Natalie Cotterell, Development Editor – Page 4 – Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

Author Archive

Call for papers: Injectable Hydrogels

20 Apr 2023

Call for papers: Injectable Hydrogels

Guest Edited by Dr Khoon Lim and Dr Julieta Paez

We are delighted to announce a special themed collection on Injectable Hydrogels to be published across Biomaterials Science and Journal of Materials Chemistry B. This collection is Guest Edited by:

Dr Khoon Lim (University of Sydney, Australia)

Dr Julieta I Paez (University of Twente, The Netherlands)

Injectable hydrogels have emerged as intelligent and versatile materials that have been proven to possess huge potential for many biomedical applications including drug delivery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. Hydrogels are a class of polymers with highly hydrated 3D networks that have microenvironmental properties such as oxygen/nutrient permeability that are similar to the native extracellular matrix. In addition to possessing the typical advantages of conventional hydrogels, injectable hydrogels offer an extra unique feature, which enables minimally invasive injectability and durability for irregularly shaped sites. As such, there has been a growing interest of using injectable hydrogels as scaffolds/carriers for therapeutic agents, including but not limited to drugs, cells, proteins, and bioactive molecules, targeted to treat chronic diseases including cancer, but also to facilitate the repair and regeneration of damaged organs/tissues.

In this context, it is pertinent to compile this themed collection focusing on recent rapid development in the field of injectable hydrogels. To this end, this themed collection in Journal of Materials Chemistry B and Biomaterials Science aims at providing a platform for recent developments in this rapidly evolving field of injectable hydrogels including, but not limited to:

Emerging chemistries
Synthesis pathways
Fabrication methods
Cell-material interactions
In vitro and in vivo performances
Targeted applications (drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine)

Submissions to the journal should fit within the scope of Journal of Materials Chemistry B or Biomaterials Science – Please see the journal’s website for more information on the journal’s scope, standards, article types and author guidelines. We encourage you to submit your work to the journal you feel is most appropriate.

For this collection, we strongly encourage full primary research in the way of Full Papers or Communications.

Submission Deadline: 10 September 2023

If you would like to contribute to this themed collection, please submit your article directly through the Biomaterials Science submission service or the Journal of Materials Chemistry B submission service. Please mention that your submission is a contribution to the Injectable Hydrogels 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 as such inclusion of accepted articles in the final themed collection is not guaranteed. All submissions will be subject to initial assessment and sent for peer review, if appropriate. We cannot guarantee peer review or acceptance of your submission in the journal.

If you have any questions about the collection or the submissions process, please do contact the Editorial Office at materialsb-rsc@rsc.org and they will be able to assist.

We look forward to receiving your latest work and considering it for this collection!

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C 10th Anniversary Community Spotlight: Advisory board

17 Apr 2023

This year we are pleased to celebrate 10 years since Journal of Materials Chemistry was split into three respective journals: Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C, each focusing on a different aspect of materials chemistry. We are grateful to our fantastic community of authors, reviewers, Board members and readers and wanted to showcase just some of them in a series of ‘Community Spotlight’ blog articles.

In the second of our ‘Community Spotlight’ series, we feature some more of the Advisory Board members who have supported Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B or C over the years and have asked them what they like most about being on the journal’s Advisory Boards and about their recent Journal of Materials Chemistry publications. Check out their interview responses below.

Prof. Magda Titirici

Prof. Magda Titirici is a Chair of Sustainable Energy Materials in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. Her research interests are related to the development of sustainable materials for energy storage and conversion in particular batteries beyond Li ion as well as sustainable electrocatalytic processes for oxygen reduction free of critical metal or biomass oxidation with H₂ production. She has served as an Associate Editor for Journal of Materials Chemistry A between 2013-2022. She has published over 300 papers in this area among which > 15 are in J Mater Chem A. She remains currently in the J Mater Chem A advisory board and continues to engage with the materials chemistry community in her role of the President of the RSC Materials Chemistry Community.

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Journal of Materials Chemistry A?

I like being at the forefront of materials chemistry research by being involved in reviewing topical papers, setting new strategies for the journal, suggesting special issues, and indirectly interacting with different scientific topics, especially following on from my previous role as an Associate Editor for J Mater Chem A. I believe that the J Mater Chem family works with the materials chemistry community for the materials chemistry community, and you always feel included as scientist no matter where you work in the world.

What do you think of Journal of Materials Chemistry A as a place to publish impactful materials chemistry research?

J Mater Chem A is indeed the ideal place to publish research in materials chemistry related to green materials, energy and other environmental applications in order to maximise impact and visibility of research. This is due to the journal’s great scientific reputation and the professionalism of to its editorial team. J Mater Chem was one of the first journal I have published in at the very start of my academic career. It has been instrumental for my academic career especially during my early days.

Where do you see the materials chemistry field in the next 10 years?

I believe that theory driven materials discovery using high throughput automatic robots optimised by AI to balance cost performance and sustainability will increase significantly. This is where I see the future of materials chemistry.

Prof. Markus Niederberger

Markus Niederberger is an Advisory Board member for Journal of Materials Chemistry A. He is a Professor of Multifunctional Materials in the Department of Materials at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. He received his diploma in Chemistry and his doctoral degree from ETH Zurich. After a postdoctoral stay at the University of California Santa Barbara he was a group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces. His group is active in diverse research areas ranging from nanoparticle synthesis to aerogels for gas-phase photocatalysis, flexible, transparent and degradable batteries, polymers for corrosion protection and luminescent materials.

