Author Archive

PCCP Prizes at the ICCT and CALCON meetings in Brazil

The 22nd ICCT (International Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics) and the 67th Calorimetry Conference (CALCON) meetings took place in Búzios-RJ, Brazil from 5–8th August.

Elizabeth Magalhaes from the RSC’s São Paulo Office attended the meeting and presented PCCP poster prizes to J A Simoni (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil), Aneta Pobudkowska-Mirecka (Warsaw University of Technology, Poland) and Manuel Eduardo R. Minas Piedade (Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal). Congratulations to the winners!

Photograph of PCCP Prize winnerPhotograph of PCCP Prize winnerPhotograph of PCCP Prize winner

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PCCP Asian Symposia

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) is delighted to announce the upcoming series of Asian Symposia taking place in China, Japan and Korea.

PCCP-ICCAS Symposium: Frontiers of physical chemistry
Friday 28th September 2012
09:30 – 16:30
Lecture Theatre, Ground floor, Building One, Institute of Chemistry of Chinese Academy of Science (ICCAS), Beijing

PCCP-MANA symposium on Nanotechnology, Materials and Physical Chemistry
Monday 1st October 2012
09:40 – 16:10
WPI-MANA Auditorium, Namiki, NIMS, Tsukuba

PCCP-KCS Symposium on Interfaces in Physical Chemistry
Thursday 4th October 2012
09:40 – 17:50
Mogam Hall, Building 500, Seoul National University

The scientific programme at each event will features a series of world-class speakers both international and local:

  • Prof Katsuhiko Ariga, National Institute for Materials Science
  • Prof Kai Wu, Peking University
  • Prof Graham Hutchings, Cardiff University
  • Prof Can Li, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics
  • Prof Buxing Han, ICCAS
  • Prof Eiichi Nakamura, University of Tokyo
  • Prof Hiroshi Nishihara, University of Tokyo
  • Prof David Nesbitt, University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Prof Minghua Liu, ICCAS
  • Prof Marie-Paule Pileni, University Pierre & Marie Curie
  • Prof Kazuhiko Maeda, Tokyo Institute of Technology
  • Prof Jinhua Ye, MANA
  • Prof Takayoshi Sasaki, MANA
  • Prof Mitsutoshi Masuda, AIST
  • Prof Yukio Nagasaki, MANA and University of Tsukuba
  • Prof Dongho Kim, Yonsei University
  • Prof Sang Bok Lee, University of Maryland
  • Prof Byung Hee Hong, Seoul National University
  • Prof Zee Hwan Kim, Korea University

All three events are free to attend and we look forward to welcoming you to these exciting meetings.

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Themed Issue on Biophysical Studies on Protein Misfolding and Amyloid Diseases: Call for papers

PCCP themed issue: Biophysical Studies on Protein Misfolding and Amyloid Diseases

Guest Editor: Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy (University of Michigan, USA)

PCCP is delighted to announce the high-profile themed issue ‘Biophysical Studies on Protein Misfolding and Amyloid Diseases’. It is our pleasure to invite you to submit an original research article for this themed issue.

The themed issue will be published in PCCP in 2013. It will receive great exposure, and get significant promotion.

PCCP is a high-impact, community spanning, international journal publishing work of the highest quality in the broad fields of physical chemistry, chemical physics and biophysical chemistry.

Deadline for Submissions: 15th December 2012

Amyloid diseases include a number of untreatable and devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, type II diabetes, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The underlying mechanisms of pathology in these diverse diseases are all linked by the accumulation of misfolded proteins. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms of protein misfolding might facilitate new therapeutic discoveries across a broad family of disorders. Towards this goal, the challenge is to bring together an interdisciplinary collection of biophysical investigations required to link molecular mechanisms with cellular pathways and potential drug development.

This PCCP themed issue will cover a variety of topics including:
• The latest structural and kinetic studies on amyloid proteins
• Biophysical techniques to characterize the structure and oligomerization of amyloid proteins
• Novel approaches to inhibit and characterize the amyloid aggregation
• Theoretical and molecular dynamic simulation studies providing insights into the misfolding pathways and structure of amyloid proteins.

