PCCP themed collection: Plasmonics and spectroscopy – out now!

We are delighted to announce that the PCCP themed collection on Plasmonics and spectroscopy now been published online – take a look today!

The themed collection was Guest Edited by Pablo G. Etchegoin – read his Editorial for this issue.

The outside front cover features a perspective article on Nanogap structures: combining enhanced Raman spectroscopy and electronic transport by Douglas Natelson, Yajing Li and Joseph B. Herzog.

Plasmonics and spectroscopy themed collection features a broad range of Papers and Communications and includes the following Perspective articles:

Single-molecule surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: a perspective on the current status
Hae Mi Lee, Seung Min Jin, Hyung Min Kim and Yung Doug Suh
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP44463E

Towards low-cost flexible substrates for nanoplasmonic sensing
Lakshminarayana Polavarapu and Luis M. Liz-Marzán
DOI: 10.1039/C2CP43642F

Persistent misconceptions regarding SERS
Martin Moskovits
DOI: 10.1039/C2CP44030J

Recent developments and future directions in SERS for bioanalysis
Mhairi M. Harper, Kristy S. McKeating and Karen Faulds
DOI: 10.1039/C2CP43859C

Medical applications of surface-enhanced Raman scattering
Wei Xie and Sebastian Schlücker
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP43858A

Super-resolution imaging of interactions between molecules and plasmonic nanostructures
Katherine A. Willets
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP43882A

Plasmon enhanced spectroscopy
Ricardo F. Aroca
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP44103B

Take a look at the issue today!

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Hydrogen storage by physisorption on dodecahydro-closo-dodecaboranes

Hydrogen storage by physisorption on dodecahydro-closo-dodecaboranes

Guntram Rauhut, Emil Roduner and co-workers from the University of Stuttgart have studied the hydrogen storage potential dodecahydro-closo-dodecaborane units using both theoretical and experimental approaches. They address important issues concerning the thermodynamics of optimised hydrogen storage.

Read this HOT article today:

Hydrogen storage by physisorption on dodecahydro-closo-dodecaboranes
Lucia Dienberg, Julia Haug, Guntram Rauhut and Emil Roduner
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP43848A

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Electron transfer, enzyme electrodes and biofuel cells

Paul Kavanagh and Dónal Leech review methods that aid the development of glucose oxidising enzyme electrodes and their application as continuous-use anodes in biofuel cells in their recent PCCP Perspective.  They focus on the rational design of mediators, based on osmium redox complexes, but also give an overview of the performance of enzyme electrodes.

Read this excellent Perspective article today:

Mediated electron transfer in glucose oxidising enzyme electrodes for application to biofuel cells: recent progress and perspectives
Paul Kavanagh and Dónal Leech
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP44617D

Mediated electron transfer in glucose oxidising enzyme electrodes for application to biofuel cells: recent progress and perspectives

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PCCP article in Chemistry World: Surface freezing in nanodroplets

Experiments carried out by scientists in the US have provided new evidence in the controversial issue of surface freezing in alkane nanodroplets.

Experimental evidence for surface freezing in supercooled n-alkane nanodroplets

For small droplets, or systems with free surfaces, such as those in atmospheric aerosols, the freezing mechanism of hydrocarbons is a highly debated topic. Until now, experimental techniques have not been able to distinguish between surface and volume freezing.

Barbara Wyslouzil and colleagues at the Ohio State University, Columbus, are interested in understanding phase transitions and organization in nanodroplets. ‘Since surface-to-volume ratio increases as objects get smaller, nanodroplets present an obvious advantage for the study of surface effects,’ says Wyslouzil. Nanodroplets of n-octane and n-nonane were formed and rapidly cooled in a continuous flow supersonic Laval nozzle. As the condensable carrier gas mixture flows through the nozzle, the flow accelerates, effectively cooling as the pressure and temperature drop. This first condenses the vapour to liquid droplets, then freezes them.

Read the full article in Chemistry World here…

Read this article in PCCP:

Experimental evidence for surface freezing in supercooled n-alkane nanodroplets
Viraj P. Modak, Harshad Pathak, Mitchell Thayer, Sherwin J. Singer and Barbara E. Wyslouzil
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP44490B

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Studying the effects of membrane interaction and aggregation of amyloid β-peptide

Kenji Sasahara and co-authors from Japan reveal important insights into the effect of amyloid β-peptide aggregation on the dynamic properties and organization of lipid membranes in their recent PCCP paper.  Their article will be included in the upcoming PCCP themed issue on biophysical studies of protein misfolding and amyloid diseases.

Effects of membrane interaction and aggregation of amyloid β-peptide on lipid mobility and membrane domain structure

Solving the very complex biological problem of how soluble, nontoxic amyloid β-peptide become toxic amyloid fibrils rich in β-sheet structures is important in understanding Alzheimer’s disease. Previous studies have shown that ganglioside GM1 in lipid rafts are key in converting non-toxic to toxic ab species. However, there is still a vast amount to understand about the interaction of lipids and amyloid β-peptides.

