Measuring carrier density and mobility in single-walled carbon nanotubes via nuclear magnetic resonance

19 Dec 2023

By Albert Liu, Community Board member.

The rapidly expanding energy and computing sectors are driving demand for high-performance semiconductor materials. Organic Semiconductors (OSCs) have emerged as attractive candidates for opto-electronic devices, thanks to their high carrier mobility, stability and tunability. However, accurate and independent quantification of charge carrier density and mobility has been an ongoing challenge in the OSC community. Working to overcome this challenge, recent research by Hermosilla-Palacios et al. presents a novel method for determining charge carrier characteristics in semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWCNTs), a subtype of OSCs.

In this study, a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based approach is proposed to directly quantify charge carrier density and indirectly quantify carrier mobility (Fig. 1). The study puts forward a combined method utilizing ¹⁹F NMR and optical absorption measurements on s-SWCNTs in the presence of F-containing molecular dopants. The researchers demonstrated that changes in carrier density affect charge delocalization, resulting in a carrier density-dependent mobility, in contrary to that expected for mobility limited by ionized impurity scattering. This combined approach simplifies the measurement of carrier density in doped s-SWCNTs, constituting a valuable tool to the OSC community.

Fig. 1 (a) Cartoon showing the NMR tube sample composition: polymer dispersed s-SWCNT, excess polymer (in blue) and DDB-F72 molecules associated with a hole on the doped s-SWCNTs. Repeating unit of the polymer PF-PD is also presented for clarity. (b) Spectra corresponding to ¹⁹F NMR for neutral DDB-F72 dopant in d₈-toluene (6 mM, bottom), PF-PD polymer used to disperse s-SWCNTs with added DDB-F72 (6 mM, middle), and dispersed s-SWCNTs with added DDB-F72 (6 mM, top). Numbers show specific chemical shift. (c) Spectra corresponding to ¹⁹F NMR for doping series of s-SWCNT. Spectra are arbitrarily displaced along the y axis to show the different doping steps clearly. Lower dopant concentration (red) to higher dopant concentrations (blue). Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/D3NH00480E with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

While this study presents significant strides in measuring carrier density in s-SWCNTs, whether it can be effectively applied to a wide range of OSCs beyond s-SWCNTs remains to be seen. It should also be noted that the downfield shift observed with increasing dopant concentration may be complicated by factors other than charge delocalization of the hole distribution, such as dopant binding dynamics. The mechanistic origin of the chemical shift changes in the presence of dopants with NMR -active nuclei may refine our understanding of the local micro-environment around the redox-doped s-SWCNTs, prompting further investigations in this area.

In summary, this study develops an NMR-based method to quantify charge carrier density in s-SWCNTs and illustrates that the hole mobility in doped s-SWCNT networks increases with growing carrier density. The ability to tune, quantify, and optimize carrier density opens new avenues for applications such as photovoltaics, sensors, light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, and thermoelectric devices. The method’s potential applicability to various p-conjugated semiconductors using suitable NMR-active dopants makes it a versatile tool for the field. As the scientific community embraces this innovative approach, it heralds a new chapter in the design and development of high-performance semiconductor materials.

To find out more, please read:

Carrier density and delocalization signatures in doped carbon nanotubes from quantitative magnetic resonance
M. Alejandra Hermosilla-Palacios, Marissa Martinez, Evan A. Doud, Tobias Hertel, Alexander M. Spokoyny, Sofie Cambré, Wim Wenseleers, Yong-Hyun Kim, Andrew J. Ferguson and Jeffrey L. Blackburn
Nanoscale Horiz., 2024, Advance Article

About the blogger

Albert Liu is an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan, and a member of the Nanoscale Horizons Community Board. Prof. Liu’s research group studies the effects of micro-confinement in nano-structured low dimensional materials, to address challenges in sustainability, robotics, and healthcare. You can follow Albert on Twitter @Albert_T_Liu

Comments Off on Measuring carrier density and mobility in single-walled carbon nanotubes via nuclear magnetic resonance

Congratulations to the winner of the Nanoscale Horizons prize at MEMRISYS 2023

05 Dec 2023

By Natalie Cotterell, Development Editor.

The 6th International Conference on Memristive Materials, Devices & Systems (MEMRISYS 2023) took place at the Politecnico di Torino (Italy) from 5 – 9 November 2023. Nanoscale Horizons was delighted to provide a prize for the best oral presentation at the conference. Please join us in congratulating our winner, Caterina Sbandati, for being the recipient of this award!

