PCCP Blog

We are delighted to announce that the PCCP themed collection Bunsen-Tagung 2024: High-Resolution Structural Methods in Material and Life Sciences, is now online and free to access until 30 April 2026. Read the collection for free here.

This themed collection of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) is devoted to the 123rd Bunsen-Tagung meeting which took place on 25th – 27th March 2024 in Aachen, Germany, in collaboration with the Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft für Physikalische Chemie (DBG).

The DBG and the organizing committee of this year’s Bunsen-Tagung are pleased to showcase recent research either on the main topic of high-resolution structural methods in material and life sciences, or on general physical chemistry.

The collection includes:

Review
Photon upconversion sensitized by earth-abundant transition metal complexes
Pengyue Jin and Cui Wang
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2025, 27, 13793-13811 DOI: 10.1039/D5CP00333D

Paper
Beyond isotropic reorientation: probing anisotropic and internal motions in ionic liquids with fast field cycling NMR relaxometry and MD simulations
Lennart Kruse, Tanja van Alphen, Johanna Busch, Dietmar Paschek, Ralf Ludwig and Anne Strate
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2025, 27, 10927-10938 DOI: 10.1039/D5CP00582E

Paper
Moisture changes inside hydrogel particles during their drying process investigated with fluorescence lifetime imaging
Sankar Jana and Dominik Wöll
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 23250-23255 DOI: 10.1039/D4CP02684E

Paper
Measurement of carbon monoxide pressure broadening and temperature dependence coefficients in the 1 ← 0 band
Denghao Zhu, Leopold Seifert, Sumit Agarwal, Bo Shu, Ravi Fernandes and Zhechao Qu
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2025, 27, 7004-7015 DOI: 10.1039/D5CP00161G

Paper
Controlling achiral and chiral conformations of benzyl alcohol by ortho-halogenation, collisional relaxation and dimerisation
Elisabeth Sennert and Martin A. Suhm
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 26976-26983 DOI: 10.1039/D4CP03203A

We hope you enjoy reading the articles in this collection. Please get in touch if you have any questions.

We are delighted to announce that the PCCP themed collection Festschrift Judith Herzfeld: spectroscopic and theoretical studies of biomolecules, aqueous solutions, and materials, is now online and free to access until 30 March 2026. Read the collection for free here. 

The themed collection ‘Festschrift for Judith Herzfeld: spectroscopic and theoretical studies of biomolecules, aqueous solutions, and materials’ brings together a broad range of work, including both methodological developments and novel applications. Highlights include nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of biomolecules; studies of self-assembly and crowding-induced order; modelling of water and aqueous solvation; and action mechanisms of membrane transporters and photoreceptors. This special issue provides a compelling view of modern experimental and theoretical approaches to understanding the general physical-chemical principles underlying complex phenomena in biomolecules, aqueous solutions and materials.  

The collection includes: 

Editorial
Festschrift for Judith Herzfeld: spectroscopic and theoretical studies of biomolecules, aqueous solutions, and materials
Ana-Nicoleta Bondar, Leonid S. Brown, Hideki Kandori and Vladimir Ladizhansky
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2025, 27, 3529-3530 DOI: 10.1039/D4CP90218A 

Perspective
Art, fact and artifact: reflections on the cross-talk between theory and experiment
Judith Herzfeld
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 9848-9855 DOI: 10.1039/D4CP00005F 

Paper 
In silico cooling rate dependent crystallization and glass transition in n-alkanes
Santanu Santra and Noam Agmon
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2025, 27, 8731-8745 DOI: 10.1039/D4CP02581D 

Paper
The retinal chromophore environment in an inward light-driven proton pump studied by solid-state NMR and hydrogen-bond network analysis
Marie Pinto, Maryam Saliminasab, Andrew Harris, Michalis Lazaratos, Ana-Nicoleta Bondar, Vladimir Ladizhansky and Leonid S. Brown
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 24090-24108 DOI: 10.1039/D4CP02611J 

Paper
Low-temperature FTIR spectroscopy of the L/Q switch of proteorhodopsin
Tatsuro Nishikino, Teppei Sugimoto and Hideki Kandori
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 22959-22967 DOI: 10.1039/D4CP02248C 

We hope you enjoy reading the articles in this collection. Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Festschrift for Christel Marian: The role of electron spin in molecular photochemical and photophysical processes 

We are delighted to announce that the PCCP themed collection, Festschrift for Christel Marian: The role of electron spin in molecular photochemical and photophysical processes, is now online and free to access until 14 February 2026. Read the collection for free here. 

