NJC Blog

Source: © Shutterstock The Chernobyl nuclear power plant where a domed concrete structure is being built to contain the still highly radioactive reactor

Scientists in France have developed a nanoparticle-based formulation of Prussian blue, which could lead to better treatments for people who have been exposed to radioactive contamination.

Large quantities of radioactive contaminants can be released into the environment during nuclear weapon tests or accidents at nuclear reactors – such as those that occurred in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986, and more recently in Fukushima, Japan. Radioactive caesium isotopes are among the more common fission products that escape during such events and are easily absorbed by the human body. Exposure to radioactive caesium can cause many different types of cancer, neurological effects and in extreme cases rapid death.

The full story can be read in Chemistry World.

The original article is free to access until the 24^th May 2017 and can be read below:

In situ synthesis of Prussian blue nanoparticles within a biocompatible reverse micellar system for in vivo Cs⁺ uptake
Yannick Guari et al.,
New J. Chem., 2017, 41, 2887-2890
DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ03770D

Following the success of Peer Review Week in September 2016 (dedicated to reviewer recognition) during which we published a list of our top reviewers, we are delighted to announce that we will continue to recognise the contribution that our reviewers make to the journal by announcing our Outstanding Reviewers each year.

We would like to highlight the Outstanding Reviewers for New Journal of Chemistry in 2016, as selected by the editorial team, for their significant contribution to the journal. The reviewers have been chosen based on the number, timeliness and quality of the reports completed over the last 12 months.

We would like to say a big thank you to those individuals listed here as well as to all of the reviewers that have supported the journal. Each Outstanding Reviewer will receive a certificate to give recognition for their significant contribution.

Dr Si-Xue Cheng, Wuhan University
Professor Antonio Frontera, Universitat de les Illes Balears
Professor Stephen Hashmi, Universität Heidelberg
Professor Jonathan Lindsey, North Carolina State University
Dr Adrian Ruff, Ruhr-Uni-Bochum
Professor Ben Zhong Tang, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Dr Giuseppe Trusso Sfrazzetto, University of Catania
Dr Qiongyou Wu, Central China Normal University
Dr Yi Xia, Chongqing University

We would also like to thank the New Journal of Chemistry board and the Inorganic community for their continued support of the journal, as authors, reviewers and readers.

If you would like to become a reviewer for our journal, just email us with details of your research interests and an up-to-date CV or résumé.  You can find more details in our author and reviewer resource centre

ORCID provides an identifier for individuals to use with their name as they engage in research, scholarship and innovation activities, ensuring authors gain full credit for their work.

Today, we signed their open letter, along with ACS Publications, committing to unambiguous identification of all authors that publish in our journals.

The official press release can be read here.

The last outside cover of the year 2016 is proposed by Dr David Magri (University of Malta). In their study, Dr Magri and his co-workers design and synthesize two novel ‘Pourbaix sensors’ based on a naphthalimide fluorophore according to a ‘fluorophore–spacer1–receptor–spacer2–electron-donor’ design. Their results contribute to the emerging number of intelligent molecular and supramolecular devices responsive to oxidants and pH. The authors are currently exploring the use of naphthalimide-based ‘Pourbaix sensors’ for molecular biosensing and environmental diagnostic applications.

Water-soluble naphthalimide-based ‘Pourbaix sensors’: pH and redox-activated fluorescent AND logic gates based on photoinduced electron transfer
Alex D. Johnson, Kyle A. Paterson, Jake C. Spiteri, Sergey A. Denisov, Gediminas Jonusauskas, Arnaud Tron, Nathan D. McClenaghan and David C. Magri*.
New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 9917-9922. DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ02023B.

You can access the entire table of contents of the December issue of NJC here.

The October outside cover is proposed by Prof. Timothy P. Hanusa (Vanderbilt University, USA). In this article, the authors report a series of heavy alkaline-earth iodide coordination compounds containing various neutral donor ligands: phosphine oxides, ureas and the nitrobenzene dimer. These donors were chosen for their range of basicity and steric demand, to determine how well they could compete with the iodide ligand. The observed reactivity patterns suggest that ureas deserve more widespread use in group 2 chemistry, as they have a basicity that exceeds that of phosphine oxides, are available with a variety of substituents, and are inexpensive.

Selective modification of the metal coordination environment in heavy alkaline-earth iodide complexes
Lacey S. Fitts, Eric J. Bierschenk, Timothy P. Hanusa,* Arnold L. Rheingold, Maren Pink and Victor G. Young, Jr. New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 8229-8238. DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ01713D.

Do not hesitate to browse the entire table of contents of the October issue to discover the 9 Letters and 86 Articles. Click here!

This month, the outside cover is proposed by Dr Jinbao Guo (Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China). In their work, the authors develop a facile bilayered structural device composed of a silver nanoparticle array with a liquid crystal elastomer. The device is elastic and changes color by sensing deformations induced by changing temperature, attributed to alignment of the liquid crystal molecules induced by the nanoparticle array. This actuator design could be a promising candidate for smart environmental-responsive devices such as thermal-camouflage skin and color-changing actuators.

A color-changing plasmonic actuator based on silver nanoparticle array/liquid crystalline elastomer nanocomposites
Yang Shi, Chao Zhu, Juntao Li, Jie Wei and Jinbao Guo, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 7311-7319. DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ00492J.

Miss Maruša Mazej designed the inside cover to illustrate a study by Dr Zoran Mazej and his colleague Dr Goreshnik (Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia). Based on a short communication published in 1976 presenting three compounds described as XeF₆·TiF₄, 4XeF₆·TiF₄ and XeF₆·2TiF₄, and on the synthesis of [XeF₅]₃[Ti₄F₁₉] (i.e. 3XeF₆·4TiF₄) published in 2009, the authors reveal in this study the crystal structures of these 3 compounds, which can be formulated as XeF₅TiF₅, [XeF₅]₅[Ti₁₀F₄₅] and [XeF₅][Ti₃F₁₃]. [XeF₅]₅[Ti₁₀F₄₅] contains the largest known discrete decameric [Ti₁₀F₄₅]⁵⁻ anion built from ten TiF₆ octahedra that share vertices and that are arranged in a double-star shape.

Largest perfluorometallate [Ti₁₀F₄₅]⁵⁻ oligomer and polymeric ([Ti₃F₁₃]⁻)_∞ and ([TiF₅]⁻)_∞ anions prepared as [XeF₅]⁺ salts
Zoran Mazej and Evgeny A. Goreshnika, New J. Chem., 2016, 40, 7320-7325. DOI: 10.1039/C6NJ00955G.

Discover the full contents of the September issue here.