Join us in welcoming our new Advisory Board members, Jungki Ryu, Nobuhiko Hosono, Nobuhiro Yanai and Wenzhou Wu.

Nanoscale Horizons is proud to announce that three of our previous Community Board members have been promoted to the Advisory Board. Find below the biographies of each of our new advisory board members along with some of their insight into their work with the board and in their research areas.

Jungki Ryu, UNIST, South Korea

Jungki Ryu received his BS and PhD degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Yonsei University in 2006 and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2011, respectively. After postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for three years, he joined the UNIST School of Energy and Chemical Engineering in 2014 where he is currently working as an associate professor. He is also an adjunct professor of the UNIST Graduate School of Carbon Neutrality and a director of the Centre for Renewable Carbon. His research interest include the development of electrocatalysts and their application in solar fuel production, biomass conversion and utilization, and electrochemical waste refinery.

What does it mean to you to join the Advisory Board of Nanoscale Horizons?

“Joining the Advisory Board of Nanoscale Horizons is an exceptional opportunity and honour for me. It signifies recognition of my expertise in the field of nanoscale science and materials chemistry. It also demonstrates my commitment to advancing scientific research and innovation in this domain. As a member of the Advisory Board, I am eager to contribute to the journal’s mission to serve a venue for original research with a new concept or a conceptual advance. “

 What is the current biggest challenge you face in your field?

“My primary research interest is developing innovative materials, devices, and systems for (photo)electrochemical energy conversion. As we strive towards carbon neutrality through electrification and decarbonization, there is a growing interest in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical technologies. However, their translation into reality poses significant challenges, primarily in terms of low efficiency and high energy costs. To overcome these obstacles, it has become increasingly crucial to not only focus on materials development through nanoengineering but also explore the development of innovative hybrid systems. By combining different approaches and leveraging the potential of the hybrid system, we can address some of the current limitations and pave the way for more efficient and cost-effective electrochemical systems. In this context, the importance of Nanoscale Horizons becomes evident as it provides a platform for studies with new concepts or conceptual advances.”

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

“Despite the challenges we encounter in addressing global warming issues, I remain highly optimistic about the role of materials chemistry in finding solutions for achieving carbon neutrality. In particular, I anticipate that the field of materials chemistry will increasingly prioritize the sustainable utilization of limited resources. This entails not only advancing research on energy materials and devices but also emphasizing atom-efficient synthesis and utilization of raw materials, as well as the recovery and recycling of waste materials.”

Nobuhiko Hosono, University of Tokyo, Japan

Nobuhiko Hosono received his Ph.D. in polymer chemistry at the University of Tokyo in 2011. From 2011 to 2013, he worked at Eindhoven University of Technology as a research fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). In 2014, he was promoted to Assistant Professor of the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), Kyoto University. In 2018, he was appointed Lecturer at The University of Tokyo. In 2021, he was promoted to Associate Professor of Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo. He specializes in materials science with a focus on polymer chemistry, physics, and self-assembly, and is currently working on the development of polymer recognition technologies using highly-designed porous media, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

What in your field are you most excited about?

“Expectations for the development of sequencing technology for synthetic polymers: while sequencing technology for DNA and peptides has been vigorously studied and developed, sequencing technology for synthetic polymers is still in its infancy. Sequencing of synthetic polymers gives polymers that have been treated as materials a new role as information carriers. This realisation is expected to lead to breakthroughs not only in the field of chemistry.”

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

“The fusion of materials science and information science is the most feasible and exciting prospect. Such fusion research has already begun. I believe that the seamless integration of these disciplines will improve various technical aspects, including structural analysis and property prediction, and will significantly facilitate all research activities.”

Why do you feel that researchers should choose to publish their work in Nanoscale Horizons?

“As mentioned above, I believe that developing interdisciplinary research across disciplines is important for the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology research, and Nanoscale Horizons is a communication forum that brings together researchers from different disciplines with high quality research results. It is without doubt the most effective medium for sharing our new concepts and methods.”