Caterina Sbandati completed her BSc and MSc in Electronics Engineering at the University of Florence in 2017 and Politecnico of Milan in 2020 respectively. In 2021, she earned an MSc in Machine Intelligence from the University of Southampton. Caterina is currently in her final year as a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering. She is investigating real-time brain activity processing using memristive devices, under the supervision of Professor Themis Prodromakis, Regius Chair of Engineering and director of Centre for Electronics Frontiers (CEF).

As a member of CEF, she coordinates with partners at Padova and Bar-Ilan Universities, actively participating in joint in-vivo experiments bridging biology and electronics. Additionally, Caterina collaborates with the European Commission Joint Research Centre, actively contributing to the Observatory for Critical Technologies. This collaborative effort is focused on shaping new policies for EU strategic autonomy, particularly in the area of semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

Caterina was awarded the Nanoscale Horizons prize for her presentation entitled, ‘RRAM-based processing of Local Field Potentials’

Comments Off on Congratulations to the winner of the Nanoscale Horizons prize at MEMRISYS 2023

Congratulations to the winners of the RSC prizes at Materials Oceania 2023

29 Nov 2023

By Edward Gardner, Development Editor.

Materials Oceania 2023 took place in Nagoya, Japan from 26–29 September 2023. Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale, Materials Horizons, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Materials Advances, RSC Applied Interfaces, Polymer Chemistry and Molecular Systems Design and Engineering (MSDE) were delighted to provide poster prizes for the excellent posters shared during the conference. Please join us in congratulating our winners!

Yusuke Yamauchi with some of the Materials Oceania poster prize winners: Kaito Kono, Jerzy Janik, Barbara Klimesz, Takashi Hamada and Mayuka Iida holding their certificates in front of an RSC journals webpage.

Yusuke Yamauchi with some of the winners of the RSC poster prizes at Materials Oceania 2023. (Left to right) Yusuke Yamauchi, Kaito Kono, Jerzy Janik, Barbara Klimesz, Takashi Hamada and Mayuka Iida.

Nanoscale Horizons Poster Prize

Olga Guselnikova (National Institute for Materials Science, Japan)
Poster Title: “Hierarchical macroporous-mesoporous metal foams for the detection of large macromolecules ”

Dr Olga Guselnikova received her PhD degree in chemistry from the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (Czech Republic) and Tomsk Polytechnic University (Russia) in 2019. She is a fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science at the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, and a sub-group leader of “functional materials” at Tomsk Polytechnic University. Her research interests are related to surface chemistry for functional materials. This means that she is applying her background in organic chemistry to materials science: plasmonic and polymer surfaces are hybridized with organic molecules to create high-performance elements and devices. In 2024 Dr. Guselnikova will join CEST Center for Electrochemistry and Surface Technology (Austria) to work on plastics waste as a group leader.

Nanoscale Poster Prize

Jongbeom Na (Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), South Korea)
Poster Title: “Catalytic performance enhancement of post-modified metal-organic frameworks for CO₂ cycloaddition reaction”

Jongbeom Na received his Ph.D. degree (2017) from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Yonsei University (Republic of Korea). Until 2018, he worked as a Researcher at the Chemical Laboratory of SK Chemicals Co., Ltd. After that, he joined the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at The University of Queensland as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Currently, he is a Senior Research Scientist in the Materials Architecturing Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and an Honorary Research Fellow at AIBN at The University of Queensland. His major research interest is in the design and synthesis of functional nanomaterials, organic–inorganic hybrid nanoarchitecturing, and their energy & environmental applications.

Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B & C Poster Prize

Miharu Eguchi (Waseda University, Japan)
Poster Title: “Impact on charge distribution in molecules by nano-glass surfaces”

Miharu Eguchi received her doctoral. degree from Tokyo Metropolitan University under the supervision of Prof. Haruo Inoue in 2006. She worked as a post-doctoral fellow for Prof. Thomas Mallouk at The Pennsylvania State University to form anisotropic arrangement of layered materials by their diamagnetism. She joined University of Tsukuba as an assistant professor for formation and observation of the electronic interaction between metal nanoparticles and dye molecules. The studies there were supported financially by PRESTO/JST. In 2015, she moved to National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) as a senior researcher. She is currently an Associate Professor at Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University. Her major interest is physical chemistry of organic-inorganic hybrid materials.