Manuscripts can be submitted in any reasonable format using our online submissions service. Submissions should be high quality manuscripts and will be subject to rigorous peer review. Please indicate upon submission that your manuscript is intended for this themed issue.

The deadline for submissions to the themed issue is 15th December 2012, though submissions before this date are of course welcomed.

If you haven’t already, check out our web collection of articles on biophysics and biophysical chemistry in PCCP.

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Layer-by-layer inkjet printing to make a graphene-based film for a chemical sensor

Scientists in China have used graphene oxide and polyoxometalate solution as ink to fabricate a composite film with a photo printer.

The film shows a linear relationship between the coverage and number of printing cycles, which indicates a steady-state film growth. The team performed a proof-of-principle experiment on the application of the composite for electrochemical sensing and successfully detected dopamine, with increasing current response to increasing concentration. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, levels of which are monitored to diagnose Parkinson’s disease.

Graphene films are used for transistors and sensors, and there is a need for efficient and facile strategies for large-scale fabrication; this method has potential in terms of reducing material waste, lower costs and scalability.

Read more about this exciting work in the full PCCP article:

Layer-by-layer inkjet printing of fabricating reduced graphene-polyoxometalate composite film for chemical sensors
Hui Zhang, Anjian Xie, Yuhua Shen, Lingguang Qiu and Xingyou Tian
DOI: 10.1039/C2CP41561E

Table of contents image

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New drug delivery method for ibuprofen examined

French scientists have prepared silica microspheres containing the commonly used drug ibuprofen using a spray drying and sol-gel process. The team found that the ibuprofen forms separate nano-domains within the silica microspheres.

For the full details about the properties of these fascinating materials read the PCCP article today:

Drug nano-domains in spray-dried ibuprofen–silica microspheres
Mohamed Fatnassi, Corine Tourné-Péteilh, Tzonka Mineva, Jean-Marie Devoisselle, Philippe Gaveau, Franck Fayon and Bruno Alonso
DOI: 10.1039/C2CP42092A

Table of contents image. Caption: Confined and fluid imbuprofen

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Olympics fever hits PCCP and Nanoscale

Medals imageAs the excitement builds at London 2012 we bring you some “Olympics themed” articles from Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) and Nanoscale.  OK, so some of the links are a bit tenuous but it’s the taking part that counts… We hope you enjoy them!

Quantum sized, thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters
Rongchao Jin
Nanoscale, 2010, 2, 343-362
DOI: 10.1039/B9NR00160C

Density functional triple jumping
Jia Deng, Andrew T. B. Gilbert and Peter M. W. Gill
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2010, 12, 10759-10765
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00242A

Silver nanowires – unique templates for functional nanostructures
Yugang Sun
Nanoscale, 2010, 2, 1626-1642
DOI: 10.1039/C0NR00258E

In situ STM observation of morphological changes of the Pt(111) electrode surface during potential cycling in 10 mM HF solution
Mitsuru Wakisaka , Shuichi Asizawa , Hiroyuki Uchida and Masahiro Watanabe
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2010, 12, 4184-4190
DOI: 10.1039/B923956A

Surface modification of anatase nanoparticles with fused ring catecholate type ligands: a combined DFT and experimental study of optical properties
Tatjana D. Savić, Ivana A. Janković, Zoran V. Šaponjić, Mirjana I. Čomor, Dušan Ž. Veljković, Snežana D. Zarić and Jovan M. Nedeljković
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 1612-1619
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11501H

A method to tune the ionic current rectification of track-etched nanopores by using surfactant
Lin Wang, Yu Yan, Yanbo Xie, Long Chen, Jianming Xue, Sha Yan and Yugang Wang
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011, 13, 576-581
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00587H

Visible-light-induced photocatalysis through surface plasmon excitation of gold on titania surfaces
Ewa Kowalska, Orlando Omar Prieto Mahaney, Ryu Abe and Bunsho Ohtani
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2010, 12, 2344-2355
DOI: 10.1039/B917399D

