Serin Dabb, Deputy Editor – Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

Author Archive

The Chemistry of Photonic Crystals and Metamaterials: Call for papers!

20 Nov 2012

Journal of Materials Chemistry C is planning to produce a themed issue on ‘The chemistry of photonic crystals and metamaterials’ in 2013. The Guest Editors of the issue will be Professors Yadong Yin (University of California, Riverside, USA) and Jianping Ge (Tongji University, China).

Photonic crystals and metamaterials are gaining increasing interest due to their important potential applications. Many novel optical materials have been developed by manipulating the diffraction, refraction, and electronic resonances such as plasmons through controlling the interaction between light and dielectric and metallic nanostructures. This themed issue will broadly cover the chemistry aspects of photonic crystals and metamaterials including their synthesis and fabrication through chemical approaches, self-assembly, characterization, and niche applications.

Interested in submitting an article? Please get in touch by 31 December 2012: MaterialsC-rsc@rsc.org.

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Paper by the 2011 Lectureship recipient, Liberato Manna

22 Jun 2012

The 2011 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship recipient, Liberato Manna, has published a paper on cubic and hexagonal phases of copper-sulfur-selenium alloys which exhibit a well-defined near-infrared valence band plasmon resonance. The nanocrystals were then evaluated as an anode material in Li-ion batteries, and were capable of undergoing lithiation/delithiation via a displacement/conversion reaction (Cu to Li and vice versa) in a partially reversible manner.

His work was highlighted on the back cover of the journal, and can be read by clicking on the link below:

Colloidal Cu2−x(SySe1−y) alloy nanocrystals with controllable crystal phase: synthesis, plasmonic properties, cation exchange and electrochemical lithiation
Enrico Dilena, Dirk Dorfs, Chandramohan George, Karol Miszta, Mauro Povia, Alessandro Genovese, Alberto Casu, Mirko Prato and Liberato Manna
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 13023-13031

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Recent Appointees in Polymer Science Web-Theme

14 May 2012

Recent Appointees in Polymer Science is an organization of, and for, people in the early stages of their independent career. They aim to provide a forum for recent appointees in all sectors of UK polymer science in academia as well as in industry. They are also open to interaction with recent appointees outside of the UK and would be delighted to interact with similar organizations abroad.

This RAPS Web Theme highlights work from members published in RSC journals and new articles will be added as they appear. To see the papers, click here.

Interested in knowing more about RAPS? Check out the website at www.raps.org.uk for more information

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Themed Issue on Metal-Organic Frameworks now published

09 May 2012

The 2012 Journal of Materials Chemistry themed issue on ‘Integrating functionality into metal-organic frameworks’ has now been published on-line. View the full issue here.

Guest Editors for the themed issue were Professors Stephen Kaskel and Roland Fischer, and their Editorial can be found here. A number of reviews were also published:

Metal–organic framework-based devices: separation and sensors
Bo Liu
Metal–organic frameworks as scaffolds for the encapsulation of active species: state of the art and future perspectives
Jana Juan-Alcañiz , Jorge Gascon and Freek Kapteijn
Synthetic routes toward MOF nanomorphologies
Erik A. Flügel, Annekathrin Ranft, Frederik Haase and Bettina V. Lotsch
Nanosponges for hydrogen storage
Maurice Schlichtenmayer and Michael Hirscher

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2012 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship: Nominations closing soon…

24 Apr 2012

Nominations for the 2012 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship are closing soon.

This annual lectureship honours a younger scientist who has made a significant contribution to the field of materials chemistry.

Liberato Manna, the winner of the 2011 lectureship, was chosen for his outstanding contribution to the field of inorganic nanotechnology.

Qualification
To be eligible for the Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship, the candidate should be in the earlier stages of their scientific career, typically within 10 years of attaining their doctorate or equivalent degree, and will have made a significant contribution to the field.