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Journal of Materials Chemistry A?
As an Advisory Board member I often act as adjudicative referee for manuscripts with conflicting reports. I like doing this because it is very instructive for me. I learn about the different views and opinions of experts on certain topics and I have to weigh them carefully so that I can make a sound and fair recommendation.

Where do you see the materials chemistry field in the next 10 years?
It is clear that sustainability will become a focus. However, I also believe that the aspect of rapid implementation of research results in industry and technology will continue to gain in importance, which will strongly influence research and publication activities.

Prof. Ross Forgan

Prof Ross Forgan is an Advisory Board member for Journal of Materials Chemistry B and is a Professor of Supramolecular and Materials Chemistry at the University of Glasgow. His research into the application of metal-organic frameworks in biomimetic catalysis and nanoscale drug delivery is underpinned by fundamental studies into molecular recognition and self-assembly processes inside nanoporous materials. He graduated with a PhD in supramolecular inorganic chemistry, under the supervision of Prof Peter Tasker, from the University of Edinburgh in 2008. A three year postdoctoral position (2008-2011) with Nobel Laureate Prof Sir J Fraser Stoddart at Northwestern University, USA, saw him research organic interlocked molecules, chemical topology and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). He returned to Scotland in 2011 as a senior research fellow in Prof Lee Cronin’s group at the University of Glasgow, investigating hybrid materials and applications of 3D-printing. After 11 months, he was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (2012-2021) to begin his independent academic career, with subsequent promotions to Reader in 2016 and Professor in 2019.

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Journal of Materials Chemistry B?

Having an overview of the wide range of exciting materials research that is being published, building links with others in the field through things like special issues (I am co-editing a special issue for JMC B in 2023), and supporting the younger members of the community through initiatives such as the JMC lectureship.

Could you provide a brief summary of your most recent Journal of Materials Chemistry B publication?

Our most recent publication was a review article on the application of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as nanoscale imaging agents led by Dr Fatma Demir Duman. The review covers a wide range of potential imaging applications to which MOFs can be applied, focussing on structure-activity relationships and highlighted the great potential for MOFs to act as multifunctional vectors in nanomedicine.

Prof. Marta Mas-Torrent

Prof. Marta Mas-Torrent is an Advisory Board member for Journal of Materials Chemistry C. She received her PhD in 2002 working at the Institut de Ciència de Materials (ICMAB-CSIC) in Barcelona (Spain) and at The Royal Institution of Great Britain in London (UK). Afterwards, she carried out postdoctoral research at Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft (The Netherlands). Since June 2007 she obtained a research position at ICMAB-CSIC. In 2012 she was awarded with an ERC Starting Grant project and one year later an ERC-PoC project. She has also participated in many other European and national projects as well as in two industrial related projects. She is co-author of around 190 publications and co-inventor of 7 patents. Prof. Mas-Torrent received the 2013 Oliver Kahn International Award for her contributions in the field of materials science and the Prize of Young Researcher 2006 of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ). Currently she is leading an interdisciplinary research group focused on the design and preparation of new functional molecular materials for their application in organic electronic devices.

Her interests range from fundamental studies in order to better understand materials properties to a more applied perspective aiming at developing proof-of-principle devices. Particularly, she is interested in structure-property correlation studies, surface self-assembly, processing of organic semiconductors, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), electrolyte-gated organic field effect transistors (EGOFETs), charge transport and sensors.

What do you think of Journal of Materials Chemistry C as a place to publish impactful materials chemistry research?

The J. Mater. Chem. C is a widely read journal among the materials science community and holds a strong and long history. The journal is suitable to publish novel materials, fundamental studies of appealing materials as well as advanced applications. In particular, related to my research field of molecular electronics, I always found here very inspiring works.

Could you provide a brief summary of your most recent Journal of Materials Chemistry C publication?

In my last publication, we report the fabrication of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) that respond to UV radiation. The OFETs have been prepared using as active layer a blend of an organic semiconductor with different insulating polymers. We show that the nature of the binding polymer has a significant impact on the device performance and photoresponse due to the tuning of the charge traps. Therefore, this work demonstrates that the use of a binding polymer is a useful tool to optimise the OFET electrical characteristics as well as its photoresponsivity.

Prof. Yanlin Song

Yanlin Song is on the Advisory Board for Journal of Materials Chemistry C and is a professor and director of Key Laboratory of Green Pringting at Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS). He received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Chemistry at Peking University in 1996. Then he conducted research as a postdoctoral follow at Tsinghua University from 1996 to 1998. He has been working at ICCAS since 1998. His research interests include nano-materials and green-printing technology, printed electrics and photonics, fabrication and applications of nanostructured devices. He has published more than 400 papers and 15 books and chapters, with a H-index of 95, and has been granted more than 130 patents from China, USA, European Union , Japan and Korea, etc.

Where do you see the materials chemistry field in the next 10 years?

In the next 10 years, the design and preparation of new molecules and materials will be influenced greatly by Artificial Intelligence, such as DNA Synthesis and Materials Genome, and the disciplinary crossing and integration of Chemistry, Materials and Bioscience will be more and more important and popular.

Could you provide a brief summary of your most recent Journal of Materials Chemistry C publication?

Recently, we have published a review article with the title “Interface engineering of perovskite nanocrystals: challenges and opportunities for biological imaging and detection”. Perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) have attracted much attention due to their unique optical properties, including high photoluminescence quantum yield, narrow emission and tunable wavelength. This perspective focuses on the recent progress of these promising materials as fluorescent probes for biological diagnosis. Efforts on the interface engineering are presented on how to construct water-resistant and biocompatible PNC probes. Their applications in biological diagnosis are discussed with a focus on cell and tumor imaging, biomolecular detection, and fluorescence immunoassay. With the high tolerance of defect, precisely tunable emission, and strong light absorption coefficient, the physical and optical properties of PNCs are superior to traditional fluorescent dyes. Finally, this perspective discusses the challenges and opportunities for the application of PNCs as fluorescent labeling probes in biological fields.

