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.
A reliable and efficient means of storing hydrogen is one of the major challenges that needs to be overcome to establish the “hydrogen economy”. In this Hot Paper Xuebin Yu and co-workers report the first successful identification of the structure of Ca(BH4)2·NH3 and a strategy to improved its dehydrogenation properties by combining Ca(BH4)2·NH3 with LiBH4. The synergistic effect of the introduction of an extra BH group and aided-cation allows the combined system to dehydrogenate at much lower temperatures than neat Ca(BH4)2·NH3 and LiBH4, and other Li-Ca-based hydrogen storage systems.
A novel aided-cation strategy to advance the dehydrogenation of calcium borohydride monoammoniate: Ziwei Tang, Yingbin Tan, Qinfen Gu and Xuebin Yu, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 5312-5318.
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This month sees the following Journal of Materials Chemistry articles in that are in the top ten most accessed for January:
Self-assembly of ultrathin porous NiO nanosheets/graphene hierarchical structure for high-capacity and high-rate lithium storage
Yun Huang , Xiao-lei Huang , Jian-she Lian , Dan Xu , Li-min Wang and Xin-bo Zhang
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 2844-2847
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM15865E
Structures and properties of conjugated Donor – Acceptor copolymers for solar cell applications
Zhi–Guo Zhang and Jizheng Wang
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 4178-4187
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM14951F
Superhydrophilic – superoleophobic coatings
Jin Yang , Zhaozhu Zhang , Xianghui Xu , Xiaotao Zhu , Xuehu Men and Xiaoyan Zhou
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 2834-2837
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM15987B
Polyaniline nanotube arrays as high-performance flexible electrodes for electrochemical energy storage devices
Zi-Long Wang , Rui Guo , Gao-Ren Li , Han-Lun Lu , Zhao-Qing Liu , Fang-Ming Xiao , Mingqiu Zhang and Ye-Xiang Tong
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 2401-2404
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM15070K
Organic field-effect transistors and solar cells using novel high electron-affinity conjugated copolymers based on alkylbenzotriazole and benzothiadiazole
Michael C. Gwinner , Thomas J. K. Brenner , Jin-Kyun Lee , Carol Newby , Christopher K. Ober , Christopher R. McNeill and Henning Sirringhaus
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 4436-4439
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM15715B
Sandwich-like graphene nanocomposites armed with nanoneedles
Bora Nam , Ha-Jin Lee , Hyeah Goh , Young Boo Lee and Won San Choi
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 3148-3153
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM15026C
A green and facile self-assembly preparation of gold nanoparticles/ZnO nanocomposite for photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical applications
Fangxing Xiao , Fengchang Wang , Xianzhi Fu and Yi Zheng
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 2868-2877
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM15122G
Hybrid solar cells: basic principles and the role of ligands
Adam J. Moulé , Lilian Chang , Chandru Thambidurai , Ruxandra Vidu and Pieter Stroeve
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 2351-2368
DOI: 10.1039/C1JM14829J
Low-temperature, solution-processed molybdenum oxide hole-collection layer for organic photovoltaics
Scott R. Hammond , Jens Meyer , N. Edwin Widjonarko , Paul F. Ndione , Ajaya K. Sigdel , Andrés Garcia , Alexander Miedaner , Matthew T. Lloyd , Antoine Kahn , David S. Ginley , Joseph J. Berry and Dana C. Olson
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 3249-3254
DOI: 10.1039/C2JM14911G
High Pseudocapacitance of MnO2 Nanoparticles in Graphitic Disordered Mesoporous Carbon at High Scan Rates
Mehul N. Patel , Xiqing Wang , Daniel A. Slanac , Domingo A. Ferrer , Sheng Dai , Keith P. Johnston and Keith J. Stevenson
J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 3160-3169
DOI: 10.1039/C1JM14513D
Why not take a look at the articles today and blog your thoughts and comments below.
Fancy submitting an article to Journal of Materials Chemistry? Then why not submit to us today!
Don’t forget Journal of Materials Chemistry is publishing a themed issue on Materials for Biosurfaces. Please contact the editorial office if you would like to contribute an article. The Guest Editors of this themed issue are Professor Christopher K. Ober (Cornell University, USA), Dr. Christian Ohm (Cornell University, USA), Ms. Mary E. Welch (Cornell University, USA).
The issue will focus on the synthetic and physical chemistry of biosurfaces with a primary attention to polymer based surfaces and the role of surfaces in biomedical related applications such as biosensors. Materials of interest include polymer brushes, hydrogels, membranes and self-assembled monolayers. The role of surfaces in cell adhesion and cell-surface interactions is also a topic of this special issue.
The deadline for the receipt of manuscripts for this themed issue is 20th March 2012
Manuscripts can be submitted using the RSC’s on-line submissions service. Please clearly state in the comment to editors section during submission that the manuscript is “submitted in response to the call for papers for the themed issue on Materials for Biosurfaces”.
Journal of Materials Chemistry will publish a themed issue on Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion and Storage in 2012. Please contact the editorial office if you are interested in contributing an article. The Guest Editors for this issue are Professor Michael Graetzel (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausann) and Dr. K. Kalyanasundaram (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne).