Description
The recipient of the award will be asked to present one Journal of Materials Chemistry lecture, at a conference decided upon by the recipient and the Editorial Office. The Journal of Materials Chemistry Editorial Office will provide the sum of £1000 to the recipient for travel and accommodation costs. The award recipient will be presented with the award at this lecture. They will also be asked to contribute a lead article to the journal and will have their work showcased on the back cover of the issue in which their article is published.

Selection
The recipient of the lectureshipwill be selected and endorsed by the Journal of Materials Chemistry Editorial Board.

Nominations
Those wishing to make a nomination should send details of the nominee including a brief C.V. (no longer than 2 pages) together with a letter supporting the nomination (no longer than 2 pages), to the Journal of Materials Chemistry Editorial Office by 11 May 2012. Please note that self-nomination is permitted.

Send a nomination here today: materials-rsc@rsc.org

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2012 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship- Nominations now open!

22 Mar 2012

Do you know someone who deserves recognition for their contribution to the materials chemistry field?

Now is your chance to propose they receive the recognition they deserve.

We are pleased to announce that the 2012 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship is now open for nominations. This annual lectureship honours a younger scientist who has made a significant contribution to the field of materials chemistry.

Liberato Manna, the winner of the 2011 lectureship, was chosen for his outstanding contribution to the field of inorganic nanotechnology.

Qualification
To be eligible for the Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship, the candidate should be in the earlier stages of their scientific career, typically within 10 years of attaining their doctorate or equivalent degree, and will have made a significant contribution to the field.

Description
The recipient of the award will be asked to present one Journal of Materials Chemistry lecture, at a conference decided upon by the recipient and the Editorial Office. The Journal of Materials Chemistry Editorial Office will provide the sum of £1000 to the recipient for travel and accommodation costs. The award recipient will be presented with the award at this lecture. They will also be asked to contribute a lead article to the journal and will have their work showcased on the back cover of the issue in which their article is published.

Selection
The recipient of the lectureshipwill be selected and endorsed by the Journal of Materials Chemistry Editorial Board.

Nominations
Those wishing to make a nomination should send details of the nominee including a brief C.V. (no longer than 2 pages) together with a letter supporting the nomination (no longer than 2 pages), to the Journal of Materials Chemistry Editorial Office by 11 May 2012. Please note that self-nomination is permitted.

Send a nomination here today: materials-rsc@rsc.org

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International Symposium on Stimuli-Responsive Materials

06 Mar 2012

Following on from its success in 2011, the International Symposium on Stimuli-Responsive Materials will be held again this year, in Santa Rosa, CA, the heart of Sonoma wine country. The dates of the conference are 22-24 October, 2012. According to the organisers there has been an overwhelming response from researchers wishing to speak at the conference, with experts in the field of stimuli-responsive materials from academia, industry, and government attending. Look at the list of speakers now.

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Spinning webs to catch indoor pollutants

29 Jul 2011

A Journal of Materials Chemistry paper has been highlighted in Chemistry World:

Chinese and US scientists have designed a nanofibre net structure to coat a quartz crystal microbalance to be used as a sensor to detect low levels of indoor gaseous pollutants. The device could be an optimal candidate for applications ranging from sensors to filtration and tissue engineering.

Formaldehyde is used in the manufacture of many polymers, resins and other construction materials. It is also used as an intermediate in soaps and detergents and is widely using in pharmacology and medicine. Formaldehyde is, however, a carcinogenic compound, which has a safe indoor exposure limit of between 60-80 parts per billion over a time period of 30 min. Conventional formaldehyde detection methods, such as chromatography, calorimetry, fluorescence and spectroscopy, suffer from long detection times and low sensitivity and are often expensive. Therefore there is a need for a rapid, low cost and sensitive method for formaldehyde detection….

Read the rest of the Chemistry World piece here, or go straight to the original research paper.