The themed collection ‘Festschrift for Christel Marian: The role of electron spin in molecular photochemical and photophysical processes: Theory and experiment’ brings together a broad range of studies, including both recent methodological developments and novel applications. The development and application of predictive, accurate, and at the same time, computationally efficient theoretical approaches to describe complex problems in photochemistry and photophysics is an active field in contemporary theoretical and computational chemistry.  

The focus of this Festschrift is thus dedicated to recent developments of  (i) quantum mechanical methods for excited electronic state properties (e.g. energies, gradients, non-adiabatic, spin-spin, and spin-orbit couplings), (ii) theoretical strategies to study excited-state dynamics ranging from full-dimensional semiclassical on-the-fly dynamics to full quantum dynamics in reduced dimensionality, (iii) embedding methods to describe excited-state processes complex environments, as well as (iv) experimental and theoretical studies on a wide range of applications, e.g. excited-state processes and quantum effects in biological systems, organic light emitting diodes, metal organic frameworks, and renewable energy devices.  

We hope you enjoy reading the articles in this collection. Please get in touch if you have any questions. 

PCCP 25^th Anniversary Issue

PCCP is excited to celebrate their 25^th Anniversary with you. Over the last 25 years, PCCP has become a staple of the physical chemistry, chemical physics, and biophysical community by publishing high impact, high quality research.

To mark this anniversary, we are delighted to present a special collection of more than 100 insightful articles from past and present board members and members of the wider PCCP community. All of papers are now online and free to access until 10^th January 2026 in our special PCCP 25^th Anniversary Issue, which can be read online here.

We have received many excellent submissions, showcasing a broad range of research across the physical chemistry community. We hope you enjoy this collection and thank you for your continued support of the journal.

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) is delighted to announce a call for papers for our latest themed collection on Structure and dynamics of chemical systems: Honouring N. Sathyamurthy’s 75^th birthday, with submissions open until 30 November 2025.

Professor Narayanasami Sathyamurthy’s influence on theoretical chemistry research in India, particularly in chemical reaction dynamics, is profound and far-reaching. When he joined the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur in 1978, he was the sole researcher in this field in the country. Today, numerous research groups, many led by his former group members or their students, are conducting pioneering work on various aspects of chemical dynamics at top institutions across India. His scientific legacy is both deep and lasting, and he has played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of theoretical and computational chemistry research in India.

This special collection in PCCP celebrates his distinguished career and showcases research in theoretical and computational chemistry focused on the structure and dynamics of chemical systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Molecular reaction dynamics (experimental, computational and theoretical work)
• Computational chemical dynamics
• Statistical mechanics of condensed matter and biomolecular systems
• Potential energy surfaces and free energy landscapes
• Electronic structure theory and computation

This call for papers is open for the following article types:

• Communications
• Full papers

Open for submissions until 30 November 2025

If you would like to contribute to this themed collection, you can submit your article directly through the PCCP online submission system. Please mention that this submission is an open call contribution to the Structure and dynamics of chemical systems: Honouring N. Sathyamurthy’s 75^th birthday collection in the ‘Themed issues’ section of the submission form and add a ‘Note to the Editor’ that this is from the Open Call. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of both the journal and the collection, and inclusion of accepted articles in the final themed collection is not guaranteed.

Submissions to the journal should include significant innovation and/or insight into physical chemistry. Please see the journal’s website for more information on the journal’s scope, standards, article types and author guidelines.

We are delighted to announce that the Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) themed issue Size effects in the chemistry and physics of atomic and molecular clusters, nanoparticles and nanostructures is now online and free to access until the end of February 2025.

This themed collection was organised on the occasion of the International Symposium on Small Particles and Inorganic Clusters – ISSPIC XXI that took place from 3^rd-8^th September 2023 in Berlin, Germany. The ISSPIC conference series is devoted to communicating the progress in experimental and theoretical studies of materials at the nano and sub-nano scale.

Guest Edited by André Fielicke, Sandra Lang, and Thorsten M. Bernhardt this collection focusses on a wide range of areas affecting the chemistry and physics of atomic and molecular clusters, nanoparticles and nanostructures.

