NJC Blog

Dr Tran Thu Huong focuses her research on materials science, especially rare-earth-doped luminescent materials and nano-structured materials for biomedical applications. She works at the Institute of Materials Science (IMS) within the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST).

In their paper, Tran and co-workers show the influences of chemical composition and pH on the size, shape, morphology and luminescence properties of EuPO₄•H₂O materials during the fabrication process. The authors also demonstrated that the materials act as an alternative labelling tool for recognizing the measles virus.

The project was initiated in response to a request from biologists for strongly luminescent materials for labelling. According to Tran, the success of the study relied on efficient teamwork, support and provision of research facilities from the IMS, and the wonderful collaboration with scientists at the Vietnamese Center for Vaccine Research and Production of Biologicals.

Tran is very proud of General Vo Nguyen Giap, one of the most important figures in the history of Vietnam and well known throughout the world as a prominent commander who won victories in the Dien Bien Phu battle as well as during the Vietnam War. She adds: “In my opinion, he was also a leader with a strategic vision as he showed a special interest for culture and science. He often attended cultural events and meetings with scientists where his speech always focused to favour development.”

Read Tran’s NJC article:

Fabrication and optical characterization of multimorphological nanostructured materials containing Eu(III) in phosphate matrices for biomedical application
T. T. Huong, L.T. Vinh, T. K. Anh, H. T. Khuyen, H. T. Phuong and L. Q. Minh
New J. Chem., 2014, 38, 2114–2119. DOI: 10.1039/c3nj01206a

Dr Marcela Gazitúa López works at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile and specializes in physical chemistry, chemical kinetics and computational chemistry.

Her paper describes an experimental study of the effect of solvation on the mechanisms of nucleophilic substitution reactions. Marcela and her colleagues compared the results in water with those in 20 conventional organic solvents (COS) and 17 ionic liquids on the basis of solvent polarity indicators.

The work began in 2012 as part of a postdoctoral project covering the experimental-theoretical study of conventional solvents and ionic liquids as reaction media. Marcela is proud to present her first postdoctoral work in NJC which, according to her, is a “a chemistry journal that will rise in impact because of a wide scope that will appeal to a broad readership”.

Her favourite historical figure is Albert Einstein whom she admires for the importance and magnitude of his discoveries.

Read Marcela’s NJC article:

Mechanistic pathways in aromatic nucleophilic substitution in conventional solvents and ionic liquids
Marcela Gazitúa, Ricardo A. Tapia, Renato Contreras and Paola R. Campodónico
New J. Chem., 2014, 38, 2611–2618DOI: 10.1039/C4NJ00130C

Dr Abdul Hameed, Assistant Professor at Kohat University of Science and Technology (Pakistan), focuses his research on the synthesis of noble metal nanoparticles and their applications in the field of medicine and analytical chemistry. 

According to Abdul and his co-workers, their NJC paper, dealing with the use of noble metal nanoparticles in the field of enzyme inhibition, opens the gates for future research into this field.

Abdul is a synthetic organic chemist who loves nanotechnology, especially noble metal nanoparticles. His work in this area is, however, hampered by the lack of facilities in Pakistan. This is one of the reasons why his group recorded TEM images for the paper in South Korea.

Abdul’s dream is “to dive in the depth of nanotechnology” by going abroad to work with other hard-working research groups. “I hope I will find it very soon”, he says, to which we wish him the best of luck! 

Synergistic enzyme inhibition effect of Cefuroxime by conjugation with gold and silver
Abdul Hameed, Sehrish Fatima, Faiz Ur Rahman, Tae-Ho Yoon, Andaleeb Azam,  Shaukat Khan, Ajmal Khan and Nazar Ul Islam.
New J. Chem., 2014, 38, 1641-1646. DOI: 10.1039/C3NJ00974B (Paper)

Our second author, Dr Suresh Kumar Kailasa, is an Assistant Professor at the S. V. National Institute of Technology (India). Suresh is principally interested in nano- and bio-analytical chemistry, mass spectrometry, sensors and proteomics.

In their paper, Suresh Kumar and his colleagues report the use of p-amino salicylic acid dithiocarbamate functionalized gold nanoparticles (NPs) as colourimetric sensors for selective and sensitive determination of Fe³⁺ ions in plasma.

The results show that the Fe³⁺ ion induces the aggregation of the modified Au NPs via the formation of a covalent coordination bond between it and an organic derivative on the surface of the Au NPs, leading to a colour change from red to blue that can be observed with the naked eye.

They have developed straightforward methods for both the functionalization of Au NPs and the characterization of the NP aggregation induced by the Fe³⁺ ion. The functionalized Au NPs did not react with other metal ions and, therefore, were demonstrated to be selective for Fe³⁺ in both biological and environmental samples.

 Suresh Kumar’s dream is to develop miniaturized, nanomaterial-based analytical tools for inorganic, organic and biomolecule assays.

 Sensitive and selective colorimetric sensing of Fe³⁺ ion by using p-amino salicylic acid dithiocarbamate functionalized gold nanoparticles
Vaibhavkumar N. Mehta, Suresh Kumar Kailasa and Hui-Fen Wu.
New J. Chem., 2014, 38, 1503-1511. DOI: 10.1039/C3NJ01468A (Paper)

With his research group, Prof. William Skene works on conjugated materials prepared via simple methods and assesses their optoelectronic properties at the University of Montreal (Canada). 

Many organic materials undergo visible colour changes either when oxidized or reduced  however there are few materials which can do both. 

In their paper, Will and his co-workers demonstrated that a reversible colour change upon both oxidation and reduction was possible with an easily-prepared, conjugated construct consisting of motifs known for their reversible redox properties.