Materials Advances Poster Prize

Kaito Kono (Nagoya University, Japan(
Poster Title: “Electroless deposition of mesoporous film by displacement plating ”

Kaito Kono is a senior at the Nagoya University School of Engineering. His main research focus is on mesoporous metal films.

RSC Applied Interfaces Poster Prize

Jerzy F. Janik (AGH University, Poland)
Poster Title: “Infrared FT-IR insight into prolonged exposure to ambient air of semiconductor kesterite Cu₂ZnSnS₄ nanopowders prepared via mechanochemical synthesis route”

Jerzy F. Janik graduated in 1987 from the University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque, USA (Ph.D. in Chemistry). He spent several years as a post-doc and visiting professor at UNM (1990-1992, 2000-2002) and at Duke University, Durham, USA (1995-1998). Currently, he is full professor at the AGH University of Krakow, Poland. Throughout the years he has been involved in research on materials precursor chemistry and characterization of nanomaterials of a range of ceramic and semiconducting compounds such as silicon carbide SiC, SiC/C nanocomposites, and nitrides GaN, AlN, AlGaN, TiN, including high-pressure and high-temperature sintering of (i) pure GaN and AlN, (ii) the binary and ternary composites of the nitrides, and (iii) magnetically doped GaN/Mn nanopowders. Recently, his research has been focused on mechanochemical synthesis and sintering of the nanopowders of semiconductor kesterite Cu₂ZnsnS₄ for prospective photovoltaic applications.

Polymer Chemistry Poster Prize

Takashi Hamada (Nagoya University, Japan)
Poster Title: “Design and synthesis of sulfur-doped mesoporous carbons”

Takashi Hamada received his PhD from The University of Tokyo in 2010 under the direction of Professor Kazuaki Kudo. He worked at Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Hiroshima University, Waseda University, etc. He joined the group of Professor Yusuke Yamauchi at Nagoya University in 2023, and became a Specially Appointed Associate Professor. His current research focuses on the synthesis of mesoporous carbon material.

Molecular Systems Design & Engineering (MSDE) Poster Prize

Barbara Klimesz (Opole University of Technology, Poland)
Poster Title: “Impact of temperature on optical properties of oxyfluorotellurite glasses doped with praseodymium”

Currently a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Physics at the Opole University of Technology, Opole, Poland. PhD degree in Physics (2009) obtained at the Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland. Research topics include solid state physics, materials engineering and physical chemistry in the field of structural, calorimetric and spectroscopic studies. The area of research interests focuses mainly on optically active amorphous materials doped with rare earth elements (Re3+). These types of glassy systems are widely used in photonics, infrared optics, photoelectronics, telecommunications and as potential laser materials (solid-state lasers) or luminescent temperature sensors.

The Materials Horizons Poster Prize was awarded to Mayuka Iida.

Comments Off on Congratulations to the winners of the RSC prizes at Materials Oceania 2023

Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series – Shalini Singh

23 Nov 2023

By Edward Gardner, Development Editor.

Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series

Congratulations to our latest Emerging Investigator Dr Shalini Singh (University of Limerick, Ireland)!

Since the launch of Nanoscale Horizons, the journal has had a clear vision to publish exceptionally high-quality work whilst acting as a resource to researchers working at all career levels. We continue to be impressed by the quality of the research published and at the same time are looking for new ways of recognising and promoting the outstanding authors behind articles published in the journal.

Last year we launched an Emerging Investigator Series to showcase the exceptional work published by early-career researchers in the journal. We will regularly select a recently published Communication article and publish an interview-style Editorial article featuring the corresponding author. We hope that the series will also benefit the nanoscience community by highlighting the exciting work being done by its early-career members.

We are excited to share our latest Emerging Investigator, Dr Shalini Singh (University of Limerick, Ireland)!

Dr Shalini Singh is an associate professor in Chemistry at the University of Limerick. She received her PhD in chemistry from the University of Limerick in 2016 and was an FWO Postdoctoral Fellow at Ghent University, Belgium, until 2019. Since 2020, she has been leading the Functional Nanomaterial Research Group at the University of Limerick. Her research interests are focused on the development of multifunctional nanocrystals for energy conversion and storage applications.

Read our interview with Shalini here

Congratulations to Dr Shalini Singh for her excellent work! You can read her featured Emerging Investigator article from Nanoscale Horizons below, which is fully open access and free to read.

Graphical abstract image for Colloidal synthesis of the mixed ionic–electronic conducting NaSbS2 nanocrystals.

