Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

The front cover features Acid-directed synthesis of SERS-active hierarchical assemblies of silver nanostructures. This paper reports the acid-directed self-assembly of metal nanoparticles into large systems with complex structures, without the application of any polymer surfactant or capping agent. The team behind the research say that the addition of acid to induce formation of self-assembled structures can be a general synthetic platform to fabricate metal structures with complex morphologies. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 2495-2501.)

Highlighted on the inside cover is Aqueous polyfluorene probe for the detection and estimation of Fe3+ and inorganic phosphate in blood serum. Reported in this paper is the synthesis of an anionic polyfluorene derivative, poly(9,9-bis(6′-sulfate)hexyl) fluorene-alt-1,4-phenylene sodium salt. This probe exhibits exemplary activity towards the selective detection of Fe3+ and phosphates under physiological conditions. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 2502-2507.)

Mobility and photovoltaic performance studies on polymer blends: effects of side chains volume fraction by Getachew Adam, Almantas Pivrikas, Alberto M. Ramil, Sisay Tadesse, Teketel Yohannes, Niyazi S. Sariciftci and Daniel A. M. Egbe is the paper featured on the back cover. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 2594-2600.)

The paper featured on the outside front cover is Self-assembly and charge transport properties of a benzobisthiazole end-capped with dihexyl thienothiophene units (Greg J. McEntee, Filipe Vilela, Peter J. Skabara, Thomas D. Anthopoulos, John G. Labram, Steve Tierney, Ross W. Harrington and William Clegg, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 2091-2097). The paper reports thin-film studies and OFEt characteristics for a rigid, planar conjugated molecule, BDHTT-BBT. The authors say that this material exhibits liquid crystal properties in its thin-film state.

Unique hexagonal non-close-packed arrays of alumina obtained by plasma etching/deposition with catalytic performance is the paper highlighted on the inside front cover. (Shuyan Gao, Naoto Koshizaki, Yue Li and Liang Li, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 2087-2090.) This paper reports a hexagonal-non-close-packed alumina array with hierarchical micro-/nano-structures fabricated by plasma etching/deposition that acts as a catalyt in ethyl acetoacetate isomerization.

The back cover showcases the work of David Muñoz-Rojas, Judith Oró-Solé, Omar Ayyad and Pedro Gómez-Romero (Shaping hybrid nanostructures with polymer matrices: the formation mechanism of silver–polypyrrole core/shell nanostructures; J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 2078-2086). In the paper the team show that a polypyrrole matrix forming around suspended Ag2O particles in a pyrrole solution under hydrothermal conditions is key for the formation of tortuous Ag@PPy nanostructures.

You can read the whole issue here:

The one-pot synthesis of core/shell/shell CdTe/CdSe/ZnSe quantum dots in aqueous media for in vivo deep tissue imaging. Shohei Taniguchi, Mark Green, Sarwat B. Rizvi and Alexander Seifalian, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0JM03527K, Paper (Advance Article)

Water soluble, near infrared emitting CdTe/CdSe/ZnSe quantum dots have been synthesized in a simple one-pot procedure. The team of scientists based at King’s College London and University College London in the UK, say the emission wavelength could be tuned from 530 nm (original CdTe core) to 670 nm. To demonstrate the effectiveness the quantum dots were used in subcutaneous deep tissue monitoring.

Controllable synthesis of anisotropic elongated particles using microvalve actuated microfluidic approach. Qingquan Zhang, Shaojiang Zeng, Bingcheng Lin and Jianhua Qin, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0JM04033A (Advance Article)

The team from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, China, showcase a method to synthesize anisotropic elongated particles via the combination of a droplet based microsphere synthesis and colloidal assembly in a microchannel. The team claim’s that the method is flexible and easy to operate and could find applications in rheological modifiers and drug delivery carrier design.

Issue 6 of Journal of Materials Chemistry is now online. This issue features Platinum catalyzed growth of NiPt hollow spheres with an ultrathin shell by Qian Sun, Zheng Ren, Rongming Wang, Ning Wang and Xia Cao on the front cover. This paper explains how NiPt hollow spheres with an ultrathin shell were synthesized at room temperature and reports their catalytic properties. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 1925-1930)

The back cover advertises the work of Davide Barreca, Alberto Gasparotto and Eugenio Tondello and their Highlight Metal/oxide interfaces in inorganic nanosystems: what’s going on and what’s next? (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 1648-1654).

The Feature Article on the outside front cover was Graphene: learning from carbon nanotubes.  Liping Huang, Bin Wu, Gui Yu and Yunqi Liu, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 919-929.

The outside back cover highlighted the Feature Article Physical gels based on supramolecular gelators, including host–guest complexes and pseudorotaxanes by Yuji Suzaki, Toshiaki Taira and Kohtaro Osakada (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 930-938).

 You can read the whole of issue 4 here.  Issue 4, 2011 also feature 3 Hot Articles and a Hot Highlight:

Highlight: Gold–iron oxide nanoparticle chains scaffolded on DNA as potential magnetic resonance imaging agents

Hot Articles

• Fluorination deposition on carbon nanofibers by PTFE decomposition as a facile method to enhance dispersion and interaction in PVDF composites
• Effect of the alkyl chain length of C70-PCBX acceptors on the device performance of P3HT : C70-PCBX polymer solar cells
• Silica-supported aminoxyls as reactive materials for NOx removal

Do you know someone who has made an exceptional contribution in the field of materials chemistry, helped to develop new materials with industry or pioneered new techniques for the benefit of materials research? The RSC Prizes and Awards recognise achievements by individuals, teams and organisations. There are over 60 Prizes and Awards available, covering all areas of the chemical sciences.  Nomination is quick and easy using our online system and you can nominate yourself or a colleague. The closing date for nominations is 31 January 2011 so please don’t wait click on the link and find out more.