We hope you enjoyed finding out more about some more of our Advisory Board members. Keep an eye out for our next ‘Community Spotlight’!

If you missed the first of our ‘Community Spotlight’ blog posts, check it out here.

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C 10th Anniversary Community Spotlight: Advisory Board

15 Mar 2023

In this blog post, we feature some of the Advisory Board members who have supported Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B or C over the years and have asked them what they like most about being on the journal’s Advisory Boards. Check out their interview responses below.

Prof. Hiroshi Imahori

Hiroshi Imahori is an Advisory Board member for Journal of Materials Chemistry A. He received his Doctor of Science from Kyoto University in 1990. After post-doctoral training at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, he was Assistant and Associate Professors at Osaka University. Since 2002, he has been a Professor at Kyoto University. His current interests involve solar energy conversion and organic functional materials. For his work, he has been awarded the Japanese Photochemistry Association Prize (2004), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Prize (2006), the Chemical Society of Japan Award for Creative Work (2006), the Osaka Science Prize (2007), Fellow of the Electrochemical Society (2016), and the Chemical Society of Japan Award (2022).

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Journal of Materials Chemistry A?

I have the privilege to access the academic network of JMCA and enjoy working together with people involved closely in JMCA.

What do you think of Journal of Materials Chemistry A as a place to publish impactful materials chemistry research?

I believe JMCA is one of the prestigious platforms for promoting recent results in energy-related science and technology.

Prof. Sahika Inal

Sahika Inal is an Advisory Board member for Journal of Materials Chemistry B and is the recipient of the 2022 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship. She is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering with co-affiliations in Electrical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering programs at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Her expertise is in polymer science and bioelectronic devices, particularly in the photophysics of conjugated polymers, characterization of polymer films, and the design of biosensors and actuators. Since 2016, the Inal lab at KAUST exploits the functionalities of organic electronic materials, investigates ionic/electronic charge transport, and designs electronic devices that record/stimulate biological signals.

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Journal of Materials Chemistry B?

RSC, in general, is a publisher that works for and alongside scientists. JMC B editorial team has been very open to the advisory board’s suggestions, and they want the journal to be a home for good science and a community with members that support each other. So, I feel that my voice is valued and all decisions taken are for the good of the community.

What do you think of Journal of Materials Chemistry B as a place to publish impactful materials chemistry research?

I have been reading papers in JMC B since I was in graduate school and some have affected the direction of research we took in my group. I have been writing and reviewing for JMC B and I can certainly say that the peer review process is thoughtful and done in a way to make the science in that paper more complete. The editors in JMC B work to help authors make their work better. Even when I got a paper rejected, the reviewer’s comments were helpful in resubmitting it.

Could you provide a brief summary of your most recent Journal of Materials Chemistry B publication?

I wrote an editorial piece on the recent work about conducting gels developed for wearable electronics. Mechanically compliant and electronic materials are at the core of devices that can electronically interface soft biological tissues. I summarized some of the work that was published in this area in the past year in JMC B and aimed to highlight the novelties and opportunities presented by each research idea. It is very interesting to read all these papers, see a common thread, and witness how each, even maybe small, development shown in each paper is now contributing to our common knowledge about this special class of materials. In a decade from now on, this collective knowledge in this class of materials will either generate a new materials type or will directly form the basis of wearable sensors, sensor-integrated prosthetics, and robotics technologies.

Prof. Christian Müller

Christian Müller is an Advisory Board member for Journal of Materials Chemistry C and is a professor in Polymer Science at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. He is a Wallenberg Scholar and received an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2022. Prior to Chalmers he completed postdoctoral stays at ICMAB-CSIC in Barcelona and Linköping University. He holds a Dr.Sc. in Materials Science from ETH Zürich (2008) and a M.Sci. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University (2004). His research interests include the use of organic semiconductors and polymer blends in the fields of wearable electronics and energy technology.

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Journal of Materials Chemistry C?

I have the opportunity to aid the community work of the RSC, especially the support of young faculty.

Where do you see the materials chemistry field in the next 10 years?

I anticipate that sustainability will be the central theme.

In your opinion, how could members of the community be more involved with the journal?

Involvement could be through the proposal of focus issues and perspective style manuscripts that highlight important trends in materials chemistry.

Dr Jun Fu

Dr. Jun Fu received his B.Sc. at Wuhan University and Ph.D. at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science (CAS). After working in Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Jun took a full professor position in Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS. In 2019, he moved to Sun Yat-sen University in 2019. His research focuses on the synthesis and engineering of biomimetic and bio-functional polymers for applications as medical implants, wearable flexible electronics, and soft actuators. Jun joined the Advisory Board of Journal of Materials Chemistry B since 2017.

What do you like most about being on the Advisory Board for Journal of Materials Chemistry B?

It has been an amazing experience. I am excited to discuss with peer Board Members on the development of this esteemed journal. I have learned a lot from my peers and the Editors. I also enjoy recommending young scientists to this journal for its awards and special issue collections. It greatly helps promote the young scientists and spread the outreach of this journal.

Where do you see the materials chemistry field in the next 10 years?