Spider web and sticky nanofibre net structure

Bin Ding, Xianfeng Wang, Jianyong Yu and Moran Wang
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11847A

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Top Ten most-read Journal of Materials Chemistry articles in June 2011

28 Jul 2011

Read the most-read Journal of Materials Chemistry articles of June 2011, listed below:

Conversion of carbon dioxide to few-layer graphene
Amartya Chakrabarti, Jun Lu, Jennifer C. Skrabutenas, Tao Xu, Zhili Xiao, John A. Maguire and Narayan S. Hosmane
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 9491-9493
DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11227A

Advanced materials for lithium batteries
M. Saiful Islam and Linda F. Nazar
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 9810-9810
DOI: 10.1039/C1JM90082J

Formation and morphology control of nanoparticles via solution routes in an autoclave
Yongchun Zhu, Tao Mei, Yan Wang and Yitai Qian
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 11457-11463
DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11079A

Synthesis and nanofluid application of silver nanoparticles decorated graphene
Tessy Theres Baby and Sundara Ramaprabhu
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 9702-9709
DOI: 10.1039/C0JM04106H

Nanostructured cathode materials: a key for better performance in Li-ion batteries
Ragupathy Pitchai, Velmurugan Thavasi, Subodh G. Mhaisalkar and Seeram Ramakrishna
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 11040-11051
DOI: 10.1039/C1JM10857C

A facile one-step approach for the synthesis and assembly of copper and copper-oxide nanocrystals
Mahmud Diab, Brian Moshofsky, Ilan Jen-La Plante and Taleb Mokari
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 11626-11630
DOI: 10.1039/C1JM10638D

Size-tunable mesoporous spherical TiO2 as a scattering overlayer in high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells
Yoon-Cheol Park, Yong-June Chang, Byung-Gon Kum, Eui-Hyun Kong, Jong Yeog Son, Young Soo Kwon, Taiho Park and Hyun Myung Jang
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 9582-9586
DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11043H

A review of advanced and practical lithium battery materials
Rotem Marom, S. Francis Amalraj, Nicole Leifer, David Jacob and Doron Aurbach
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 9938-9954
DOI: 10.1039/C0JM04225K

Synthesis of monodispersed nanocrystalline materials in supercritical ethanol: a generalized approach
Sandip Kumar Pahari, Tadafumi Adschiri and Asit Baran Panda
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 10377-10383
DOI: 10.1039/C1JM10617A

Mesoporous titania photocatalysts: preparation, characterization and reaction mechanisms
Adel A. Ismail and Detlef W. Bahnemann
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1JM10407A

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Themed Issue on Integrating Functionality into Metal-Organic Frameworks

20 Jun 2011

Journal of Materials Chemistry is planning to produce a themed issue on Integrating Functionality into Metal-Organic Frameworks in 2012. Please e-mail the editorial office, materials-rsc@rsc.org, if you are interested in contributing an article.

The Guest Editors of the issue will be Professor Stefan Kaskel (Dresden, Germany) and Professor Roland Fischer (Bochum, Germany).

Porous Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have set records in recent years regarding specific surface area and pore volume. The field of MOFs has exploded moving from applications in adsorption towards more and more rational integration of specific functions revealing novel applications in drug delivery and sensing, including attractive mechanical and magnetic properties. Specific functionalization allows for the integration of chiral groups for enantioselective catalysis and separation. The search for very large pores and higher specific surface area remains a key challenge in the rapidly expanding field of MOFs, especially in catalysis and high pressure gas storage. High porosity enables anchoring of molecular catalysts, impregnation with catalyst precursors, or adsorption of larger drug molecules in MOFs for fine chemical transformation, nanoparticle formation, sensing, or drug delivery. Self assembly and thin film techniques are essential for device integration of such novel porous materials.

The deadline for the receipt of manuscripts for this themed issue is
November 1.

Manuscripts can be submitted using the RSC’s on-line submissions service. Please clearly mark that the manuscript is submitted for the themed issue on Integrating Functionality into Metal-Organic Frameworks (short: MOFs).

Please would you inform the editorial office by e-mail at materials-rsc@rsc.org as soon as possible if you plan to submit to the issue and whether your contribution will be original research or a review-type article. We would like to have a list of authors who intend to contribute as soon as possible.

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