Read the full issue online
It includes:

Editorial
Size effects in the chemistry and physics of atomic and molecular clusters, nanoparticles and nanostructures
André Fielicke, Sandra Lang, and Thorsten M. Bernhardt
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024,. DOI: 10.1039/d4cp90160fI

Perspective
An experimental perspective on nanoparticle electrochemistry
Esperanza Sedano Varo, Rikke Egeberg Tankard, Julius Lucas Needham, Esteban Gioria, Filippo Romeggio, Chorkendorff, Christian Danvad Damsgaard and Jakob Kibsgaard
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 17456-17466. DOI: 10.1039/D4CP00889H

Communication
A chiral metal cluster triggers enantiospecific electronic transport
Omar Hernández-Montes, Ignacio L. Garzón and J. Eduardo Barrios-Vargas
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 11277-11282. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP04581A

Paper
Cluster size dependent coordination of formate to free manganese oxide clusters
Sandra M. Lang, Thorsten M. Bernhardt, Joost M. Bakker, Robert N. Barnettc and Uzi Landman
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023, 25, 32166–32172. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP04035F

Paper
Searching for stable copper borozene complexes in CuB7− and CuB8−
Wei-Jia Chen, Anton S. Pozdeev, Hyun Wook Choi, Alexander I. Boldyrev, Dao-Fu Yuan, Ivan A. Popov and Lai-Sheng Wang
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 12928–12938. DOI: 10.1039/D4CP00296B

Paper
Microhydration of small protonated polyaromatic hydrocarbons: a first principles study
Muthuramalingam Prakash, K. Rudharachari Maiyelvaganan, N. Giri Lakshman, C. Gopalakrishnan and Majdi Hochlaf
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 17489-17503. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP06000D

We hope you enjoy reading the articles. Please get in touch if you have any questions about this themed collection or PCCP.

We are delighted to announce that the Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) themed issue Fundamental Basis of Mechanochemical Reactivity is now online and free to access until the end of January 2025.

There is a growing need to understand how mechanical energy drives physico-chemical transformations in individual molecules as well as in complex materials, which requires a non-traditional way of thinking about chemical reactivity.

Guest Edited by Adam A.L. Michalchuk (University of Birmingham) and Francesco Delogu (University of Cagliari), this collection aims to highlight original achievements or historical perspectives which provide or discuss developments in understanding fundamental aspects of mechanically driven reactivity of individual molecules and solids.

Read the full issue online
It includes:

Editorial
Fundamental basis of mechanochemical reactivity
Adam A. L. Michalchuk and Francesco Delogu
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 27245-27247. DOI: 10.1039/D4CP90153C

Review
Wandering through quantum-mechanochemistry: from concepts to reactivity and switches
Mercedes Alonso, Tom Bettens, Jochen Eeckhoudt, Paul Geerlings and Frank De Proft
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 21-35. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP04907H

Communication
Elucidating mechanochemical reactivity of a ternary halogen-bonded cocrystal system by computational and calorimetric studies
Lavanya Kumar, Sibananda G. Dash, Katarina Leko, Damian Trzybiński, Nikola Bregović, Dominik Cinčić and Mihails Arhangelskis
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023, 25, 28576-28580. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP04358D

Paper
Kinetics of the mechanically induced ibuprofen–nicotinamide co-crystal formation by in situ X-ray diffraction
Lucia Casali, Maria Carta, Adam A. L. Michalchuk, Francesco Delogu and Franziska Emmerling
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 22041-22048. DOI: 10.1039/D4CP01457J

Paper
In situ monitoring of mechanochemical MOF formation by NMR relaxation time correlation
Madeleine E. Leger, Jiangfeng Guo, Bryce MacMillan, Hatem M. Titi, Tomislav Friščić, Bruce Balcom and Barry A. Blight
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 543-550. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP05555H

Paper
Comparison of mechanochemical methods in the synthesis of binaphthol–benzoquinone based cocrystals
Siddarth Nagapudi and Karthik Nagapudi
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 12545-12551. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP04713J

Paper
Exploring the role of solvent polarity in mechanochemical Knoevenagel condensation: in situ investigation and isolation of reaction intermediates
Kerstin Scheurrell, Inês C. B. Martins, Claire Murray and Franziska Emmerling
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023, 25, 23637-23644. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP02883F

We hope you enjoy reading the articles. Please get in touch if you have any questions about this themed collection or PCCP.

More mechanochemistry

Has this themed collection sparked your interest in mechanochemistry? Discover our companion journal RSC Mechanochemistry, the first to focus entirely on the study of mechanical forces in chemistry and the central role of mechanochemistry in many other disciplines.

This themed collection aims to highlight recent experimental and theoretical advances to unravel the connection between the initial energy transfer in interactions between isolated molecules or clusters and photons, electrons, or heavy particles (ions, atoms, molecules), and the related molecular dynamics on timescales spanning more than twenty orders of magnitude – from attoseconds to minutes and beyond. This knowledge is important for fundamental atomic and molecular physics, chemical physics and physical chemistry, and for a broad range of applications in e.g. astrophysics and -chemistry, atmospheric science, and radiation damage on the nanoscale.

