PCCP Blog

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Submissions should be high quality manuscripts of original, unpublished research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!

PCCP high-profile themed issue announcement:

Hydrogen Interactions with Diamond

Submission deadline: 10 January 2010

Guest Editors: John Foord (University of Oxford) and Alon Hoffman (Technion Inst.)

Enormous interest has developed in the use of diamond as a functional material in recent years, with diverse applications in areas like optical windows, radiation detectors, thermal dissipation, high power electronics, NEMS, medical implants, electrochemistry, bioelectronics and biosensors. This in turn has focussed attention on understanding the basic physical, chemical, mechanical and interfacial properties of diamond materials, in a research field that spans physics, chemistry, materials science and biology. One of the central themes in this basic research is the interaction of hydrogen with diamond.

The purpose of this themed issue is therefore to bring important areas of this large body of research together in an issue of PCCP, which will focus on the basic physical science which underlies the interaction of hydrogen with diamond materials and will cover specific areas including:

• Chemistry and structure of hydrogenated diamond surfaces
• The role of hydrogen in growth chemistry
• Electronic structure of diamond interfaces
• Surface conductivity
• Electron emission and Photoemission
• Hydrogen plasma smoothing and etching
• Electrochemistry
• Diffusion
• Hydrogen Defects in Diamond
• Bulk electronic and optical properties

The themed issue will be published in summer 2011 and will be displayed at relevant conferences to maximise the visibility of the work published.

Please pass this information on to any relevant colleagues, or let us know if you have any suggestions of people to invite. The deadline for submissions to the themed issue is the 10th January 2011, though submissions before this date are of course welcomed.