Nobuhiro Yanai, Kyushu University, Japan

Nobuhiro Yanai is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry at Kyushu University, Japan. He earned his Ph.D. from Kyoto University in 2011 under Prof. Susumu Kitagawa and Prof. Takashi Uemura on guest properties in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)/porous coordination polymers (PCPs). He was a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Steve Granick at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, experiencing colloid and soft matter sciences. He joined Kyushu University in 2012. He is currently leading a group that creates photo-functional materials, working on photon up-conversion, dynamic nuclear polarization, and quantum materials. He received several awards including The Wiley Young Researcher Award, The APA (Asian and Oceanian Photochemistry Association) Prize for Young Scientists, and Award for Young Chemists, Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ).

What is the current biggest challenge you face in your field?

“In the field of materials for photon upconversion and singlet fission involving triplet excited states, the key challenge is to develop materials that combine efficiency and stability and find applications that would not be possible without such materials.”

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

“In the direction of controlling and applying quantum states, the precise design and synthesis of quantum materials will be critical. Materials chemistry would play a major role in this quantum era over the next decade.”

Wenzhou Wu, Perdue University, USA

What does it mean to you to join the Advisory Board of Nanoscale Horizons?

“Joining the Advisory Board of Nanoscale Horizons is an honour and a responsibility of great magnitude. As a member of the Advisory Board, I value the chance to influence the journal’s direction and advance nanotechnology by choosing and evaluating research articles. In addition, serving on the Advisory Board of Nanoscale Horizons enables me to network and engage with other distinguished scholars, editors, and nanotechnology professionals. I hope that my knowledge will guide the editorial decisions, ensuring that Nanoscale Horizons publishes only rigorous and impactful research. Joining the Advisory Board of Nanoscale Horizons also provides me the opportunity to contribute to the growth and dissemination of nanotechnology-related knowledge.”

What is the current biggest challenge you face in your field?

“My research focuses on nanomanufacturing for ubiquitous sensors, renewable energy, and emerging electronics. The biggest challenge lies in the deterministic synthesis and integration of nanomaterials with precise control and scalability in both the bottom-up assembly and top-down fabrication processes.”

What in your field are you most excited about?

“I am most excited about the potential to fuse the physical and digital worlds with more capable human-integrated devices by innovating manufacturable nanotechnologies.”

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

“In the next 10 years, materials chemistry is poised for significant advancements and transformative breakthroughs. I think we can expect to see exciting progress and new developments in areas such as self-driving automatic labs for accelerating the discovery and production of new materials, advanced energy materials, and sustainable materials for healthcare.”

Why do you feel that researchers should choose to publish their work in Nanoscale Horizons?

“The interdisciplinary emphasis of Nanoscale Horizons gives nanotechnology researchers, scientists, and professionals broad visibility and exposure. In addition, Nanoscale Horizons offers a rapid publication procedure. In light of this, I encourage researchers to submit their impactful work in Nanoscale Horizons.”

Call for Nominations

In light of our new Advisory Board members, we are now seeking engaged and interested early career researchers to join our Community Board.

We are inviting nominations for both Materials Horizons and Nanoscale Horizons at this time, please do feel free to state a preference of journal in your nomination, however this is not mandatory, and each nomination will be assessed for suitability for both Journals.

For eligibility and how to nominate please see our Call for Nominations blog for full details.

The deadline for submission of nominations is 19^th July 2023.

For more information, please refer to the Materials and Nanoscale Horizons Community Board FAQs.

To find out more about the journal and for a list of current Community Board members, please visit the journal webpages at: rsc.li/materials-horizons and rsc.li/nanoscale-horizons.

We are delighted to announce that Nanoscale Horizons Scientific Editor Zhiyong Tang has been included in Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list!

The Highly Cited Researchers™ is an annual program which recognises those who have published several highly cited papers over the last ten years, and thereby have a wide and significant influence on their respective field. Zhiyong has received a 2022 Highly Cited Researcher Award in the field of Chemistry. In fact, since 2018, he has received 6 Highly Cited Researcher Awards in Chemistry, Materials Science, and Cross-Field!