Materials chemistry provides very powerful toolkits to confront these challenges in the fields of healthcare, resources, energy, environment, and sustainability, among others. People are endowing great efforts in the development of smart biomedical devices, flexible electronics, soft robotics, tissue engineering scaffolds, and 3D/4D bioprinting, for example, to promote breakthrough and practical applications in the next 10 years. I believe innovations in these fields will highly benefit our welfare.

Could you provide a brief summary of your most recent Journal of Materials Chemistry B publication?

Journal of Materials Chemistry B is always one of our first choices to publish our articles. To date, I have published 20 papers in Journal of Materials Chemistry B. In 2021, we published a review article “Tissue adhesive hydrogel bioelectronics” in Journal of Materials Chemistry B. In this publication, we reviewed recent progress on strategies to prepare tissue adhesive hydrogels and representative adhesion mechanisms for conductive hydrogels to adhere on biotissues. We are delighted that this review article is well recognized by readers and receives good citations.

We hope you enjoyed finding out more about some of our Advisory Board members. Keep an eye out for our next Community Spotlight blog post!

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Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C

13 Mar 2023

This year we are proud to celebrate 10 years since the launch of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C as three separate titles.

The vision of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C was to provide venues for highly topical research in a broad range of materials chemistry across three distinguished journal scopes. Since the pilot issues were published at the beginning of 2013, we have continued to publish a diverse range of impactful research across the global materials chemistry community and covering the full breadth of our discipline.

We are delighted to announce a number of initiatives to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C. You can find out more about our activities below:

10th Anniversary Activities

Editorial

Editors-in-Chief Anders Hagfeldt, Jeroen Cornelissen and Natalie Stingelin introduce the anniversary year with an Editorial: Celebrating ten years of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C.

Read the introductory Editorial

The three Editors-in-Chief have also reflected on all the celebrations and activities that took place during the anniversary year with an Editorial published in issue 1 of 2024.

Read the reflection Editorial

Celebratory Themed Collections

We have published special 10th anniversary themed collections across each of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C featuring work from members of the community who have supported the journals over the last 10 years. We would like to thank and celebrate our community for their ongoing support and for sharing their latest discoveries with us. Articles included in the anniversary issues feature ’10th Anniversary Statements’ to highlight the author’s relationship to the journal and to hear from our community what they value about the long history of the JMCs!


Journal of Materials Chemistry A anniversary issue	Journal of Materials Chemistry B anniversary issue	Journal of Materials Chemistry C anniversary issue

To introduce the anniversary collections, we also heard from past and present Editors-in-Chief and Editorial Board Chairs from throughout the long history of Journal of Materials Chemistry.

” Looking ahead to the future of the journals, we hope that this community continues to grow and develop. The past ten years and beyond have seen major shifts in the research community for the better, with more international collaboration and more interaction between experimentalists and theoreticians, fundamental and applied researchers, along with researchers working together from across different disciplines to advance understanding and solve problems. The journals have also been actively engaged in equality, diversity and inclusion and we are proud to have been involved in addressing balances and valuing input from all members of our community at all stages of their careers.”

Check out the Editorial introducing the anniversary issues here.

Post-publication collections

10th Anniversary: Most popular articles

We wanted to celebrate some of the most exceptional research that our authors have published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry family of journals over the last 10 years. The collections feature some of our most popular articles and reviews since the launch of the journals in 2013. The featured articles have been hand picked from a decade of exceptional work, including some of the most highly cited and downloaded content that has been published in the journals.

Read the collections now:

JMCA most popular articles

JMCB most popular articles

JMCC most popular articles

10th anniversary: Dedicated authors

We wanted to celebrate some of our most dedicated authors that have published in the journals over the past 10 years. These online collections feature articles and reviews from some of our most frequent authors since the launch of the journal in 2013. The collections have been curated in honour of those authors who have provided truly impactful, timeless, and high-quality research articles and reviews, time and time again.

Read the collections here:

JMCA dedicated authors

JMCB dedicated authors

JMCC dedicated authors

Anniversary Perspectives

We asked key figures in our community to look forward to the next 10 years of developments in their respective fields by contributing a forward looking Perspective article on hot topics across materials chemistry.

From molecular engineering in organic semiconductors, to DNA-based biosensors to the safety issues of lithium battery materials, these Perspectives offer a glimpse into the key challenges facing materials chemists as we move forward into the next decade of research. We hope that many solutions to these problems will feature in the exciting work we publish every week in the journal family.

Check out our Anniversary Perspectives collection

Community Spotlight

We have published a series of 10 blogs featuring interviews with various members of our communities who have supported the journals over recent years.

Check out our Community Spotlight Series here.

10^th Anniversary Covers

Since the start of 2023, we have encouraged authors to include a 10 in their cover designs to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the journals. These covers have been promoted on Twitter using the hashtag #JMCs10Years. A selection of these 10^th anniversary covers are included below and you can find monthly round-ups on our blog.

Check them out!

#MyFirstJMC

We have showcased some of the authors who have published for the first time in Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B or C in 2023. Authors can opt-in to be included if it is their first time publishing with the journal as a corresponding author. Check out the ongoing collections below to meet the next generation of our community and keep an eye on our socials for #MyFirstJMC promotion. We thank these authors for choosing to publish their work with us! Read the collections here:

#MyFirstJMCA

#MyFirstJMCB

#MyFirstJMCC

Journal of Materials Chemistry 10 Year Anniversary Survey

To celebrate 10 years of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C we asked you to contribute your thoughts and perspectives about the development of materials chemistry and the future of the field!

Check out the results on this blog post!

Follow us on Twitter (@JMaterChem), LinkedIn (#RSCMat),WeChat and sign up to our mailings to keep up to date with our latest anniversary activities.