Colloidal synthesis of the mixed ionic–electronic conducting NaSbS₂ nanocrystals
Maria Zubair, Syed Abdul Ahad, Ibrahim Saana Amiinu, Vasily A. Lebedev, Mohini Mishra, Hugh Geaney, Shalini Singh and Kevin M. Ryan
Nanoscale Horiz., 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3NH00097D

We hope you enjoy reading our interview and featured article and are looking forward to sharing our future Emerging Investigators with you!

Do you publish innovative nanoscience and nanotechnology research? Submit your latest work to Nanoscale Horizons now. If you are eligible for the Emerging Investigators series, you could be considered to feature in one of our future interviews! Find out more about the eligibility criteria and the process in this editorial introducing the series.

Comments Off on Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series – Shalini Singh

NIR-triggered multifunctional CuS-embedded nanogels for advanced chronic wounds therapy

20 Nov 2023

By Jiangjiexing Wu, Community Board member.

Chronic wounds are considered a major healthcare problem all over the world. Long-term infections and/or suppressed immune responses may cause chronic wounds with slower healing, resulting in increased mortality. Although antibiotics, skin disinfectants, and hydrogels are currently being used to combat microbial pathogenesis, they still have some significant limitations when used in clinical wound healing. Therefore, researchers have been exploring alternative approaches, such as combining antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory agents for advanced chronic wound therapy.

Recently, nanomaterial-based antimicrobials have gained popularity thanks to catalytic and near-infrared (NIR) irradiation treatments, which induce controlled oxidative stress (photodynamic and catalytic therapies) and hyperthermia (photothermal therapies) to eradicate bacteria. However, little research into nanomaterial-based antimicrobial activity against biofilms and chronic wound healing in vivo has previously been reported.

Fig. 1 An overview of the properties of CuS/Qu–CNGs and their role in wound healing. Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/D3NH00275F with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

In this regard, an NIR-triggered multifunctional quercetin carbonized nanogel embedded with copper sulfide nanoclusters (CuS/Qu-CNG) was reported by Nain et al. for advanced therapy of chronic wounds. Polymerization and mild carbonation procedures were used to prepare quercetin carbonized nanogels (Qu-CNGs), which were subsequently used as templates to grow CuS in situ forming CuS/Qu-CNGs. The resulting CuS/Qu–CNGs are photoreactive and contain antioxidant and catalytic properties (oxidase- and peroxidase-like activities). As a result of their photo-responsive properties, CuS/Qu-CNGs significantly amplified their antimicrobial activity when exposed to NIR-II light. A CuS/Qu–CNGs MIC₉₀ value of 6–9 mg mL^-1 is ~125-fold lower than Qu or Qu–CNGs under NIR-II irradiation and was further improved by ~30-fold (ca. 0.2 mg mL^-1) in the presence of H₂O₂. Besides, CuS/Qu-CNGs demonstrated exceptional penetration ability, eliminating MRSA biofilms caused by diabetic wounds in diabetic mice. By suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β) and boosting anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10 and TGF-β1), CuS/Qu-CNGs significantly accelerated wound healing by promoting angiogenesis, epithelialization and collagen synthesis. Finally, CuS/Qu–CNGs showed superior in vivo efficacy in treating bacterial infections and enhancing wound healing in diabetic mice.

In summary, a “Three in One” multifunctional CuS/Qu-CNGs with excellent antimicrobial/antioxidative/anti-inflammatory properties demonstrate great potential in treating bacterial infections and promoting chronic wound healing. This work is expected to provide new solutions for wound treatment complicated by microbial pathogenesis.

To find out more, please read:

NIR-activated quercetin-based nanogels embedded with CuS nanoclusters for the treatment of drug-resistant biofilms and accelerated chronic wound healing
Amit Nain, Yu-Ting Tseng, Akash Gupta, Yu-Feng Lin, Sangili Arumugam, Yu-Fen Huang, Chih-Ching Huang and Huan-Tsung Chang
Nanoscale Horiz., 2023, 8, 1652-1664

About the blogger

Jiangjiexing Wu is an Associate Professor at Tianjin University and a member of the Nanoscale Horizons Community Board. Dr Wu’s research focuses on the rational design and synthesis of functional nanomaterials (such as nanozymes) for analytical, biomedical, and environmental applications.