In situ TEM observation of lithium nanoparticle growth and morphological cycling
Jay Ghatak, Wei Guan and Günter Möbus
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 1754-1759, DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11546H

The electron density vs. NICS scan: a new approach to assess aromaticity in molecules with different ring sizes
Cina Foroutan-Nejad, Shant Shahbazian and Parviz Rashidi-Ranjbar
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2010, 12, 12630-12637
DOI: 10.1039/C004254D

Power-law statistics in blinking SERS of thiacyanine adsorbed on a single silver nanoaggregate
Yasutaka Kitahama, Yuhei Tanaka, Tamitake Itoh and Yukihiro Ozaki
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2010, 12, 7457-7460
DOI: 10.1039/C000824A

Also check out the the exciting images of the olympicene molecule made by Anish Mistry and David Fox from the University of Warwick to celebrate the Olympics.

olympicene

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Recently Appointed Academics in Physical Chemistry meeting – free registration

Have you recently been appointed as a lecturer in Physical Chemistry? Do you aspire to get a position soon?

If so you are welcome to join us at the Recently Appointed Academics in Physical Chemistry meeting held in Trevelyan College at Durham University from 5 – 7 September 2012.

Registration Deadline: 6 August 2012

The  is a biennial meeting sponsored by the RSC Faraday Division and is free to participants. It provides a forum for new appointees to engage with and learn about their role as an academic. Covering areas from research and teaching to getting funding and starting your own spin-out company this is a great opportunity to get to learn from academics who have been there before. Participants will have the opportunity and are strongly encouraged to present their research, which will aid in the networking and potential future collaborations.

More details are available on the meeting webpage.

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Highlights from themed issues on ionic liquids

Crystal engineering with ionic liquids CrystEngComm CollectionIonic liquids ChemComm web themed issueInterfaces of ionic liquids PCCP Themed issue

The field of ionic liquids has seen phenomenal growth in recent years, with the topic spanning a variety of disciplines across the chemical sciences. The recent themed issues from ChemComm, PCCP and CrystEngComm showcase some of the latest developments from a range of scientific subjects utilising the unique properties of ionic liquids.

Highlights from these themed issues include the articles below, which are free to download until the 24th August. You can also access the full themed issues by clicking on the buttons above.

Click here to access the full list of articles

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PCCP Editor’s choice: biophysics and biophysical chemistry

journal cover imagePhysical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) Associate Editor Professor Seong Keun Kim, an expert in the field of biophysics and biophysical chemistry, has picked some of his favourite articles recently published in this area in PCCP.

You can read these articles for free for a limited period by clicking on the links below.

Publishing work of the highest quality in the broad fields of physical chemistry, chemical physics and biophysical chemistry, PCCP is the ideal place to publish your research.

Be among the first to hear about the newest articles being published in PCCP – sign up to receive our free table of contents e-alerts.

Read Professor Kim’s Editor’s choice selection for free today:

Perspectives

Mitochondrial biofuel cells: expanding fuel diversity to amino acids
Dushyant Bhatnagar, Shuai Xu, Caitlin Fischer, Robert L. Arechederra and Shelley D. Minteer
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP01362E

Design and development of quantum dots and other nanoparticles based cellular imaging probe
Nikhil R. Jana
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00726A

Seeing the forest for the trees: fluorescence studies of single enzymes in the context of ensemble experiments
Yan-Wen Tan and Haw Yang
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP02412K

Optical imaging of excited-state tautomerization in single molecules
Anna M. Chizhik, Regina Jäger, Alexey I. Chizhik, Sebastian Bär, Hans-Georg Mack, Marcus Sackrow, Catrinel Stanciu, Alexey Lyubimtsev, Michael Hanack and Alfred J. Meixner
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP02228D

Physics of protein–DNA interactions: mechanisms of facilitated target search
Anatoly B. Kolomeisky
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP01966F

Revealing time bunching effect in single-molecule enzyme conformational dynamics
H. Peter Lu
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP02860F