Guest Edited by Professor Henning Zettergren and Dr Alicja Domaracka, this collection reviews the recent experimental and theoretical achievements that aim to understand dynamics of molecules.

Read the full issue online
It includes:

Editorial
Molecular dynamics in the gas phase
Henning Zettergren and Alicja Domaracka
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 18529-18529. DOI: 10.1039/D4CP90102A

Paper
Bond breaking and making in mixed clusters of fullerene and coronene molecules induced by keV-ion impact
Naemi Florin, Alicja Domaracka, Patrick Rousseau, Michael Gatchell and Henning Zettergren
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 20340-20347. DOI: 10.1039/D4CP01147C

Paper
Gas-phase formation of glycolonitrile in the interstellar medium
Luis Guerrero-Méndez, Anxo Lema-Saavedra, Elena Jiménez, Antonio Fernández-Ramos and Emilio Martínez-Núñez
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023, 25, 20988-20996. DOI: 10.1039/ D3CP02379F

Paper
Mapping the electronic transitions of protonation sites in peptides using soft X-ray action spectroscopy
Juliette Leroux and Sadia Bari et al
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023, 25, 25603-25618. DOI: 10.1039/ D3CP02524A

Paper
Ultrafast dynamics of fluorene initiated by highly intense laser fields
Melanie Schnell et al
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 20261-20272. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP05063G

Paper
Benchmarking non-adiabatic quantum dynamics using the molecular Tully models
Sandra Gómez, Eryn Spinlove and Graham Worth
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 1829-1844. DOI: 10.1039/ D3CP03964A

Paper
Ionic fragmentation products of benzonitrile as important intermediates in the growth of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Daniël B. Rap, Johanna G. M. Schrauwen, Britta Redlich and Sandra Brünken
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 7296-7307. DOI: 10.1039/ D3CP05574D

Paper
The impact of non-adiabatic effects on reaction dynamics: a study based on the adiabatic and non-adiabatic potential energy surfaces of CaH₂⁺
Di He, Wentao Li, Quanjiang Li, Shenghui Chen, Li Wang, Yanli Liu and Meishan Wang
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023, 25, 22744-22754. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP02416D

We are delighted to announce that the Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) themed issue Benchmark Experiments for Numerical Quantum Chemistry is now online and free to access until the end of January 2024.

Benchmarking is a core activity in the development of quantum chemical methods. This is something which is recognized across the different fields of application but the scope of benchmarking and the processes behind it are often times a matter of discussion.

Guest Edited by Ricardo Mata (University of Göttingen), Martin Suhm (University of Göttingen) and Anne Zehnacker (University of Paris – Saclay), this collection is dedicated to the different facets of experimental benchmarking activities and their consequences for quantum chemical predictions.

Read the full issue online
It includes:

Editorial
Benchmark experiments for numerical quantum chemistry
Ricardo A. Mata, Anne Zehnacker-Rentien and Martin A. Suhm
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023, 25, 26415-26416. DOI: 10.1039/D3CP90186F

Perspective
Setting up the HyDRA blind challenge for the microhydration of organic molecules
Taija L. Fischer, Margarethe Bödecker, Anne Zehnacker-Rentien, Ricardo A. Mata and Martin A. Suhm
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022, 24, 11442-11454. DOI: 10.1039/D2CP01119K

Review
On the vibrations of formic acid predicted from first principles
Anna Klára Kelemen and Sandra Luber
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022, 24, 28109-28120. DOI: 10.1039/D2CP04417J

Paper
Reliable prediction of association (free) energies of supramolecular complexes with heavy main group elements – the HS13L benchmark set
Johannes Gorges, Stefan Grimme and Andreas Hansen
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022, 24, 28831-28843. DOI: 10.1039/D2CP04049B

Paper
Accuracy of quantum chemistry structures of chiral tag complexes and the assignment of absolute configuration
Kevin Mayer, Channing West, Frank E. Marshall, Galen Sedo, Garry S. Grubbs, Luca Evangelisti and Brooks H. Pate
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2022, 24, 27705-27721. DOI: 10.1039/D2CP04060C

Paper
Cation-responsive cavity expansion of valinomycin revealed by cryogenic ion trap infrared spectroscopy
Keisuke Hirata, Eiko Sato, James M. Lisy, Shun-Ichi Ishiuchi and Masaaki Fujii
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023, 25, 1075-1080. DOI: 10.1039/D2CP04570B

We hope you enjoy reading the articles. Please get in touch if you have any questions about this themed collection or PCCP.