Comments Off on NIR-triggered multifunctional CuS-embedded nanogels for advanced chronic wounds therapy

Defect engineering enhances CO2 reducing photocatalysts

08 Nov 2023

By Yuanxing Fang, Community Board member.

Recycling CO₂ molecules through photocatalysis represents an innovative technology to mitigate the emission of CO₂ gas. The deliberate introduction of defects into a photocatalyst plays a crucial role in optimizing photocatalytic performance, since the defects regulate the electronic structure, fine-tune selectivity by enhancing catalytic activity, and reduce the activation barrier of the catalyst.

A team of researchers based in Australia have recently developed a photocatalytic system for CO production by CO₂ reduction. In this study, defect-rich g-C₃N₄ serves as a semiconducting substrate, and it was further loaded with Ag nanoparticles (NPs) to act as a plasmonic source, resulting in the creation of the g-C₃N₄-Ag photocatalyst. The defects within the g-C₃N₄ were known as the active sites that enhance the efficiency of photocatalytic CO₂ conversion. In addition, these defects are strategically positioned alongside the loaded Ag NPs, which improves the effectiveness of injected hot electrons from the Ag NPs, thereby synergistically enhancing the activity of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction.

In the experiments involving defect-rich g-C₃N₄, different photodeposition times, including 10 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, and 5 hours, were performed to load Ag particles, denoted the as-preared photocatalyst as g-C₃N₄-Ag 10m, 1h, 3h, and 5h, respectively. These variants were evaluated for their photocatalytic performance in CO production via CO₂ reduction (Fig. 1a). The optimal performance was achieved with g-C₃N₄-Ag 1h, and the production of CO was confirmed through isotopic experiments (Fig. 1b). The g-C₃N₄-Ag photocatalysts were characterized using scanning transmission electron microscopy, as typical image is presented in Fig. 1c and the corresponding elemental mapping were presented in Fig. 1d to 1g.

Fig 1. (a) CO production rate based on various g-C₃N₄ based photocatalysts. (b) Isotope labelling experiments tested under ¹³CO₂ and ¹²CO₂, and the mass spectrometry signals at m/z = 28 and m/z = 29 are ¹³CO and ¹²CO, respectively. (c) STEM dark field image and (d)–(g) elemental mapping of g-C₃N₄-Ag 1h catalyst. Scale bar: 300 nm. Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/D3NH00348E with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

To elucidate the mechanism behind the defect engineering scenario, Ag NPs were initially loaded onto g-C₃N₄ via photodeposition. Due to the electron-rich environment of the point defects on g-C₃N₄, Ag⁺ ions selectively grow on these defect sites. The resulting g-C₃N₄-Ag composite was subsequently annealed. During this process, the new defects formed on the g-C₃N₄ substrate owing to the strain induced by the differing thermal expansion rates between the Ag and g-C₃N₄. These new defects were found to be located around the Ag NPs, representing a significant change in the pristine g-C₃N₄ following the introduction of Ag.

Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of how the defects in g-C₃N₄ improve performance. Three models of photocatalysts were considered, including pristine g-C₃N₄, g-C₃N₄ with N vacancies, and N vacancies in g-C₃N₄ with O sites on the surface. In the models of pristine g-C₃N₄ and g-C₃N₄ with N vacancies, the formation of *COOH intermediates was identified as the rate-limiting step (RDS), and moreover, N vacancies in g-C₃N₄ were found to enhance the activity in this conversion (Fig 2a). For N vacancies in g-C3N4 with additional surface O sites (Fig. 2b), the initial reaction step favored the formation of *COOH intermediates from a thermodynamic perspective. Subsequently, the reduction of *COOH intermediates to *CO species occurred by reacting with protons, releasing H₂O molecules. In the case of O-enriched g-C₃N₄, this conversion became the RDS. DFT calculations indicated that the ΔG values for *COOH and *H to form *CO and H₂O at the C defect active sites were 0.96 eV, which determined the reaction rate (Fig. 2c). These results provide insight into the reasons behind the improved performance in CO production through CO₂ reduction.

Fig 2. Optimized configurations of reaction intermediates *COOH and *CO on the C atom and N vacancy active sites of (a) g-C₃N₄ with N vacancy and (b) N vacancies in g-C₃N₄ with O sites on the surface. (Red ball is oxygen atom, white ball is hydrogen atom, gray is carbon atom, and blue is nitrogen atom) (c) Gibbs free energy diagrams for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to CO on g-C₃N₄, g-C₃N₄ with N vacancy and O-occupied g-C₃N₄. Reproduced from DOI: 10.1039/D3NH00348E with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

In summary, the deliberate introduction of active defects into g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts, strategically positioned near the plasmon centers of Ag NPs, optimizes the utilization efficiency of plasmonic hot electrons, resulting in an enhanced efficiency for CO₂ photoreduction. Importantly, this strategy has the potential for extension to various systems based on polymers, hard materials, and hybrid materials, offering promising applications that harness the functionalities of defects in a wide range of fields.