We are excited to celebrate our anniversary year and we are grateful to our community for all their support!

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Open call for a themed collection on Nanozymes: Meet the Guest Editors

01 Feb 2023

Journal of Materials Chemistry B and companion journal Nanoscale have recently announced an open call to submit to a cross-journal themed collection on ‘Nanozymes’

This cross-journal themed collection aims to highlight recent progress in the field of nanozymes research with applications ranging from biosensing and therapeutics to environmental protection and national security and beyond. This collection will serve as a platform to not only accelerate the development of the nanozyme field but also attract more researchers to explore the hidden characteristics of nanomaterials for broad applications.

The Guest Editors for this themed collection are Prof. Shaoqin Liu (Harbin Institute of Technology, China), Prof. Vincent Rotello (University of Massachusetts, USA), Prof. Asier Unciti-Broceta (University of Edinburgh, UK) and Prof. Hui Wei (Nanjing University, China)

Find out more about our Guest Editors below:

Prof. Shaoqin Liu

Harbin Institute of Technology, China

Professor Shaoqin Liu is an Associate Editor for Journal of Materials Chemistry B. She received her Bachelor degree and Ph. D degree from Wuhan University of Hydraulic and Electric Engineering in 1994 and from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (Chinese Academy of Science) in 1999, respectively. She started her chemistry research career under Professor Shaojun Dong group at Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry to develop polyoxometalates-based thin film. After her Ph. D degree, she moved to Max-Planck-Institute of Colloids and Interface as Humboldt Fellow. She developed polyoxometalates-based functional materials. In 2004, she joined National Research Council of Canada as NESRC fellow to study direct methanol fuel cells. In 2007, she started her academic career as a Full Professor in Harbin Institute of Technology. Her current research interests include preparation of nanostructured materials and their applications in energy, biosensing and cancer therapy.

Prof. Vincent M. Rotello | Rotello Research Group

Prof. Vincent Rotello

University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA

‘Bioorthogonal nanozymes use the versatility and unique properties of nanomaterials to provide in situ drug factories for treating diseases at their source’

Vincent Rotello is the Charles A. Goessmann Professor of Chemistry and a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He received his B.S. in Chemistry in 1985 from Illinois Institute of Technology, and his Ph. D. in 1990 in Chemistry from Yale University. He was an NSF postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1990-1993, and joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts in 1993. He has been the recipient of the NSF CAREER and Cottrell Scholar awards, as well as the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, the Sloan Fellowships. He has received the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2023), the Transformational Research and Excellence in Education Award presented by Research Corporation, the Bioorganic Lectureship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), the Australian Nanotechnology Network Traveling Fellowship, the Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship for Distinguished Researchers. (2016) and the Langmuir Lectureship (2010), and He is a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and of the Royal Society of Chemistry (U.K.). He is also recognized in 2014, 2015, 2018-2022 by Thomson Reuters/Clarivate as “Highly Cited Researcher” His research program focuses on using synthetic organic chemistry to engineer the interface between the synthetic and biological worlds, and spans the areas of devices, polymers, and nanotechnology/bionanotechnology, with over 625 peer-reviewed papers published to date. He is actively involved in the area of bionanotechnology, and his research includes programs in delivery, imaging, diagnostics and nanotoxicology.

Prof. Asier Unciti-Broceta

University of Edinburgh, UK

‘The synergistic combination of nanotechnology, metal catalysis and medicinal chemistry has opened new avenues to mediate controlled pharmacological activity in living environments. This distinctive field of the bioorthogonal realm is driven by therapeutic aspirations that are yet to achieve their full potential. I am interested in facing these challenges with novel technologies such as bioorthogonal nanozymes that can deliver new-to-life functions to treat disease where and when needed.’

Asier Unciti-Broceta is Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He received his PhD from the Universidad of Granada, Spain, in 2004. After postdoctoral training in the fields of cell delivery and chemical biology at the School of Chemistry of the University of Edinburgh, he took a group leader position in 2010 at the Institute of Genetics and Cancer to create the first chemistry lab of the Institute. He was promoted to Reader in 2015 and to Full Professor in 2018. His lab is interested in the exploration of novel chemical strategies to improve the efficacy and safety of cancer treatments, including the development of catalytic nano- and microdevices for the controlled activation of anticancer drug precursors.

Prof. Hui Wei

Nanjing University, China

‘Nanozymes are emerging enzyme mimics. They are functional nanomaterials with enzyme-like activities, and advantageous over conventional enzyme mimics. Recently, nanozyme is selected as one of the 2022 Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry. I am interested in rational design of nanozymes and exploring their killer applications, and look forward to the contributions in these areas.’

Hui Wei is a Professor at Nanjing University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He received his B.S. degree from Nanjing University (advisor: Professor Xinghua Xia) and Ph.D. degree from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (advisor: Professor Erkang Wang). He then joined Professors Yi Lu’s and Shuming Nie’s groups for two Postdoctoral trainings before he started his independent career at Nanjing University. His research interests are focused on the design and synthesis of functional nanomaterials (such as nanozymes) and the development of new methodologies for analytical and biomedical applications.

Submit your work to the collection by 1 May 2023

For more information on how to submit, see our open call blog post

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

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Congratulations to our shortlisted candidates for the 2022 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship

01 Feb 2023

The Journal of Materials Chemistry annual lectureship, established in 2010, honours early-career scientists who have made a significant contribution to the field of materials chemistry. This year we were delighted to have awarded Prof. Sahika Inal (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia) the 2022 Lectureship.

