Archive for December, 2014

Catching water with imitation beetle bumps

Inspired by both desert beetles and marine mussels, scientists in Saudi Arabia have devised a new method for creating micropatterned superhydrophobic surfaces that efficiently harvest fog.

The Namib Desert beetle survives by collecting moisture from the air

The Namib Desert beetle survives by collecting moisture from the air

In semi-arid, desert regions, particularly in coastal areas where morning fog is abundant and rainfall is scarce, fog harvesting can be a crucial source of water. Indeed, the Namib Desert beetle is known to survive by collecting water from fog thanks to its unique back structure. An array of hydrophilic bumps across a waxy superhydrophobic surface collect then route droplets into the beetle’s mouth.

Interested? The full story can be read at Chemistry World.

The original article can be read below:

Inkjet printing for direct micropatterning of a superhydrophobic surface: toward biomimetic fog harvesting surfaces
Lianbin Zhang, Jinbo Wu, Mohamed Nejib Hedhili, Xiulin Yang and Peng Wan
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4TA05862C

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12th International Symposium on Functional π-Electron Systems

The 12th International Symposium on Functional pi-Electron Systems (Fpi-12) will be held in Seattle, Washington, USA on July 19 – 24th 2015.

These conferences have become one of the major conferences in the area of organic electronics, and we hope that Fpi-12 will follow the success of previous Fpi conferences organized in Japan (Osaka in 1989, 1999, and 2006 and Kobe in 1992), USA (Santa Cruz in 1995, Ithaca in 2004, Atlanta in 2009), Europe (Ulm, Germany, in 2002, Graz, Austria, in 2008 and Arcachon, France in 2013), and China (Beijing, in 2011).

Fpi-12 is expected to attract 400-500 participants from all over the world to discuss their new achievements in research fields including:

  • design and synthesis of new π-conjugated molecules and polymers
  • organic and polymeric semiconducting materials for thin film transistors
  • organic and polymeric photovoltaic and photo-detective materials and devices
  • organic light-emitting materials for display and lighting application
  • hybrid/perovskite materials and devices
  • conjugated polymers and oligomers in chemo/bio-sensors
  • bioelectronics

Abstract submission is open till January 31st 2015.

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Web collection on molecular materials with the 5th Molecular Materials Meeting @ Singapore 2015

We are delighted to announce a cross journal web collection on molecular materials in conjunction with the 5th Molecular Materials Meeting @ Singapore 2015 conference, which will cover the latest developments in molecular materials.

Ten Royal Society of Chemistry journals are encouraging submissions for the collection:

Biomaterials Science
An international, high impact journal bringing together the molecular and mesoscopic interactions of biomaterials and their potential applications
Chemical Communications
Urgent high quality communications from across the chemical sciences.
Green Chemistry
The home of cutting-edge research on the development of alternative sustainable technologies
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
High impact applications, properties and synthesis of exciting new materials for energy and sustainability
Journal of Materials Chemistry B
High impact applications, properties and synthesis of exciting new materials for biology and medicine
Journal of Materials Chemistry C
High impact applications, properties and synthesis of exciting new materials for optical, magnetic and electronic devices
Nanoscale
A high impact peer reviewed journal publishing experimental and theoretical work across the breadth of nanoscience and nanotechnology
Polymer Chemistry
Encompassing all aspects of synthetic and biological macromolecules, and related emerging areas
RSC Advances
An international journal to further the chemical sciences
Soft Matter
Where physics meets chemistry meets biology for fundamental soft matter research.

The overall theme of the conference is “The Next 50 Years in Materials Research”, and this conference will focus on the latest developments and discuss the future of the most promising areas in molecular materials. It will cover a wide range of topics:

  • Metamaterials and Plasmonics
  • Hybrid Materials and Nanocomposites
  • 2D Materials and Devices
  • Biomimetic, Biosynthetic, and Bioinspired Materials
  • Materials for Sustainability
  • Materials for Bioapplications and Sensing
  • Materials for Consumer Care and Healthcare
  • Materials for Food Nanotechnology

Submissions are welcome to the relevant journal across the themes of the conference.

Articles can be submitted from now until the 1st of May 2015 and the collection will receive promotion at the conference in August. Please indicate in your submission that your manuscript is for consideration for the cross-journal MMM3 2015 web collection. Please note all submissions will be handled following each specific journal’s standard procedures and in that respect articles submitted for the web collection will be treated as regular submissions.

If you have any queries or for more information, please contact the relevant journal Editorial Office: biomaterialsscience-rsc@rsc.org, chemcomm-rsc@rsc.org, green-rsc@rsc.org, materialsa-rsc@rsc.org, materialsb-rsc@rsc.org, materialsc-rsc@rsc.org, nanoscale-rsc@rsc.org, polymers-rsc@rsc.org, advances-rsc@rsc.org or softmatter-rsc@rsc.org.

For your information, Conference abstract submission templates can be found here and you may submit the abstract here: http://bit.ly/1AuY7wU.

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Plastic bottles recycled into cigarette filters

A method to recycle the common plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from fizzy drinks bottles into membranes for filtration, including cigarette filter tips, has been developed by scientists in Sweden and the US. The process involves dissolving PET in a solvent mixture of trifluoroacetic acid and dichloromethane, which is then electrospun to produce fibre mats to be used as filters.

PET is widely recycled into engineered plastics, automobiles, fleece fabric, containers and films, however some applications such as protective clothing and membrane separation and filtration still use the more expensive virgin PET. This work, which stemmed from a collaboration between researchers at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and the University of Illinois, provides a proof-of-concept for synthesising filters from recycled PET to give cigarette filters which absorb up to 20 times more cigarette smoke than classic filter tips.

Interested? The full article can be read at Chemistry World.

The original article can be read below:

Electrospinning of recycled PET to generate tough mesomorphic fibre membranes for smoke filtration
I. N. Strain, Q. Wu, A. M. Pourrahimi, M. S. Hedenqvist, R. T. Olsson and R. L. Andersson
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4TA06191H

The filtration capacities of the fibre mats were tested using a cigarette as the smoke source

The filtration capacities of the fibre mats were tested using a cigarette as the smoke source

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