Combining optical trapping, fluorescence microscopy and micro-fluidics for single molecule studies of DNA–protein interactions
Andrea Candelli, Gijs J. L. Wuite and Erwin J. G. Peterman
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP02844D

Electrostatic interactions in biological DNA-related systems
A. G. Cherstvy
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP02796K

Original research

Effects of all-atom force fields on amyloid oligomerization: replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations of the Aβ16–22 dimer and trimer
Phuong H. Nguyen, Mai Suan Li and Philippe Derreumaux
DOI: 10.1039/C1CP20323A

Solvent-assisted conformational isomerization and the conformationally-pure REMPI spectrum of 3-aminophenol
Woon Yong Sohn, Minho Kim, Sang-Su Kim, Young Dong Park and Hyuk Kang
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP02592E

Free energy evaluation of the p53-Mdm2 complex from unbinding work measured by dynamic force spectroscopy
Anna Rita Bizzarri and Salvatore Cannistraro
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP01474E

2D IR photon echo of azido-probes for biomolecular dynamics
Matthew J. Tucker, Xin Sonia Gai, Edward E. Fenlon, Scott H. Brewer and Robin M. Hochstrasser
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP01625J

On the different roles of anions and cations in the solvation of enzymes in ionic liquids
Marco Klähn, Geraldine S. Lim, Abirami Seduraman and Ping Wu
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP01509A

Selective transport of amino acids into the gas phase: driving forces for amino acid solubilization in gas-phase reverse micelles
Yigang Fang, Andrew Bennett and Jianbo Liu
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00823K

Extracting the underlying effective free energy landscape from single-molecule time series—local equilibrium states and their network
Akinori Baba and Tamiki Komatsuzaki
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00694G

On the role of mercury in the non-covalent stabilisation of consecutive U–HgII–U metal-mediated nucleic acid base pairs: metallophilic attraction enters the world of nucleic acids
Ladislav Benda, Michal Straka, Yoshiyuki Tanaka and Vladimír Sychrovský
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP01534B

Making gold nanoparticles fluorescent for simultaneous absorption and fluorescence detection on the single particle level
Alexander Gaiduk, Paul V. Ruijgrok, Mustafa Yorulmaz and Michel Orrit
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP01389G

Photoblinking and photobleaching of rylene diimide dyes
Mathias Haase, Christian G. Hübner, Fabian Nolde, Klaus Müllen and Thomas Basché
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP01814G

Single particle tracking in systems showing anomalous diffusion: the role of weak ergodicity breaking
Stas Burov, Jae-Hyung Jeon, Ralf Metzler and Eli Barkai
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP01879A

Unfolding dynamics of cytochrome c revealed by single-molecule and ensemble-averaged spectroscopy
Jungkweon Choi, Sooyeon Kim, Takashi Tachikawa, Mamoru Fujitsuka and Tetsuro Majima
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP02689A

Photoinduced pH drops in water
Matthieu Emond, Jing Sun, Jean Grégoire, Sylvie Maurin, Christophe Tribet and Ludovic Jullien
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP02464C

Mechanisms and advancement of antifading agents for fluorescence microscopy and single-molecule spectroscopy
Thorben Cordes, Andreas Maiser, Christian Steinhauer, Lothar Schermelleh and Philip Tinnefeld
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP01919D

Nanoscale chemical imaging of segregated lipid domains using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
Lothar Opilik, Thomas Bauer, Thomas Schmid, Johannes Stadler and Renato Zenobi
DOI: 10.1039/C0CP02832K

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PCCP Perspective: Measuring viscosity inside cells

In this fascinating PCCP Perspective Marina Kuimova of Imperial College London, describes the use of fluorescent molecular rotors to measure and image microviscosity within individual domains of live cells. Knowing about  this viscosity is important as diffusion plays an important role in many biological processes.

Read this exciting PCCP Perspective in full today:

Mapping viscosity in cells using molecular rotors
Marina K. Kuimova
DOI: 10.1039/C2CP41674C

Table of contents image

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