We received numerous excellent nominations and wanted to recognise our shortlisted candidates for their contributions to materials chemistry. We have listed the names of the shortlisted candidates below and have put together a collection featuring some of their recent work published in Journal of Materials Chemistry journals.

Please note that we have only included candidates who have consented to recognition of their name in this way.

Runners-Up

Prof. Luisa Whittaker-Brooks (University of Utah, USA)

Dr Jessica Wade (Imperial College London, UK)

Shortlisted candidates

Prof. Chibueze Amanchukwu (University of Chicago, USA)

Prof. Federico Bella (Politecnico di Torino, Italy)

Prof. Laure Biniek (Institut Charles Sadron – Strasbourg, France)

Prof. Jakoah Brgoch (University of Houston, USA)

Prof. Federico Calle-Vallejo (Basque Foundation for Science (Ikerbasque) and University of the Basque Country, Spain)

Prof. Maytal Caspary Toroker (Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel)

Prof. Tan Chaoliang (City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

Prof. Raphaële Clément (UC Santa Barbara, USA)

Prof. Cole DeForest (University of Washington, USA)

Prof. Xu Deng (University of Electronic Science and Technology, China)

Dr Ramendra Sundar Dey (Institute of Nano Science and Technology, India)

Dr Emily Draper (University of Glasgow, UK)

Prof. Ludovic Favereau (Institute of Chemical Sciences of Rennes, France)

Prof. Wei Gao (California Institute of Technology, USA)

Prof. Xu Hou (Xiamen University, China)

Prof. Jingwei Hou (School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia)

Prof. Ashlee Howarth (Concordia University, Canada)

Prof. Shu Hu (Yale University, USA)

Dr Kirsten Marie Jensen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

Prof. Thomas Kempa (John Hopkins University, USA)

Prof. Matt Pharr (Texas A&M University, USA)

Dr Loredana Protesescu (University of Groningen, The Netherlands)

Prof. Nuria Tapia Ruiz (University of Lancaster, UK)

Prof. Gyorgy Szekely (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia)

Prof. Robert Weatherup (University of Oxford, UK)

Prof. Zhijie Yang (Shandong University, China)

Prof. Bin-Wei Zhang (Chongqing University, China)

Prof. Shrike Zhang (Harvard Medical School, USA)

Read the collection featuring some of the recent work from some of our shortlisted candidates published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C

Congratulations to all our shortlisted candidates!

Know anyone deserving of the 2023 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship? Nominations will be open around mid-April so keep an eye out for updates on our Twitter and by signing up to our e-alerts.

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Open call for papers: Themed collection on Nanozymes

11 Jan 2023

Journal of Materials Chemistry B and companion journal Nanoscale are delighted to announce an open call for submissions to a themed collection on ‘Nanozymes’ to be published in Summer 2023.

Guest Edited by:

Professor Shaoqin Liu (Harbin Institute of Technology, China), Professor Vincent Rotello (University of Massachusetts, USA), Professor Asier Unciti-Broceta (University of Edinburgh, UK) and Professor Hui Wei (Nanjing University, China)

Deadline to submit: 1 May 2023

Nanozymes are nanomaterials with enzyme-like characteristics. They have been developed to address the limitations of natural enzymes and conventional artificial enzymes. Along with the significant advances in nanotechnology, biotechnology, catalysis science, and computational design, great progress has been achieved in the field of nanozymes since the discovery of peroxidase-like iron oxide nanozyme in 2007. Nanozymes have been explored for a variety of applications, ranging from biosensing and therapeutics to environmental protection and national security. To our knowledge, more than 400 laboratories from 35 countries are working on nanozymes. Notably, both the publications and citations on nanozymes have been growing rapidly, showing the enormous research interest from the field.

To further advance the field of nanozymes and highlight recent progress, we are delighted to invite you to contribute to this themed collection. We believe such a special collection will not only accelerate the development of the nanozyme field, but also attract more researchers to explore the hidden characteristics of nanomaterials for broad applications.

We welcome submissions from now until the deadline, with articles being published in the next available issue on acceptance and collated into an online collection. This allows greater flexibility for you to publish your research when it is ready, while ensuring your article is published quickly. The collection will be promoted in the second half of 2023 and beyond, ensuring maximum visibility of your article within the materials chemistry community.

Submissions to the collection should fit within the scope of Journal of Materials Chemistry B or Nanoscale. Please see the journal websites for more information about the scope, standards, article types and author guidelines. We would suggest that any manuscript focusing on the materials chemistry and bio-application of the nanozyme material would be better suited to Journal of Materials Chemistry B, whereas work more focused on the nanoscience, properties and insights of nanozymes with application in the biosciences, environmental sciences and beyond would be better suited to Nanoscale.

For this collection, we welcome full Papers and Communications. Review article submissions are by invite-only and as such we generally will not consider review proposals as a result of the open call.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and to featuring your latest nanozymes work in the collection.

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Open call for papers: Themed collection on Microneedles

31 Oct 2022

Journal of Materials Chemistry B is delighted to announce an open call for submissions to a cross-journal themed collection on ‘Microneedles’ with companion journal Biomaterials Science.

Guest edited by Dr Ester Caffarel-Salvador (Scientific Consultant, USA) Professor Ryan Donnelly (Queen’s University Belfast, UK), Professor Harvinder Gill (Texas Tech, USA) and Professor Hyungil Jung (Yonsei University, Korea).