To find out more, please read the full article:

Defect engineering enhances plasmonic-hot electrons exploitation for CO₂ reduction over polymeric catalysts
Hang Yin, Zhehao Sun, Kaili Liu, Ary Anggara Wibowo, Julien Langley, Chao Zhang, Sandra E. Saji, Felipe Kremer, Dmitri Golberg, Hieu T. Nguyen, Nicholas Cox and Zongyou Yin
Nanoscale Horiz., 2023, Advance Article

About the blogger

Yuanxing Fang is a Professor at Fuzhou University, and a member of the Nanoscale Horizons Community Board. Prof. Fang’s research lab focuses on the synthesis of metal-free semiconductors for photoelectrochemical systems for energy and environmental applications, including water splitting, hydrogen peroxide synthesis, organic transformations and others.

Comments Off on Defect engineering enhances CO2 reducing photocatalysts

Nanoscale Horizons’ new Community Board members

07 Nov 2023

By Edward Gardner, Development Editor.

Introducing our new Community Board members

Discover the latest additions to the Nanoscale Horizons early-career advisory board

The Nanoscale Horizons Community Board are our eyes and ears on the ground, allowing us to better connect with early-career researchers. Since its inception in 2016, we have enjoyed working together with these board members to facilitate student, postdoctoral and early-career researcher engagement, through symposia support, journal clubs, webinars, special article collections and many other activities.

Over the summer, we requested nominations from the nanoscience academic community and were thrilled with the high calibre of candidates nominated. We are delighted to share our 27 new appointees with you who, together with continuing members, make up a Nanoscale Horizons Community Board of 50 international researchers at different stages of their early careers, ranging from PhD candidates to Professors.

Please join us in welcoming our 27 new Community Board members:

Dr Amina Benchohra, Université de Bretagne-Occidentale, France
Dr Fangfang Cao, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Professor Yihuang Chen, Wenzhou University, China
Dr Dennis Christensen, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Ms Didem Dede, EPFL, Switzerland
Dr Sara Domenici, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Dr Jingshan Du, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA
Professor Yuan Fang, Soochow University, China
Dr Susel Del Sol Fernández, University of Zaragoza, Spain
Professor Minjeong Ha, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea
Dr Xue Han, Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA
Dr Taskeen Janjua, The University of Queensland, Australia
Dr Meysam Keshavarz, Imperial College London, UK
Professor Yoonseob Kim, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
Dr Chunchun Li, Queen’s University Belfast, Ireland
Dr Zhiwei Li, Northwestern University, USA
Professor Albert Liu, University of Michigan, USA
Dr Jette Mathiesen, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Dr Dinesh Mullangi, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Professor Michael B. Ross, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA
Dr Tracy Schloemer, Stanford University, USA
Dr Qianqian Shi, Monash University, Australia
Professor Jaime Andres Perez Taborda, National University of Colombia, Colombia
Dr Chao Wang, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA
Dr Zhenhua Wu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Professor Akiko Yagi, Nagoya University, Japan
Professor Jiandong Yao, Sun Yat-sen University, China

Discover the full Community Board

You can keep up to date with the activities of our Community Board members on our blog and don’t miss their latest article summaries in our new web writer series. Our companion journal Materials Horizons has also welcomed new members to their community board, and you can find out more about their new members on their blog. We will be highlighting the members of our Community Board over the coming months in a series of interviews and look forward to sharing these with you soon.

Comments Off on Nanoscale Horizons’ new Community Board members

Congratulations to the winners of the RSC prizes at OP2023

25 Oct 2023

By Edward Gardner, Development Editor.

The 14th International Conference on Optical Probes of Organic and Hybrid Semiconductors (OP2023) took place in Como, Italy from 10–15 September 2023. Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale, Nanoscale Advances, Chemical Science, Journal of Materials Chemistry C and Materials Advances were delighted to provide poster prizes for the excellent posters shared during the conference. Please join us in congratulating our winners!