Meet Zhiyong Tang

Zhiyong is a Professor at the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology in China. He received his B.S. and M.S. from the Department of Environmental Chemistry at Wuhan University before receiving his PhD from the Changchu Institute of Applied Chemistry in Dr Erkang Wang’s group. Zhiyong was a research Fellow in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Oklahoma State University and University of Michigan, respectively, working with Nicholas Kotov. He joined the National Center for Nanoscience and technology in 2008 and his research interests are centred on the fabrication and application of functional inorganic nanomaterials in the fields of energy and the environment.

We asked Zhiyong some questions about his recent work and his latest achievement.

Please could you provide a short summary of your most recent work?

My recent research interest focuses on self-limited assembly of crystalline porous materials including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as well as their applications in catalysis and separation. My most recent work reported COF monolayer membranes with short interpore distance along with high pore density and ultimate low membrane resistance, which endowed strong pore-pore coupling effect. These features successfully debottleneck the concentration polarization phenomenon and thus greatly improve the membrane-based osmotic power generation.

What is the current biggest challenge you face in your field?

It is known that the natural enzymatic reaction process often involves auto-tandem steps of catalysis and separation with high activity and specific selectivity. By comparison, the current biggest challenge is that the artificial chemical process is often performed with multiple steps to achieve catalysis, separation, and purification, thus leading to the much lower efficiency.

What advances in your field are you most excited about?

The most exciting advance will be to precisely fabricate the well-defined multifunctional porous membranes for achieving consecutive catalysis and separation in one-pot process with high efficiency.

What does it mean to you to be a Highly Cited Researcher?

For me, being a Highly Cited Researcher means two things: On one hand, my research direction has received attention from colleagues, which encourages my research group to continuously explore the unknown and challenging issues in this field. Secondly, my research works may be followed by scientists, who could provide potential support for the development of this field.

Why is your work important and what advice would you give to up-and-coming scientists hoping to increase their visibility?

My research works mainly focus on exploring and illustrating the fundamental issues in the self-limited assembly of crystalline porous materials, which have exhibited some unique properties and could provide the solid foundation for their applications in the fields of energy and catalysis. My advice for up-and-coming scientists is to first grasp the development frontiers and challenging issues of this field, and then carry out scientific research while guided by their practical applications.

Congratulations Zhiyong!

Zhiyong’s research group

Introducing the new members of the Nanoscale Horizons Advisory Board

Welcome to the team!

The Nanoscale Horizons Advisory Board consists of 50 expert scientists working across the breadth of nanoscience and nanotechnology. We are delighted to welcome the following new members.

	Professor Uri Banin, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. The Banin lab study the chemistry, physics and application of nanocrystals. A special focus is given to semiconductor nanocrystals and to hybrid metal-semiconductor nanoparticles.
	Professor Frank Caruso, The University of Melbourne, Australia. The Caruso lab research interests focus on developing advanced nano- and biomaterials for biotechnology and medicine.
	Professor Paola Ceroni, University of Bologna, Italy. The Ceroni lab research activity can be placed in the field of photochemistry of supramolecular systems and photoactive nanocrystals for imaging and energy conversion (luminescent solar concentrators, artificial photosynthesis and photocatalysis).
	Professor Shuai Dong, Southeast University, China. The Dong lab research is related to electronic physics and materials, including multiferroic oxide, magnetoelectric coupling effect; related electronic heterojunction, field effect device; new energy materials; superconducting materials.
	Professor Laura Fabris, Rutgers University, USA. The Fabris lab works on integrating novel nanomaterials chemistry and characterization approaches to computational tools for the design of new plasmonic nanoparticles, with biology and medicine applications.
	Dr David Leong, National University of Singapore, Singapore. The Leong lab is interested in discovering novel nano-biology of nanomaterials.
	Professor Paul Mulvaney, University of Melbourne, Australia. The Mulvaney lab is interested in the optical properties of single quantum dots, surface plasmon spectroscopy of single metal particles, nanocrystal based electronics, nanomechanics and solar energy conversion.
	Professor Ester Segal, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel. The Segal lab is interested in nanostructured materials such as porous silicon and their interface with soft matter e.g. hydrogels, biomolecules, and living cells.
	Professor Sharon Weiss, Vanderbilt University, USA. The Weiss group engages in research involving photonics, optoelectronics, nanoscience and technology, and material interfaces.
	Professor Stefan Zauscher, Duke University, USA. The Zauscher lab research lies at the intersection of surface and colloid science, polymer materials engineering, and biointerface science.