Read this HOT article today:

Effects of membrane interaction and aggregation of amyloid β-peptide on lipid mobility and membrane domain structure
Kenji Sasahara, Kenichi Morigaki and Kyoko Shinya
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP44517H

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Molecular sentinel-on-chip for SERS-based biosensing

In their recent PCCP paper, Tuan Vo-Dinh, Anuj Dhawan et al. describe a unique ‘‘molecular sentinel-on-chip’’ technology for SERS-based DNA detection. They fabricated wafer-thin, triangular-shaped nanowire  arrays, and used these to detect a DNA sequence of the Ki-67 gene, a critical breast cancer biomarker.

Read this HOT article today:

Molecular sentinel-on-chip for SERS-based biosensing
Hsin-Neng Wang, Anuj Dhawan, Yan Du, Dale Batchelor, Donovan N. Leonard, Veena Misra and Tuan Vo-Dinh
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP00076A

Molecular sentinel-on-chip for SERS-based biosensing

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Adsorption mode assignment in dye-sensitized solar cells

Anharmonic vibrations of the carboxyl group in acetic acid on TiO2: implications for adsorption mode assignment in dye-sensitized solar cellsSergei Manzhos and co-authors have calculated the anharmonic vibrations of the carboxyl group adsorbed on an anatase TiO2 surface in acetic acid. This is the first time vibrational spectra for different adsorption sites of an organic molecule have been computed and compared without neglecting anharmonicity and coupling of the attaching group. Their results are very valuable for the development of dye-sensitized solar cells because they identify the mode of adsorption of the  dye on the semiconductor surface.

Read this HOT article today:

Anharmonic vibrations of the carboxyl group in acetic acid on TiO2: implications for adsorption mode assignment in dye-sensitized solar cells
Matthew Chan, Tucker Carrington and Sergei Manzhos
DOI: 10.1039/C3CP00065F

This article will be included in our upcoming themed issue on spectroscopy and dynamics of medium-sized molecules and clusters: theory, experiment and applications.

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2013 PCCP – Chemical Society of Japan Prizes

A prize ceremony was held at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Chemical Society of Japan for the winners of the 2013 PCCP Prizes for Outstanding Achievement of Young Scientists in Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics. The winners each received a commemorative book, a PCCP Prize certificate and a financial award.

PCCP-CSJ prize award ceremony 2013

Top left to top right: Prof. Eiichi Nakamura, Mr Nobuyuki Kawashima (CSJ Secretary General). Bottom left to bottom right: Dr Robert Parker (RSC Chief Executive), Dr Yasuhide Inokuma (Prizewinner), Dr Yusuke Yamauchi (Prizewinner), Dr Yasutomo Segawa (Prizewinner), Prof. Kohei Tamao (CSJ President).

The prizewinners:

  • Dr Yusuke Yamauchi (National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)) for his work on “Nano-to-Microgram Scale X-ray Crystallography of Non-crystalline Compounds Using Crystalline Sponges”
  • Dr Yasutomo Segawa (Nagoya University) for his research on “Size-selective Synthesis and Optical Properties of Carbon Nanorings”
  • Dr Yasuhide Inokuma (The University of Tokyo) for his work on “Rational Synthesis of Nanoporous Platinum Particles with Multiple Architectures toward Highly Active Electrocatalysts”
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    Halogen bonding and other σ-hole interactions

    Peter Politzer, Jane Murray and Timothy Clark review sigma-hole bonding in their recent PCCP Perspective and its contribution to the understanding of the halogen bond and other non-covalent interactions. They detail the historic background of the concept of sigma-hole bonding from both experimental and theoretical perspectives, and present the most recent theoretical findings on the fascinating  character of this class of molecular interactions.

    Read this Perspective today:

    Halogen bonding and other σ-hole interactions: a perspective
    Peter Politzer, Jane S. Murray and Timothy Clark
    DOI: 10.1039/C3CP00054K

    Halogen bonding and other σ-hole interactions

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    NMR crystallography used to determine structures of powdered pharmaceutical compounds

    Powder crystallography of pharmaceutical materials by combined crystal structure prediction and solid-state 1H NMR spectroscopyStructural characterisation of powdered solids remains a significant challenge in modern chemistry. Graeme Day, Lyndon Emsley and co-workers have used a combination of computational and solid state NMR approaches to determine the structures of powdered samples of small organic compounds.

    The group show that their ab initio approach can successfully be used to identify the structures of cocaine, flutamide and flufenamic acid in their recent PCCP paper.

    Read this HOT article today:

    Powder crystallography of pharmaceutical materials by combined crystal structure prediction and solid-state 1H NMR spectroscopy
    Maria Baias, Cory M. Widdifield, Jean-Nicolas Dumez, Hugh P. G. Thompson, Timothy G. Cooper, Elodie Salager, Sirena Bassil, Robin S. Stein, Anne Lesage, Graeme M. Day and Lyndon Emsley
    DOI: 10.1039/C3CP41095A

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