Nanoscale Horizons Poster Prize

Martina Martusciello (University of Genoa, Italy)
Poster Title: “Optomechanical characterization of mechanochromic photonic crystals”

Martina Martusciello is a PhD student at the University of Genoa (Italy), currently working in the Rely-Photonics Research Group under the supervision of Professor Davide Comoretto. Martina obtained her MSc cum Laude in Industrial Chemistry in 2022 at the University of Genoa under the joint supervision of Professors Paola Lova and Davide Comoretto, after obtaining a Bachelor’s degree cum Laude in Chemistry in 2019. Before joining the group for her PhD, she spent a period as visiting researcher at the Department of Physics of the University of Pavia, where she worked on the fabrication and study of thin films of PEDOT:PSS. Currently, her work is focused on the study of photonic applications of elastic materials and in particular on the realization of mechanochromic photonic crystals for sensing applications.

Nanoscale Poster Prize

Ilaria Venturino (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy)
Poster Title: “Light controlled bio hybrid actuators”

Ilaria Venturino is currently pursuing a PhD at Politecnico di Milano and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, under the supervision of Professor Guglielmo Lanzani. She completed both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Physics at the Università degli Studi di Milano, with honors awarded for the master’s degree. Her research focuses on skeletal muscle cells stimulated with light.

Nanoscale Advances Poster Prize

Niklas Herrmann (University of Heidelberg, Germany)
Poster Title: “Polarization-dependent strong-coupling in highly aligned PDIF-CN₂ thin films”

Niklas Herrmann is a PhD student at Heidelberg University, under the supervision of Prof. Jana Zaumseil. He obtained his M.Sc. in Chemistry in 2021 from Heidelberg University, Germany. His doctoral research is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft SFB 1249/2 Project C06 and focusses on solution-processing and analysis of electrical and optical properties of crystalline semiconducting N-heteropolycycles.

Chemical Science Poster Prize

Rakesh Arul (University of Cambridge, UK)
Poster Title: “Extreme light confinement for single-molecule mid-IR upconversion and superradiance”

Rakesh Arul recently completed his PhD in the Cavendish Laboratories, University of Cambridge with Prof. Jeremy Baumberg. He is starting as a Research Fellow of St. John’s College Cambridge to continue independent research in the field of nanophotonics and optoelectronics. His PhD research was supported by the Rutherford Foundation of the Royal Society Te Aparangi of New Zealand and the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability. His research interests include the science of how light can be trapped to the nanoscale to control optoelectronic properties and affect chemical transformations.

Materials Advances Poster Prize

Olga Vodianova (University of Glasgow, UK)
Poster Title: “Exploring exciton-exciton annihilation and exciton motion in F8BT with single molecule spectroscopy”

Olga Vodianova is a PhD student in the Hedley Single Molecule Lab, the University of Glasgow, UK, under the supervision of Dr Gordon Hedley. She obtained her MSc at Ivanovo State University of Chemistry and Technology, where her primary research interests were absorption, fluorescence and time-correlated measurements of organic fluorescent BODIPY dyes in solvents and protein media. Currently, her research is focused on studying photophysics and excited state dynamics of organic semiconductors by the means of ultrafast and single molecule spectroscopy.

The Journal of Materials Chemistry C Poster Prize was awarded to Sebastian Gorgon from the University of Cambridge for his poster entitled “Reversible spin-optical interface in luminescent radicals”.

Comments Off on Congratulations to the winners of the RSC prizes at OP2023

Congratulations to the winners of the RSC prizes at nanoDDS 2023

23 Oct 2023

By Edward Gardner, Development Editor.

The 21st Annual Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium (nanoDDS) took place in Cambridge, USA from 15–17 September 2023. Nanoscale Horizons and Nanoscale Advances were delighted to provide poster prizes for the excellent posters shared during the conference. Please join us in congratulating our winners!

Jason Zhang (MIT, USA)
Poster Title: “Vaccines combining slow delivery with follicle targeting of immunogen increase both B cell clonal expansion and diversity”

Y. Jason Zhang is a Biological Engineering PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the supervision of Dr. J. Christopher Love and Dr. Darrell J. Irvine. His research focuses on engineering vaccine delivery approaches to improve antibody-mediated immune response and developing high-throughput single-cell genomic tools and computational pipelines to study the mechanism of action of vaccines.

Photo of Patricia Michelle Nagai de Lima.