Submissions open until 1 March 2023

Microneedles, since their inception as a unique transdermal drug and vaccine delivery system, have become a noteworthy system used in multiple routes, including gastrointestinal, oral (mouth cavity) and ocular, to name a few. The range of illnesses being targeted by microneedles has also increased significantly and includes infectious diseases, pain, diabetes, and allergies for example. Sensing is another upcoming application of microneedles. Innovation in microneedle fabrication continues to not only push the drug-carrying and delivering capacity of microneedles, but also making mass manufacturing feasible and economical. There is also increased activity in the commercial sector with different companies attempting to bring the first microneedle-based medical device to market.

This cross-journal themed collection on ‘Microneedles’ in Journal of Materials Chemistry B and Biomaterials Science aims to bring together recent advancements in the field of microneedles that readers will find informative and useful. The topics could include microneedle fabrication and development approaches, applications of microneedles that add a new dimension to existing core knowledge in the microneedles field, sensing applications and clinical studies that evaluate efficacy or other aspects of microneedle use in humans.

Submissions to the journal should fit within the scope of Journal of Materials Chemistry B or Biomaterials Science – Please see the journal website for more information on the journal’s scope, standards, article types and author guidelines. We encourage you to submit your work to the journal that you feel best reflects the scope of your work.

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

Communications
Full papers
Reviews
Perspectives

If you would like to submit to this themed collection, you can submit your article directly to the online submission platform for Journal of Materials Chemistry B or Biomaterials Science. Please mention that this submission is a contribution to the Microneedles 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 issue is not guaranteed.

Please note that all submissions will be subject to initial assessment by the journal editors and as such we cannot guarantee peer review or final acceptance of your manuscript. If you have any questions about the collection, email us at materialsb-rsc@rsc.org. We look forward to receiving and featuring your submissions in this exciting collection!

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Open call for submissions: Materials, Physical and Biological Chemistry of Protein Cages

10 Oct 2022

Journal of Materials Chemistry B are delighted to announce an open call for submissions to our themed collection on ‘Materials, Physical and Biological Chemistry of Protein Cages’.

Guest Edited by:

Prof. Jeroen Cornelissen (University of Twente, the Netherlands)

Prof. Feng Li (Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)

Dr Frank Sainsbury (Griffith University, Australia)

Protein cages are highly ordered macromolecules that can be genetically encoded and chemically modified. They are characterized by well-defined structures, controllable self-assembly, capacity for cargo loading, and facile chemical or genetic engineering. Protein cages hold great potential as versatile platforms in diverse fields. Applications include biomedicine and drug delivery; enzymology and biocatalysis; bioinspired materials and templates for inorganic chemistry. These applications are underpinned by fundamental science drawing on the fields of biological chemistry, biophysics, physical chemistry, and computational chemistry.

In this context, it is pertinent to compile this themed collection on the materials, physical and biological chemistry of protein cages. To this end, this themed collection of Journal of Materials Chemistry B aims at providing a platform for recent developments in this rapidly evolving field of protein cages including, de novo design, biophysics of self-assembly, permeability, biocatalytic nanoreactors, artificial organelles, delivery of bioactive molecules, bioimaging and biosensing, multifunctional nanodevices and other applications. We hope that readers find this themed collection informative and that it will act as an up-to-date insight into the fascinating potential of protein cages in chemistry.

Submissions to the journal should fit within the scope of Journal of Materials Chemistry B– Please see the journal website for more information on the journal’s scope, standards, article types and author guidelines.

Submission Deadline: 1 February 2023

We strongly encourage you to submit an original research article. If you are interested in submitting a review-type article, please contact the Editorial Office in the first instance with a proposed title and abstract as initial approval is required before submission to limit the number of review-type articles and avoid potential topic overlap.

All submissions will undergo a rigorous initial Editorial assessment as to suitability for the journal before potential peer review. Please note that peer review and acceptance of your submission will not be guaranteed. All accepted articles will be added to the online web collection as soon as they are published and will be featured in the next available issue of Journal of Materials Chemistry B.

Manuscripts can be submitted here https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jmchemb

Please add a “note to the editor” in the submission form when you submit your manuscript to say that this is a submission for the themed collection. The Editorial Office and Guest Editors reserve the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of the collection and inclusion of accepted articles in the collection is not guaranteed.

We look forward to receiving your submissions for this collection!

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Microneedles themed collection: Meet the Guest Editors

15 Sep 2022

Themed Collection: Microneedles

Meet the Guest Editors

Journal of Materials Chemistry B and companion journal Biomaterials Science are pleased to promote their themed collection on ‘Microneedles’.

This cross-journal themed collection on ‘Microneedles’ aims to bring together recent advancements in the field of microneedles that readers will find informative and useful. The collection includes work related to microneedle fabrication and development approaches, applications of microneedles that add a new dimension to existing core knowledge in the microneedles field, sensing applications and clinical studies that evaluate efficacy or other aspects of microneedle use in humans.

Read the collection here

The Guest Editors for this themed collection are: Ester Caffarel-Salvador, Ryan Donnelly, Harvinder Gill and Hyungil Jung

Find out more about the Guest Editors below:

Dr Ester Caffarel-Salvador
Chiesi, USA

‘Microneedles are no longer confined to transdermal drug delivery, they are also being used to deliver drugs to organs such as the eye and the gastrointestinal tract as well as for drug monitoring applications. I am particularly excited to see how microneedles are being employed in novel devices to help overcome the challenges of oral delivery of biologics.’

Dr. Ester Caffarel-Salvador is a multidisciplinary scientist with a background in biotechnology and biochemistry. At MIT, she developed a pill to administer insulin orally, now in clinical trials, which led the MIT Technology Review to recognize her as one of the 35 Innovators Under 35 in 2019.