This research started as a summer project with a different aim before the unusual colour change behavior of the material was keenly observed by the student conducting the experiments.

 In order to delight taste buds, Will confesses that his dream is to be an outstanding pastry chef!

 Towards Multichromatic Electrochromes from Ambipolar Conjugated Azomethines
Michael E. Mulholland, Daminda Navarathne, Samim Khedri and W. G. Skene
New J. Chem., 2014, 38, 1668-1674. DOI: 10.1039/C4NJ00027G  (Paper)

Thanks to Abdul, Suresh and Will for sharing a bit of themselves with our readers. Join us again next month for more portraits in “Meet Our Authors”.

By Cynthia Challencin, Publishing Assistant

Katalin Ősz, Associate Professor at the University of Debrecen (Hungary), focuses her work on kinetics of inorganic (photo)reactions.

In their NJC Paper, Katalin and her colleagues studied the structure-reactivity relationships in the oxidation of water-soluble quinones, which are sensitive to light and may have an important role in utilizing solar power. It was learned that otherwise nonreactive substituents can change several redox and kinetic properties and thus tune the reactivity. She also explains that NJC seemed to be an ideal venue because it offers a nice selection of papers from all the fields of chemistry for a general audience.

During her spare time, Katalin enjoys listening to classical music, hiking (mostly downhill), reading and traveling. The latest is demonstrated by the photo picturing the first author of the article, Éva Józsa (on the left), and herself in front of Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West (Florida), which they visited while attending a GRC conference on Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms.

Kinetic studies of hydroxyquinone formation from water soluble benzoquinones by Éva Józsa, Mihály Purgel, Marianna Bihari, Péter Pál Fehér, Gábor Sustyák, Balázs Várnagy, Virág Kiss, Eszter Ladó and Katalin Ősz, New J. Chem., 2014, 38, 588-597. DOI: 10.1039/C3NJ01274C (Paper)

Bong-Hyun Jun, Assistant Professor at Konkuk University (Korea), works on the synthesis of nanoparticles (metal, QDs, silica) and their applications, but also on organic synthesis and surface modification.

In their NJC Letter, Bong-Hyun and co-workers report the fabrication of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) using silica-coated quantum dot-embedded silica nanoparticles (SiO2/QD/SiO2 NPs) as a light-harvesting layer. According to them, these nanoparticles, which are brighter than single QDs, enable an easier handling because of their bigger size. The fact that they can be prepared in large quantity shows that they could be applied to several fields such solar cells, protein detection and in vivo imaging.

Bong-Hyun studied at UC Berkeley in California and traveled to several places with his family. He reports: “I was impressed by the natural landscape of California. Especially, Yosemite National Park was outstanding and we had a really great time there.” He now would like to have the chance to visit Europe!

Dye-sensitized solar cell with silica-coated quantum dot-embedded nanoparticles used as a light harvesting layer by Won-Yeop Rho, Jung-Woo Choi, Hea-Yeon Lee, San Kyeong, Sang Hun Lee, Heung Su Jung, Seunho Jung, Yung-Eun Sung, Yoon-Sik Leeb and Bong-Hyun Jun*, New J. Chem., 2014, 38, 910-913. DOI: 10.1039/C3NJ01345F (Letter)

Our second author, Miss Shan Peng, Ph.D. student at the South China University of Technology, focuses her work on biomimetic/fabrication and performance characterization of superhydrophobic surfaces based on an Al substrate.

After the discovery of the hierarchical macroporous alumina template, Shan and her collegues introduced a simple template-wetting method to prepare superhydrophobic PMMA macroporous surfaces with diverse water adhesion reported in their NJC Paper.

Shan’s favorite place in China is Guangzhou, one of the most developed cities. She appreciates the convenience of the public transport and the warm weather even during winter, since she does not like cold weather. Moreover, Guangzhou is famous for its variety of flowers, which has given it the name of ‘Flower city’.

A facile approach for preparing biomimetic polymer macroporous structures with petal or lotus effects by Shan Peng and Wenli Deng*, New J. Chem., 2014, 38, 1011-1018. DOI: 10.1039/C3NJ01156A (Paper)

Panayiotis Andreas Koutentis (aka Pani) is Associate Professor in Organic chemistry at the University of Cyprus. His team focuses on heteroatom rich systems. There is no specific target, but rather they identify heterocyclic systems that are potentially useful but under-exploited. Students then develop their technical, theoretical and more importantly creative skills by exploring these systems. “I encourage my students to adopt an orthogonal approach to their work, except of course when they must publish!”

In their NJC Paper, Pani and co-workers describe the magnetic properties of a readily prepared and structurally interesting fused Blatter radical. According to them, the information provided could assist in the design of radicals with tailor-made solid-state properties, which can potentially find use in a range of organic electronic applications.

Pani would like to address special thanks to Prof. Fred Wudl as he worked for him on benzotriazinyls as a post doc. “Fred gave me his blessing to continue exploring the chemistry of the system once I started my independent career.”

Pani has travelled extensively and India is by far the most exciting country he has visited. According to him, the people are friendly and hospitable, the food is excellent and there is an incredible diversity on many levels.

Effective exchange coupling in alternating-chains of a π-extended 1,2,4-benzotriazin-4-yl by Christos P. Constantinides, Andrey A. Berezin, Maria Manoli, Gregory M. Leitus, Michael Bendikov, Jeremy M. Rawson and Panayiotis A. Koutentis*, New J. Chem., 2014, 38, 949-954. DOI: 10.1039/ C3NJ01235B (Paper)