Patricia Nagai de Lima (Brown University, USA)
Poster Title: “Developing methylene blue-loaded liposomes for photodynamic therapy against Candida auris biofilms”

Patricia is a Ph.D. student and holder of a Master’s degree in Applied Sciences in Oral Health from São Paulo State University (UNESP), specializing in Microbiology and Immunology, has committed her research to exploring antimicrobial agents and infectious disease control. Currently, Patricia is concluding a prestigious scholarship as a Visiting Researcher Fellow at Brown University, School of Engineering, specializing in the development of nanomaterials for treating fungal infections. During her Master’s program, she gained recognition as a CAPES Productivity Scholar for her research into the use of phytotherapy against antibiotic-resistant clinical strains of fungi and bacteria. Patricia’s academic journey also includes endodontics training at the Odonto Sales Institute in 2020. With a Bachelor’s degree in Dentistry from the University of Vale do Paraíba (UNIVAP), she was a CNPq scholarship recipient during her undergraduate studies, conducting essential research in a biomedical engineering lab, focusing on biological assays for tissue engineering biomaterials.

Serena Omo-Lamai (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
Poster Title: “Physicochemical targeting of lipid nanoparticles to the lungs induces clotting: mechanisms and solutions”

Serena Omo-Lamai is a PhD Candidate in Bioengineering and an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision of Dr. Jacob Brenner. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering from Syracuse University. Her research interests are focused on optimizing lipid nanoparticles for applications in vaccines, therapy, and targeted drug delivery to the brain and lungs.

Comments Off on Congratulations to the winners of the RSC prizes at nanoDDS 2023

Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series – Ahu Gümrah Dumanli-Parry

17 Oct 2023

By Edward Gardner, Development Editor.

Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series

Congratulations to our latest Emerging Investigator Dr Ahu Gümrah Dumanli-Parry (University of Manchester, UK)!

We are excited to share our latest Emerging Investigator, Dr Ahu Gümrah Dumanli-Parry (University of Manchester, UK)!

Dr Ahu Gümrah Dumanli-Parry is a Materials Chemist and the first recipient of the bp-ICAM Kathleen Lonsdale Research Fellowship received in 2019 for her work on bio-inspired advanced materials. She obtained her PhD from the Sabanci University, Istanbul and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge and Adolphe Merkle Institute in Switzerland.

Dr Dumanli-Parry’s research group focuses on understanding of the self-assembly process in nature and mimicking it to produce structurally ordered materials. Dr Dumanli-Parry investigates the complex relationship between the intrinsic properties of colloidal building blocks and the physical effects that modulate the self-assembly process to build active matter for sensing technologies and shape morphing systems as well as light harvesting applications.

Read our interview with Ahu here

Congratulations to Dr Ahu Gümrah Dumanli-Parry for her excellent work! You can read her featured Emerging Investigator article from Nanoscale Horizons below, which is free to access until the end of November 2023.

Graphical abstract image for Edible cellulose-based colorimetric timer.

Edible cellulose-based colorimetric timer
Gen Kamita, Silvia Vignolini and Ahu Gümrah Dumanli
Nanoscale Horiz., 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3NH00006K

We hope you enjoy reading our interview and featured article and are looking forward to sharing our future Emerging Investigators with you!

Comments Off on Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series – Ahu Gümrah Dumanli-Parry

Nanoscale Horizons blog

Measuring carrier density and mobility in single-walled carbon nanotubes via nuclear magnetic resonance

Congratulations to the winner of the Nanoscale Horizons prize at MEMRISYS 2023

Congratulations to the winners of the RSC prizes at Materials Oceania 2023

Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series – Shalini Singh

Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series

Congratulations to our latest Emerging Investigator Dr Shalini Singh (University of Limerick, Ireland)!

Read our interview with Shalini here

NIR-triggered multifunctional CuS-embedded nanogels for advanced chronic wounds therapy

Defect engineering enhances CO2 reducing photocatalysts

Nanoscale Horizons’ new Community Board members

Introducing our new Community Board members

Discover the latest additions to the Nanoscale Horizons early-career advisory board

Discover the full Community Board

Congratulations to the winners of the RSC prizes at OP2023

Congratulations to the winners of the RSC prizes at nanoDDS 2023

Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series – Ahu Gümrah Dumanli-Parry

Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series

Congratulations to our latest Emerging Investigator Dr Ahu Gümrah Dumanli-Parry (University of Manchester, UK)!

Read our interview with Ahu here

Links

Categories

Archives

Meta