theory of gold on ceria
Changjun Zhang, Angelos Michaelides and Stephen J. Jenkins
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011, 13, 22-33

Titania supported gold nanoparticles as photocatalyst
Ana Primo, Avelino Corma and Hermenegildo García
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011, 13, 886-910

The PCCP and Faraday Discussions team send our congratulations to all the winners!

Find out more about upcoming Physical Chemistry Award symposia www.rsc.org/ConferencesAndEvents

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Exactly how does methanol condense?

18 Feb 2011

Monomer, clusters, liquid: an integrated spectroscopic study of methanol condensation

US scientists have combined static pressure, spectroscopic temperature, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements to develop a detailed picture of methanol condensing from a dilute vapor-carrier gas mixture under the highly supersaturated conditions present in a supersonic nozzle.

This is significantly more than is predicted by a model that describes the vapour phase as an equilibrium mixture of methanol monomer, dimer, and tetramer. An energy balance suggests that a significant fraction of the cluster population is larger than the tetramer, while preliminary SAXS measurements suggest that these clusters contain, on average, 6 monomers.

In their experiments, methanol condensation can be divided into three stages as the gas mixture expands in the nozzle. In the first stage, as the temperature decreases rapidly, small methanol n-mers (clusters) form, increase in concentration, and evolve in size. In the second stage, the temperature decreases more slowly, and the n-mer concentrations continue to rise. Thermodynamic and FTIR experiments cannot, however, definitively establish if the average cluster size is constant or if it continues to increase. Finally, when the vapor becomes supersaturated enough, liquid droplets form via nucleation and growth, consuming more monomer and reducing the concentration of clusters. At the point where liquid first appears, cluster formation has already consumed up to 30% of the monomer.

Read the article in full for free:

Monomer, clusters, liquid: An integrated spectroscopic study of methanol condensation
H Laksmono, S Tanimura, H C Allen, G Wilemski, M S Zahniser, J H Shorter, D D Nelson, J B McManus and B E Wyslouzil
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/c0cp02485f

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Frontiers in Spectroscopy Conference – last chance to register

18 Feb 2011

Be at the cutting edge of developments in molecular spectroscopy…

Faraday Discussion 150: Frontiers in Spectroscopy
6 – 8 April 2011
Basel, Switzerland

Final registration deadline: 04 March 2011

This meeting will provide a forum to discuss cutting-edge developments and future challenges in molecular spectroscopy.

Themes:

High- and ultrahigh-resolution spectroscopy
Biomolecules in the gas and condensed phases
Computational methods
Spectroscopy for molecular dynamics

Faraday Discussion 150: Frontiers in Spectroscopy – don’t miss out – register today!

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Call for papers: Operando surface spectroscopy Themed Issue

16 Feb 2011

PCCP Themed Issue

Operando surface spectroscopy

Guest Editors: Carlos Otero Areán, Bert M. Weckhuysen and Adriano Zecchina

Deadline for Submissions: 15 August 2011

The themed issue will be published in PCCP in early 2012 and will be displayed at relevant international conferences to maximise the visibility of the work published.

The study of heterogeneous catalysis under entirely realistic operating conditions can help establishing precise structure-activity relationships leading to predictive catalysis and to smart system development. Ideally, by recording real-time spectra during a catalytic process, it could be possible to obtain highly relevant information on the active state of the catalyst and the nature of intermediates. Towards that endeavour, operando surface spectroscopy has seen a fast development in recent years; frequently using two or more spectroscopic techniques simultaneously, and meeting the challenge of dedicated reactor design.

Operando surface spectroscopy is also being used for gaining increased insight in other related fields; like the study of catalytic processes in fuel cells, gas sensing and gas-solid reactivity in the broader context.

Based on the increasing momentum and interest that operando spectroscopy is gaining , this PCCP Themed Issue focusing on phenomena occurring at the solid-gas and solid-liquid interface, will be appealing not only to specialists but also to many scientists, and engineers alike, in many areas of the Physical Chemistry community.

Submissions should be high quality manuscripts of original, unpublished research

Communications and Full Papers can be submitted for consideration, which will be subject to rigorous peer review

Please indicate upon submission that your manuscript is intended for this themed issue

Manuscripts for this PCCP themed issue can be submitted in any reasonable format using our online submissions service.

Don’t miss the deadline!

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Hydrogen Storage Materials Conference – last chance for early bird registration

15 Feb 2011

Faraday Discussion 151: Hydrogen Storage Materials
18 – 20 April 2011
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, Oxon, UK

***Last chance to register for early bird discount – Friday 18 February***

Early bird registration and poster abstract deadline: 18 February 2011

This meeting aims to bring together the diverse range of workers in the field of hydrogen storage materials, from those involved in materials discovery and characterisation, to those studying mechanisms or developing applications – register now to get discounted rates!

Themes:

Application of theory and spectroscopic methods to understand hydrogenation/dehydrogenation mechanisms
Novel approaches such as catalysed hydrogenation/dehydrogenation of organic molecules, encapsulation of nanosized materials in carbon or polymers
Chemical hydrogen: characterisation and properties of main group and transition metal borohydrides and alanates, ternary and quaternary metal hydrides, reactive hydride composites
Adsorbed/physisorbed hydrogen on or in MOFs, promoted carbons and other materials with large internal or external surface area
Applications including uses for automotives and novel battery materials

Faraday Discussion 151: Hydrogen Storage Materials – Register today!

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Scattering Methods applied to Soft Matter

09 Feb 2011

PCCP is delighted to present issue 8, which includes a collection of articles on the theme of Scattering Methods applied to Soft Matter, Guest Edited by Professor Sandra Engelskirchen and Professor Chandrashekhar V. Kulkarni.

It includes some great articles, including an Editoiral by the Guest Editors and this insightful Perspective feature article:

Monoolein: a magic lipid?
Chandrashekhar V. Kulkarni, Wolfgang Wachter, Guillermo Iglesias-Salto, Sandra Engelskirchen and Silvia Ahualli
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011, 13, 3004

Read this exciting collection today.

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FEMTO10 PCCP Poster Prize

08 Feb 2011

PCCP is delighted to be sponsoring a ‘Poster Prize’ at the forthcoming FEMTO10 conference.

FEMTO10
10-15 July 2011, Madrid, Spain

FEMTO10 is the 10th Edition of the Femtochemistry Conferences and will bring together scientists from all over the world to present and discuss the most recent advances in Femtosciences, including reaction dynamics, coherent control, structural dynamics, solvation phenomena, liquids and interfaces, fast processes in biological systems, strong field processes, attosecond electron dynamics and aggregates, surfaces and solids with contributions from both theory and experiment.

Important Dates

15 March 2011 – Deadline abstracts submission
15 April 2011 – Deadline for early registration

Watch out for the announcement of the winners and for more information visit: http://www.femto10.com/

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PCCP Blog

Archive for February, 2011

Misinterpretation of the nano-size effect?

Mystery of natural sunscreen solved

Physical Chemistry Awards – The Winners

Top Ten most-read PCCP articles in January

Exactly how does methanol condense?

Frontiers in Spectroscopy Conference – last chance to register

Call for papers: Operando surface spectroscopy Themed Issue

Hydrogen Storage Materials Conference – last chance for early bird registration

Scattering Methods applied to Soft Matter

FEMTO10 PCCP Poster Prize

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