One of the main challenges facing mankind in the 21st Century is in the energy sector. Rapid increase in industrialization, urbanization and population growth has led to pronounced increase in the global energy demands. With depleting fossil fuels and growing concern on environmental protection, urgent research efforts are needed to find alternative energy resources that are efficient, economical and ecologically friendly. We need to find urgently new means of generating, store and transport power at TW scale. Since energy resources such as solar and wind are intermittent and power usage is increasingly on numerous portable electronic devices, efficient means have to be found for storage and transportation of energy. A number of electrical-electronic, photonic and optoelectronic devices have been proposed for this purpose. Typical systems under consideration include photovoltaic solar cells, batteries, supercapacitors, field-effect transistors, fuel cells, thermoelectric, thermal- and photo-catalysts and luminescence display devices.
Fortunately during late last century there has been a phenomenal increase in our understanding of systems at the atomic and molecular level. Advances permit now to tailor-make, characterize and manipulate materials at single molecule level and build devices putting pieces together at the molecular level (nanoengineering in a bottom-up approach). The topic of this special issue is how to use advances in material science and nanotechnology in designing systems for efficient inter-conversion of energy forms between thermal, solar (photonics) and electrical energy. Graphenes, Carbon nanotubes and conducting polymers are typical examples where nanoscale design permits their efficient performance in a number of energy conversion and storage devices. All devices dealing with conversion of energy forms and storage will be considered for this issue. Hydrogen produced via photochemical decomposition of water is an attractive energy resource. Hence hydrogen production, its storage and burning in fuel cells to get electricity will be included as well.
The deadline for the receipt of manuscripts for this themed issue is 11th June 2012
Manuscripts can be submitted using the RSC’s on-line submissions service. Please clearly state that the manuscript is submitted in response to the call for papers for the themed issue on Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion and Storage.
Challenges in Inorganic and Materials Chemistry (ISACS8)
We are delighted to announce that registration is now open for Challenges in Inorganic and Materials Chemistry (ISACS8) which is being held on 19 – 22 July 2012 in Toronto, Canada. Register now to guarantee your place for this major conference whilst benefiting from the fantastic early bird savings currently available.
The oral abstract submission deadline is fast approaching so make sure you submit your abstract by February 24 2012 to present your work alongside sixteen outstanding plenary speakers.
For further details on this significant event, please visit the dedicated webpage.
Event Announcement: Challenges in Nanoscience (ISACS9)
We are proud to announce that the International Symposia on Advancing the Chemical Sciences (ISACS) series will return this year to include Challenges in Nanoscience (ISACS9) on 31 August – 3 September 2012 in Xiamen, China.
Full details surrounding the confirmed speakers and abstract submission process can be found on the dedicated webpage for this significant global conference.
The themed issue on Organic Optoelectronic Materials is now online. Guest editors Wenping Hu, Zhenan Bao and Klaus Muellen introduce this themed issue of Journal of Materials Chemistry in their Editorial. This themed issue is dedicated to one of the pioneers of the field, Professor Daoben Zhu, on the occasion of his 70th birthday.
The issue contains a selection of communications, papers & reviews covering the field of organic optoelectronic materials including:
Highlight
Applications
Feature Articles
You can read all the papers in the themed issue here:
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Structures and properties of conjugated Donor–Acceptor copolymers for solar cell applications: Zhi–Guo Zhang and Jizheng Wang, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2JM14951F (Advance Article)
Functional fullerenes for organic photovoltaics: Chang-Zhi Li , Hin-Lap Yip and Alex K.-Y. Jen, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2JM15126J (Advance Article)
Assemblies of artificial photosynthetic reaction centres: Shunichi Fukuzumi and Kei Ohkubo, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2JM15585K (Advance Article)
Read all the articles for free until 12th March: (Free registration required)
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Polymer semiconductor electronics are potentially cheaper, lighter and more flexible than their silicon counterparts. Despite the improvements in performance and efficiency there is still a challenge to improve the stability and lifetime of organic semiconductors, and to understand the degradation mechanisms which could limit their commercial success. In this Hot Article Steffan Cook and colleagues report the degradation of one of the most widely used conjugated polymer semiconductors, poly(3-hexylthiophene) [P3HT] monitored by fluorescence quenching. Conjugated polymer emission is known to be easily quenched at defect sites. The teams use the loss of fluorescence as a precise yet simple tool for monitoring degradation in conjugated polymers and demonstrated significant degradation to P3HT occurs in only a matter of minutes under room lighting. Read the article for free until 7th March. (Free registration required)
Matter of minutes degradation of poly(3-hexylthiophene) under illumination in air: Steffan Cook, Akihiro Furube and Ryuzi Katoh, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM14925C (Advance Article)
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Phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PhOLEDs) offer high quantum efficiency compared to conventional fluorescent OLEDs because they can harness both singlet and triplet exitons for emission. Green and red PhOLEDs with 100% internal quantum efficiency have been reported, but highly efficient and stable blue PhOLEDs have yet to be developed because of the lack of suitable host materials possessing higher triplet energy levels than blue phosphors. In this hot paper Chuluo Yang, Dongge Ma and colleagues report two simple CBP isomers with high triplet energies as efficient hosts for blue phosphorescent OLEDs, and the efficiencies of the o-CBP-based device are over 2 times higher than those of CBP. Interested to know more? Read the article for free until 2nd March. (Free registration required)
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