Check out a selection of the nanoscience research carried out by the Advisory Board and published in the nanoscale journal family

Advisory Board research selection

We are delighted to welcome three new Scientific Editors to Nanoscale Horizons! Their varied expertise will support us to better inform editorial decisions on Nanoscale Horizons.

Professor Wenlong Cheng

Monash University, Australia

Wenlong Cheng is a professor and director of research in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Monash University, Australia. He is also an Ambassador Tech Fellow in Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication. He earned his PhD from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005 and his BS from Jilin University, China in 1999. He held positions in the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics and the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering of Cornell University before joining the Monash University in 2010. His research interest focuses on the rational design and assembly of noble nanocrystals (particularly gold) for various applications in nanobioscience and nanobiotechnology, including DNA-based nanoassemblies, soft wearable electronic skin sensors, soft energy devices, targeted cancer theranostics, and soft plasmonic metamaterials.

Check out some of his recent articles:

High-adhesion vertically aligned gold nanowire stretchable electrodes via a thin-layer soft nailing strategy, Nanoscale Horiz., 2019

Site-specific Ag coating on concave Au nanoarrows by controlling the surfactant concentration, Nanoscale Horiz., 2019

A location- and sharpness-specific tactile electronic skin based on staircase-like nanowire patches, Nanoscale Horiz., 2018 – Nanoscale Horizons Outstanding Paper runner-up 2018

Professor Zhiyong Tang

National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, China

Zhiyong is a Professor at the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology in China. He received his B.S. and M.S. from the Department of Environmental Chemistry at Wuhan University before receiving his PhD from the Changchu Institute of Applied Chemistry in Dr Erkang Wang’s group. Zhiyong was a research Fellow in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Oklahoma State University and University of Michigan, respectively, working with Nicholas Kotov. He joined the National Center for Nanoscience and technology in 2008 and his research interests are centered on the fabrication and application of functional inorganic nanomaterials in the fields of energy and the environment.

Zhiyong joined the Nanoscale Horizons Editorial Board back in 2016 and is now increasing his involvement with the journal by taking on a Scientific Editor role.

Check out some of his recent articles:

Detecting electronic structure evolution of semiconductor nanocrystals by magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy, Nanoscale, 2019

MOF-derived nitrogen-doped nanoporous carbon for electroreduction of CO₂ to CO: the calcining temperature effect and the mechanism, Nanoscale, 2019

Interfacial coupling between noble metal nanoparticles and metal–organic frameworks for enhanced catalytic activity, Nanoscale, 2018

Professor Jinlan Wang

Southeast University, China

Jinlan Wang got her Ph. D from Department of Physics, Nanjing University, China in 2002. Then, she had three-year Postdoctoral experience at Chemistry Division, Argonne National Laboratory, USA. In 2006, she joined Southeast University in China as a full professor and developed the computational physics and chemistry group. She is currently a distinguished professor of Southeast University. She has published over 200 papers in high-impact journals and was the recipient of the Distinguished Young Scholars award of National Science Foundation of China (2015). Her current research interest mainly focuses on computational studies and the design of two-dimensional materials and clean energy materials. Involved techniques range from machine learning to classical molecular dynamics to different level first-principles methods.

Check out some of her recent articles:

High Curie temperature and intrinsic ferromagnetic half-metallicity in two-dimensional Cr₃X₄ (X = S, Se, Te) nanosheets, Nanoscale Horiz., 2019

MnX (X = P, As) monolayers: a new type of two-dimensional intrinsic room temperature ferromagnetic half-metallic material with large magnetic anisotropy, Nanoscale, 2019

Copper(i) sulfide: a two-dimensional semiconductor with superior oxidation resistance and high carrier mobility, Nanoscale Horiz., 2019