After taking a mini-MBA at Harvard and working across startups, VCs, consulting, and pharmaceutical companies, Ester is now the Associate Director of Strategic Innovation for Rare Diseases at Chiesi USA. She is also a lecturer at MIT and an advisor to several startups. Ester speaks seven languages and is passionate about advocating on career development for women in science.

Prof. Ryan Donnelly
Queen’s University Belfast, UK

‘Why microneedles? Microneedles are one of the fastest growing areas of innovation in drug and vaccine delivery today. They offer the possibility of needle-free delivery of currently injectable medicines that could help overcome the COVID-induced backlog in healthcare provision globally. In developing countries needle-free vaccine administration would improve access to safe and effective vaccines for millions of people.’

Professor Ryan Donnelly holds the Chair in Pharmaceutical Technology at Queen’s University Belfast and is Director of QUB’s interdisciplinary research programme Materials & Advanced Technologies for Healthcare (MATCH). His personal research is centred on design and physicochemical characterisation of advanced polymeric drug delivery systems for transdermal and intradermal drug delivery, with a strong emphasis on improving patient outcomes. He is currently developing a range of novel microneedle technologies through independent research, but also in collaboration with several major pharma partners. He has obtained substantial UK Research Council, charity and industrial funding and authored over 600 peer-reviewed publications (H-index = 73), including 6 patent applications, 6 textbooks, 23 book chapters and approximately 300 full papers. He has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences. Professor Donnelly is Europe/Africa Editor of Drug Delivery & Translational Research and the Controlled Release Society’s Communications Chair. He has won the Academy of Pharmaceutical Science’s Innovative Science Award (2020), the Controlled Release Society’s Young Investigator Award (2016), BBSRC Innovator of the Year and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Pharmaceutical Research Meritorious Manuscript Award (2013 and 2022), the GSK Emerging Scientist Award (2012) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Science Award (2011).

Prof. Harvinder Gill
Texas Tech University, USA

‘The first microneedle paper was published in 1998. I am thrilled at this opportunity to co-edit a joint themed edition for Journal of Materials Chemistry B and Biomaterials Science to showcase the achievements that have been made in the field over the past nearly 25 years. By pairing these two journals for the themed edition, we have a unique opportunity of highlighting both the materials and manufacturing aspects, and the biological applications aspects of microneedles. I look forward to reading the outstanding work in the field from colleagues around the world.’

Dr. Gill is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA. His research interests are in the fields of immunoengineering and micro-nano medicine. He has expertise in delivery systems such as microneedles, pollen grains, polymeric micro-nano particles, and gold nanoparticles. He has a history of innovativeness, and of providing fresh and unique perspectives to research and medical problems. Dr. Gill is working towards the development of a universal influenza vaccine using nanoparticle systems to enhance vaccine efficacy. He is amongst the pioneers of microneedle technology and has produced seminal work in the field. He was also the first to propose use of pollen grains as “Trojan horses” for oral vaccination and has published original and seminal papers in this field, which has attracted other researchers. He is also the pioneer of the use of microneedles for allergen immunotherapy and his lab is currently developing microneedles for the treatment of airway and peanut allergen immunotherapies. This technology is being commercialized through a startup company called Moonlight Therapeutics, which Dr. Gill has co-founded.

Dr. Gill completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering with honors and a gold medal from Panjab University, India (1994). After graduation, he worked in the petroleum industry for seven years. Subsequently he obtained his doctoral degree in Bioengineering from Georgia Institute of Technology (2007). Dr. Gill received his postdoctoral training in the field of influenza vaccines at Emory University (2009). Dr. Gill has received numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2 award) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award for his pollen research, Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Award, Barney E. Rushing, Jr. Faculty Distinguished Research Award STEM, Ed and Linda Whitaker Faculty Fellow Award, and Whitacre Engineering Research Award. For his accomplishments and contributions to Biomedical Engineering, he was awarded the Whitacre Endowed Professorship in Science and Engineering at Texas Tech.

Prof. Hyungil Jung
Yonsei University, Korea

‘Microneedles are truly an exciting platform for next generation drug delivery’

Hyungil Jung is a Professor in the Department of Biotechnology at Yonsei University, where he is also the Chair of the Bio & Living Engineering Major in Global Leaders College, as well as Director of the Institute of Bio-Medical Health Care Convergence and the Department Head of Integrative Biotechnology & Translational Medicine. He is also the founder and CSO of JUVIC Inc., a company developing microneedle-based products. He received his B.S. and M.S. from Yonsei University in 1993 and 1995, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2002. He worked at Caltech as a Postdoctoral scholar from 2002 through 2004 and then joined Yonsei University at 2004. His main interests lie in commercialization of microneedles and overcoming the pressing challenges in microneedle development for commercialization. During his spare time, his hobby is indulging in board games, his favorite being Baduk, a widely popular traditional board game in Korea.

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Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C

This year we are proud to celebrate 10 years since the launch of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C as three separate titles.

We are delighted to announce a number of initiatives to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C. You can find out more about our activities below:

10th Anniversary Activities

Open call for a themed collection on Nanozymes: Meet the Guest Editors

Congratulations to our shortlisted candidates for the 2022 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship

Open call for papers: Themed collection on Nanozymes

Open call for papers: Themed collection on Microneedles

Open call for submissions: Materials, Physical and Biological Chemistry of Protein Cages

Microneedles themed collection: Meet the Guest Editors

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This year we are proud to celebrate 10 years since the launch of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C as three separate titles.

We are delighted to announce a number of initiatives to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C. You can find out more about our activities below:

10th Anniversary Activities

Meta

We are delighted to announce a number of initiatives to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C. You can find out more about our activities below: