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RSC Advances Emerging Investigators Series 2022 – Author Spotlight

Welcome to our Emerging Investigators Series 2022! This series, led by Prof Shirley Nakagaki (Federal University of Paraná, Brazil) and Dr Fabienne Dumoulin (Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar Universit, Türkiye), highlights the very best work from early-career researchers in all areas of chemistry. 10 papers were published as part of the collection spanning the breadth of chemistry on topics ranging from green and environmental chemistry, to biological and bioinorganic chemistry, as well as papers that propose theoretical calculations as solutions to chemistry problems. You can read all about the contributions in this accompanying Editorial prepared by Shirley.

We would like to take this opportunity to highlight an author from the series, Prof Dr Noémie Elgrishi. We interviewed Noémie to find out more about her area of research and her contribution to the series.

Impact of the choice of buffer on the electrochemical reduction of Cr(vi) in water on carbon electrodes
Callie M. Stern, Devin D. Meche and Noémie Elgrishi
RSC Adv., 2022,12, 32592-32599

Noémie Elgrishi is an assistant professor at Louisiana State University. A native of France, Noémie worked in the labs of Jonathan Nitschke (University of Cambridge) and Daniel Nocera (MIT, now Harvard University) during her Master’s degree (Sorbonne University, formerly University Pierre and Marie Curie – Paris 6). After obtaining a PhD from Sorbonne University working with Marc Fontecave (Collège de France), during which she was named a 2012 Scifinder Future Leader, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher under the mentorship of Jillian Dempsey (UNC-Chapel Hill) for 2 years. Since starting at LSU in 2017, Noémie’s group has developed a fundamental-science-first approach to interrogate environmentally relevant problems. Research centers on the intersection of electrochemistry and supramolecular chemistry to answer key questions related to water and energy challenges. Noémie Elgrishi received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation in 2021 and will be an editorial broad member for the Journal of Coordination Chemistry starting in 2023.

Could you briefly explain the focus of your article to the non-specialist (in one or two sentences only) and why it is of current interest?

Electrochemical methods are well-suited to reduce toxic hexavalent chromium to purify drinking water, but the challenge is mitigating the energetic cost associated with the transfer of the large number of protons and electrons required all while using cheap carbon electrodes. Here we show how the choice of buffer, not simply the pH, influences the reaction and we also demonstrate a very simple way to recycle electrodes if they get fouled during use.

How big an impact could your results potentially have?

The work helps establish that in the conditions studied: 1) cheap carbon electrodes can be used instead of noble metals, 2) Cr(VI) reduction is gated by a similar proton-coupled electron transfer step in multiple buffers, 3) some buffers promote adsorption of the resulting Cr(III) on the electrode, and 4) it is possible to restore the electrode surface and regain activity with a simple rinse, without the need for re-polishing. Combined, these open the way to the development of water purification flow systems to reduce Cr(VI) in water.

Could you explain the motivation behind this study?

The motivation is to advance electrochemical water purification, specifically targeting toxic hexavalent chromium, by leveraging knowledge from the community working on Proton-Coupled Electron Transfers. At its core, the challenge of Cr(VI) reduction is the efficient transfer of multiple protons and electrons. This is thermodynamically easy but kinetically challenging. Before developing catalysts to mediate the transformation, it was important to identify the parameters influencing direct electroreduction of Cr(VI) at an electrode.

In your opinion, what are the key design considerations for your study?

Realizing that buffers are not inert innocent spectators! We are so used to thinking of buffers in water as a means to work at a fixed pH, without really considering the effect of the specific acid/bases added.

Which part of the work towards this paper proved to be most challenging?

Experimentally, the observation of Cr(III) plating on the electrode in certain conditions significantly increased the time required for data collection as freshly polished electrodes were required for every single scan. Scientifically, realizing that the buffer was the cause of these changes in behavior was the most challenging.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

I am excited about our progress on developing electrocatalysts to further mediate the Cr(VI) reduction transformation, as well as applying lessons learned to other problematic oxyanions contaminating water supplies.

How has your research evolved from your first article to this particular article?

Our fist paper on this project demonstrated that carbon electrodes are effective for the reduction of Cr(VI) in water across a wide range of pH. We were using a citrate buffer for that work as we were covering a large pH range. In this new paper we explore how that seemingly innocuous choice of buffer actually impacts many steps of the Cr(VI) reduction process.

What is the next step? What work is planned?

We would like to develop electrocatalysts to speed up the reaction and, critically, decrease the energy required (lowering the overpotential). We have made progress in that direction and hope to be able to share more soon.

Why did you want to publish in RSC Advances?

I value the RSC as a non-profit scientific society. I also love the ease of submitting papers to the RSC when using the template, with auto-populating fields which speeds up the submission process. I chose RSC Advances specifically as it is a general journal with a broad audience.

What are your thoughts on open access publishing?

It is fantastic to hear that the RSC, and others, are moving to open access. I just hope funding follows, since the current model is to let the researcher somehow cover the costs. This could create a model where only the top funded groups are even able to consider publishing in the top journals (given the large cost), and where decisions on which journal to consider to submit a paper are based on the cost first instead, of journal audience or fit.

 

RSC Advances Royal Society of Chemistry

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RSC Advances Emerging Investigators Series 2022 – Author Spotlight

Welcome to our Emerging Investigators Series 2022! This series, led by Prof Shirley Nakagaki (Federal University of Paraná, Brazil) and Dr Fabienne Dumoulin (Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar Universit, Türkiye), highlights the very best work from early-career researchers in all areas of chemistry. 10 papers were published as part of the collection spanning the breadth of chemistry on topics ranging from green and environmental chemistry, to biological and bioinorganic chemistry, as well as papers that propose theoretical calculations as solutions to chemistry problems. You can read all about the contributions in this accompanying Editorial prepared by Shirley.

We would like to take this opportunity to highlight an author from the series, Dr Kelly M. Schultz. We interviewed Kelly to find out more about her area of research and her contribution to the series.

Gelation phase diagrams of colloidal rod systems measured over a large composition space
Shiqin He, Marco Caggioni, Seth Lindberg and Kelly M. Schultz
RSC Adv., 2022,12, 12902-12912

Dr. Kelly M. Schultz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Lehigh University. She obtained her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University in 2006 and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering with Professor Eric Furst from the University of Delaware in 2011 as a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow. While at Delaware, she was invited to speak in the American Chemical Society Excellence in Graduate Polymers Research Symposium and was selected as the Fraser and Shirley Russell Teaching Fellow. Following her PhD, she was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral research associate at the University of Colorado at Boulder working in the laboratory of Professor Kristi Anseth. As a postdoc, she was invited to participate in the Distinguished Young Scholars Summer Seminar Series at the University of Washington. She began her position as Assistant Professor at Lehigh University in 2013, was named a P.C. Rossin Assistant Professor from 2016 – 2018 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019. Dr. Schultz was named one of TA Instruments Distinguished Young Rheologists (2014), awarded a NSF CAREER award (2018), the Lehigh University Libsch Early Career Research Award (2019), the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science Excellence in Research Scholarship & Leadership (2020), a National Institutes of Health – National Institute of General Medical Sciences Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA R35, 2022) and named the Pirkey Centennial Lecturer by the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (2022). Dr. Schultz and her research group study emerging gel materials developed for applications from consumer products to materials that can enhance and restart wound healing. Of particular interest is the development of bulk and microrheological techniques that measure how 3D encapsulated human mesenchymal stem cells degrade and remodel synthetic hydrogel scaffolds during motility.

Could you briefly explain the focus of your article to the non-specialist (in one or two sentences only) and why it is of current interest?

This work focuses on characterizing the material properties of different formulations of a colloidal fibrous gel. These materials are used in fabric and home care products and this work provides a table where the desired material properties can be looked up eliminating trial-and-error experiments during product development.

How big an impact could your results potentially have?

This work is in collaboration with engineers at Procter & Gamble. We are working with some of their materials but also exploring new materials with similar dimensions that they are interested in using in consumer products. So there is potential for our work to inform the design of new products. To the greater scientific community, this work provides a methodology for tackling material characterization over a large formulation space, which can also have an impact.

Could you explain the motivation behind this study?

As I mentioned in the previous question, this has been a long standing collaboration with Procter & Gamble. We started working with colloidal fibers that they currently use in their fabric and home care products. Since then we have expanded the work to investigate different Fibers to determine if they can also be used as rheological modifiers. Beyond enabling the use of these materials in new products, my group is interested in developing new characterization and analysis techniques. This work uses established characterization techniques to collect data but as you can see in the presentation of the data, we aim to maximize the information we can get from a measurement and that is always a motivation behind our work.

In your opinion, what are the key design considerations for your study?

The key design consideration for our study was to systematically traverse a large formulation space experimentally. Then we wanted to find a way to present this large set of data that would enable a researcher that is working in formulations to use this as a lookup table to inform the design of their product.

Which part of the work towards this paper proved to be most challenging?

The interpretation and presentation of the data was quite challenging. We had a large amount of data and at some point you realize that the more data you have the harder it is to interpret it. Being able to organize it in a way that we could show trends and draw conclusions was really a challenge.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

This work is evolving to use more sustainable colloidal fibers, something both my group and our collaborators are interested in. This is really exciting since it has the potential to use a waste product in new formulations.

How has your research evolved from your first article to this particular article?

Our first article on this work was developed analysis methods to interpret microrheological data to characterize a heterogeneous colloidal gel. All of the work since that time has built upon this to give us a toolbox of characterization and analysis techniques that allows us to effectively interpret our data, even in complex systems. We have also started characterizing new colloidal gel systems, which are very exciting. Using these techniques and previous knowledge to characterize the rheology of these materials, we hope to enable their use in products.

What is the next step? What work is planned?

As mentioned previously, we are moving on to a sustainable colloid, a waste product. We are characterizing this material to see if we can modify the colloid to enable it’s use as a rheological modifier in fabric and home care products. We are really excited about this work and the direction that the project is taking.

Why did you want to publish in RSC Advances?

We thought that this was not only an interesting study of these particular materials but also a really nice way to characterize, analyze and present this type of data. The reason we chose RSC Advances was because of the wide readership. We thought getting not only the results but the technique to a wider audience would have a bigger impact.

 

RSC Advances Royal Society of Chemistry

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RSC Advances Emerging Investigators Series 2022 – Author Spotlight

Welcome to our Emerging Investigators Series 2022! This series, led by Prof Shirley Nakagaki (Federal University of Paraná, Brazil) and Dr Fabienne Dumoulin (Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar Universit, Türkiye), highlights the very best work from early-career researchers in all areas of chemistry. 10 papers were published as part of the collection spanning the breadth of chemistry on topics ranging from green and environmental chemistry, to biological and bioinorganic chemistry, as well as papers that propose theoretical calculations as solutions to chemistry problems. You can read all about the contributions in this accompanying Editorial prepared by Shirley.

We would like to take this opportunity to highlight an author from the series, Prof Dr Julio Cezar Pastre. We interviewed Julio to find out more about his area of research and his contribution to the series.

Continuous flow Meerwein–Ponndorf–Verley reduction of HMF and furfural using basic zirconium carbonate
Henrique Magri Marçon and Julio Cezar Pastre
RSC Adv., 2022,12, 7980-7989

Julio C. Pastre obtained his PhD in 2009 under the guidance of Professor Carlos Roque D. Correia at the University of Campinas – UNICAMP. He then worked as a research scientist at Rhodia-Solvay before moving back to UNICAMP for postdoctoral studies with Professor Ronaldo A. Pilli. In 2012, he joined the group of Professor Steven V. Ley at the University of Cambridge. Two years later, Julio established his independent research group at UNICAMP and recently became an Associate Professor. In 2019, he was recognized as an ‘Emerging Investigator’ by Reaction Chemistry & Engineering and as a ‘New Talent from the Americas’ by RSC Medicinal Chemistry. Julio was chosen by the editorial boards of Synthesis, Synlett, and Synfacts as one of their ‘Thieme Chemistry Journals Awardees’ for 2023. His research interest focuses on the development of new synthetic methods in batch under microwave irradiation and under continuous flow conditions for the synthesis of platform molecules, new chemicals and APIs.

Could you briefly explain the focus of your article to the non-specialist and why it is of current interest?

In this work, we explored the valorization of two biobased chemicals (HMF and furfural) that can, for example, be used in the synthesis of polymers and are important intermediates to reduce our fossil-dependency and mitigate environmental issues.

How big an impact could your results potentially have?

By designing new synthetic methods that take full advantage of the capabilities of new enabling technologies, one will inevitably end up with greener, cleaner processes.

Could you explain the motivation behind this study?

We are keen to develop new processes for the synthesis of high value-added compounds from biomass derivatives in continuous flow regime.

In your opinion, what are the key design considerations for your study?

Our group has already identified continuous flow processing as a fundamental technology for the valorization of biomass derivatives, so that any designed methods can be rapidly scaled to manufacture. Moreover, many of the principles of Green Chemistry can be met by embracing new technologies that are inherently cleaner when compared to the traditional approaches.

Which part of the work towards this paper proved to be most challenging?

Although the process concerns just a reduction of an aldehyde, the obtention of a selective process is quite challenging since several competitive reactions can take place leading, for example, to the formation of humins.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

We are excited about the impact that flow chemistry can have in the valorization of biomass considering its key advantages, such as better control of heat and mass transfer, improved mixing, and safety profile.

How has your research evolved from your first article to this particular article?

Most of our previous works were done under homogeneous conditions. The use of heterogeneous catalysts in a fixed-bed reactor represents a good evolution in view of catalyst recycling, product separation and throughput.

What is the next step? What work is planned?

We want to apply these findings to other biobased chemicals and develop an integrated approach for the valorization of these materials.

Why did you want to publish in RSC Advances?

I’m a reader of RSC Advances, which publishes high impact research. So, it is a great pleasure to have our work published in such a prestigious journal.

What are your thoughts on open access publishing?

I believe open access publishing is going to be dominant soon since it gives access to a broader community and “democratize” science.

 

RSC Advances Royal Society of Chemistry

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RSC Advances Emerging Investigators Series 2022 – Meet the Authors

We are delighted to present the 2022 edition of the RSC Advances Emerging Investigators Series! Following the success of our inaugural 2021 edition, we are excited to continue highlighting the chemistry research being conducted by some of the leading investigators in our community.

This year’s Series Editors were Professor Shirley Nakagaki (Federal University of Paraná, Brazil) and Dr Fabienne Dumoulin (Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar Universit, Türkiye. The 10 articles featured come from various countries and continents, delving into molecular and solid-state chemistry with diverse applications, primarily in the areas of green and environmental chemistry, as well as biological and bioinorganic chemistry. Additionally, we have included papers that propose theoretical calculations as solutions to chemistry problems. You can read all about the contributions in this accompanying Editorial, prepared by Shirley.

Please see below the biographies of some of the brilliant authors who have been published in the 2022 collection:

Ashutosh Kumar Mishra

Modulating catalytic activity of a modified flavin analogue via judicially positioned metal ion toward aerobic sulphoxidation

Dr Ashutosh Kumar Mishra was born in Gorakhpur and obtained his master’s degree from Gorakhpur university. He later moved to IIT-Kanpur for his doctoral degree where he worked under the supervision of Prof Sandeep Verma on scalable structural complexities in metal-nucleobase interactions. Working as postdoctoral scholar with Prof Frederick D Lewis at Northwestern University, USA, he was involved in investigating the dynamics and mechanism of photoinduced charge transport in DNA. Ashutosh started his independent research career at IIT-Hyderabad India where he is currently working as assistant professor. His current research interest focuses on understanding and exploring bio-molecular systems through small chemical modifications, especially synthetic peptide motifs and flavin based dinucleotide systems with potential biomedical applications and for next generation biomimetic systems.

 

Noémie Elgrishi

Impact of the choice of buffer on the electrochemical reduction of Cr(vi) in water on carbon electrodes

Noémie Elgrishi is an assistant professor at Louisiana State University. A native of France, Noémie worked in the labs of Jonathan Nitschke (University of Cambridge) and Daniel Nocera (MIT, now Harvard University) during her Master’s degree (Sorbonne University, formerly University Pierre and Marie Curie – Paris 6). After obtaining a PhD from Sorbonne University working with Marc Fontecave (Collège de France), during which she was named a 2012 Scifinder Future Leader, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher under the mentorship of Jillian Dempsey (UNC-Chapel Hill) for 2 years. Since starting at LSU in 2017, Noémie’s group has developed a fundamental-science-first approach to interrogate environmentally relevant problems. Research centers on the intersection of electrochemistry and supramolecular chemistry to answer key questions related to water and energy challenges. Noémie Elgrishi received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation in 2021 and will be an editorial broad member for the Journal of Coordination Chemistry starting in 2023.

Lars Goerigk

Noncovalently bound excited-state dimers: a perspective on current time-dependent density functional theory approaches applied to aromatic excimer models

Lars Goerigk is an Associate Professor at the School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Australia. In 2011, he obtained his PhD in the group of Prof. Stefan Grimme, Münster in Germany, and then relocated to The University of Sydney to work with Prof. Jeffrey Reimers before joining his present institution in 2014. His area of expertise is Theoretical and Computational Quantum Chemistry with a focus on Density Functional Theory for ground and excited states. A/Prof. Goerigk is a former Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow (Australian Research Council), a recipient of the 2017 Physical Chemistry Division Lectureship (Royal Australian Chemical Institute) and an awardee of the 2019 Le Fèvre (Australian Academy of Science) and 2020 Rennie Memorial medals (Royal Australian Chemical Institute). Recently, he won the 2022 Pople Medal (Asia-Pacific Association of Theoretical & Computational Chemists), the highest award for a theoretical and computational chemist under the age of 45 in the Asia Pacific.

Julio C. Pastre

Continuous flow Meerwein–Ponndorf–Verley reduction of HMF and furfural using basic zirconium carbonate

Julio C. Pastre obtained his PhD in 2009 under the guidance of Professor Carlos Roque D. Correia at the University of Campinas – UNICAMP. He then worked as a research scientist at Rhodia-Solvay before moving back to UNICAMP for postdoctoral studies with Professor Ronaldo A. Pilli. In 2012, he joined the group of Professor Steven V. Ley at the University of Cambridge. Two years later, Julio established his independent research group at UNICAMP and recently became an Associate Professor. In 2019, he was recognized as an ‘Emerging Investigator’ by Reaction Chemistry & Engineering and as a ‘New Talent from the Americas’ by RSC Medicinal Chemistry. Julio was chosen by the editorial boards of Synthesis, Synlett, and Synfacts as one of their ‘Thieme Chemistry Journals Awardees’ for 2023. His research interest focuses on the development of new synthetic methods in batch under microwave irradiation and under continuous flow conditions for the synthesis of platform molecules, new chemicals and APIs.

Sónia P.M. Ventura

Recovery of bacterioruberin and proteins using aqueous solutions of surface-active compounds

Sónia P.M. Ventura is an Associate Professor at the Chemistry Department of University of Aveiro and coordinator of group 4 (Biorefinery, Recycling and Bio-based Materials) of the Aveiro Institute of Materials (CICECO). In 2021, Prof Sónia Ventura was invited to be part of the coordination members of European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB) and since the end of 2022, Prof Ventura is member of the Steering Board of European Algae Biomass Association (EABA).

Prof Ventura is a well-recognized researcher working on the use of alternative solvents (e.g. ionic liquids, eutectic solvents and more recently bio-solvents) and engineering technologies aiming to develop the concepts of Biorefinery and Circular Economy by following the guidelines of Green Chemistry. In the last 10 years, Prof Ventura is deeply devoted to the study of strategies to valorize marine raw materials and residues derived from several industrial sectors, these including fishery and agri-food industries.

Susmita De

Cation–π and hydrophobic interaction controlled PET recognition in double mutated cutinase – identification of a novel binding subsite for better catalytic activity

Dr Susmita De obtained her Ph. D. in 2010 from University of Hyderabad under the guidance of Prof Eluvathingal D. Jemmis. She has gained research experience in various area of theoretical chemistry by working with Prof Gernot Frenking at the Department of Chemistry, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany, Prof. Keiji Morokuma at the Fukui Institute for Fundamental Chemistry, Kyoto University, Japan and Prof Martin Zacharias at the Department of Physics, Technical University Munich, Germany. She is the recipient of Fast Track early career research award, INSPIRE Faculty award, Core research grant from Government of India and EMBO visiting scientist fellowship. Her current research focus is on the detailed molecular-level understanding of structure and mechanism of complex molecular, biomolecular and materials systems by molecular dynamics simulations and quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical methods. She applies the knowledge of chemical bonding to predict the properties and reactivities of complex systems. Her foundation in chemistry had helped her to translate the molecular level knowledge to the areas of Biology and Material science, which can establish a synergy between theory and experiment to realise fruitful prediction of theory-driven experiments and synthesis.

Kelly M. Schultz

Gelation phase diagrams of colloidal rod systems measured over a large composition space

Dr Kelly M. Schultz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Lehigh University. She obtained her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University in 2006 and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering with Professor Eric Furst from the University of Delaware in 2011 as a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow. While at Delaware, she was invited to speak in the American Chemical Society Excellence in Graduate Polymers Research Symposium and was selected as the Fraser and Shirley Russell Teaching Fellow. Following her PhD, she was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral research associate at the University of Colorado at Boulder working in the laboratory of Professor Kristi Anseth. As a postdoc, she was invited to participate in the Distinguished Young Scholars Summer Seminar Series at the University of Washington. She began her position as Assistant Professor at Lehigh University in 2013, was named a P.C. Rossin Assistant Professor from 2016 – 2018 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019. Dr. Schultz was named one of TA Instruments Distinguished Young Rheologists (2014), awarded a NSF CAREER award (2018), the Lehigh University Libsch Early Career Research Award (2019), the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science Excellence in Research Scholarship & Leadership (2020), a National Institutes of Health – National Institute of General Medical Sciences Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA R35, 2022) and named the Pirkey Centennial Lecturer by the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (2022). Dr Schultz and her research group study emerging gel materials developed for applications from consumer products to materials that can enhance and restart wound healing. Of particular interest is the development of bulk and microrheological techniques that measure how 3D encapsulated human mesenchymal stem cells degrade and remodel synthetic hydrogel scaffolds during motility.

Thank you so much to the Series Editors, Associate Editors and to all our reviewers at RSC Advances for their ongoing support and contribution, helping us to bring together such a fantastic collection of articles.

Looking forward: Emerging Investigator Series 2023!

We are pleased to announce that Shirley and Fabienne will continue on as the Series Editors for the 2023 Emerging Investigator series! We can’t wait to see what the next early career investigators have been working on in Chemistry.

Selection for the Emerging Investigators series comes in part from the recommendations of our Editorial Board, as well as our Associate Editors. Authors can also self-nominate for participation and review by our Associate Editors. Articles can be submitted to the series at any time and will be accepted and published throughout the year.

If you would like to be involved in our upcoming series, please look at our webpage here for more information or submit now!

For any questions do not hesitate to contact us at advances-rsc@rsc.org

 

RSC Advances Royal Society of ChemistrySubmit to RSC Advances today! Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

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2D Materials and their Applications – Call for Papers

RSC Advances is delighted to announce a new themed collection on 2D materials and their applications. This collection is Guest Edited by Associate Professor Andreas Rosenkranz, University of Chile, Associate Professor Massimiliano Papi, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Associate Professor Agnieszka Jastrzębska, Warsaw University of Technology, and Associate Professor Diana Berman, University of North Texas.

Scope

During the last decade, 2D materials have gained tremendous attention in the scientific community due to their structural and physiochemical properties, which make them applicable in various fields of fundamental and applied research. Inspired and boosted by the performance of graphene and its derivates as well as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), with their most prominent members being MoS2 and WS2, significant progress has been made towards the development of new 2D nanomaterials.

In this regard, advanced synthesis routes, as well as an in-depth understanding of the structure-property-performance relationship, are currently being explored for silicenes, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), 2D black phosphorus, halide structures, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent-organic frameworks (COFs), MXenes and MBenes. Their high surface-to-volume ratios coupled with controllable electrical and thermal conductivity, and excellent mechanical properties have made 2D nanomaterials particularly interesting for energy storage/harvesting and supercapacitors, (photo)-catalysis, water purification/desalination, wearable electronics, biomedicine, tribology, and much more.

This multidisciplinary themed collection provides the opportunity to share latest findings related to applied research involving 2D materials with the research community.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • New synthesis approaches for 2D materials,
  • Chemical functionalization of 2D materials,
  • Fabrication of nanocomposites and their functionalization,
  • Advanced, high-resolution materials characterization (chemical and structural),
  • Unique physical and chemical properties of 2D materials,
  • Experimental and computational studies related to the use of 2D materials in energy storage/harvesting, (photo)-catalysis, water purification/desalination, wearable electronics, tribology, among others,
  • Biomedical applications of 2D materials such as drug delivery, gene therapy, regenerative medicine, oncology, and
  • Innovative biosensors based on the 2D materials physical/chemical features.

We welcome your submission to the series.

Submission deadline: 31st October 2023

How to submit

Both papers and review articles will be considered for this themed collection. All submissions will be subject to an initial assessment by Associate Editors and, if suitable for the journal, they will be subject to rigorous peer review to meet the usual high standards of RSC Advances.

We are proud to be an affordable gold open access journal. Submissions to RSC Advances will be published open access and the appropriate article processing charge (APC) will apply. RSC Advances’ article processing charge (APC) is among the lowest in chemistry and waivers are also available for authors who meet the eligibility criteria outlined here.

If you would like to submit to this themed collection the manuscript should be prepared according to our article guidelines and submitted via our online system any time before the submission deadline of 31 10 2023. During submission, authors will be asked if they are submitting for a themed collection and should include the name of the themed collection. If you would like to submit but require additional time to prepare your article, please do let us know by contacting the journal.

Submit to RSC Advances today! Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest Popular Advances, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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Welcome Beatriz Jurado Sánchez and Qian Li as Associate Editors!

The RSC Advances team are delighted to welcome Beatriz Jurado Sánchez and Qian Li as our newest Associate Editors!

Associate Professor Beatriz Jurado Sánchez, University of Alcalá, Spain

Research Areas: synthesis of tubular and Janus micromotors based on nanomaterials, the integration of micromotors into portable instrumentation, biosensing with micromotors integrating quantum dots, and the development of micromotor based environmental remediation approaches.

Beatriz Jurado Sánchez received her PhD in chemistry from the University of Cordoba in 2009. Then, in 2013, she was awarded the prestigious Marie Curie IOF fellowship to carry out research at the University of California, San Diego under the supervision of Prof Joseph Wang.

From 2017 to 2022, Beatriz was a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the the University of Alcalá. Since 2022, she has been an Associate Professor at the same university – she is currently supervising 9 PhD students, 5 Masters students and many undergraduate students!

Beatriz has co-authored over 82 scientific papers (H Index = 36), 5 book chapters and more than 20 communications in international conferences. Her research has been highlighted in the covers of top impact journals Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Chemical Science and Analytical Chemistry. She is currently an Assistant Editor at Microchimica Acta and has also served as reviewer for many international journals.

Check out Prof Juardo’s latest RSC publications!

Photoresponsive MoS2 and WS2 microflakes as mobile biocide agents
Víctor de la Asunción-Nadal, Javier Bujalance-Fernández, Beatriz Jurado-Sánchez and Alberto Escarpa
Nanoscale, 2023, Advance Article

Transition metal dichalcogenide micromotors with programmable photophoretic swarming motion
Víctor de la Asunción-Nadal, Daniel Rojas, Beatriz Jurado-Sánchez and Alberto Escarpa
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 1239-1245

On-board smartphone micromotor-based fluorescence assays
Kaisong Yuan, Víctor de la Asunción-Nadal, Carmen Cuntín-Abal, Beatriz Jurado-Sánchez and Alberto Escarpa
Lab Chip, 2022,22, 928-935

Professor Qian Li, Shandong University, P. R. China

Research Areas: environmental functional materials, organic solid waste treatment and resource recovery, wastewater treatment and resource recovery, biomass conversion, catalytic oxidation, photothermal conversion, desalination, and green chemistry.

Qian Li is the Professor of School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Shandong University, P. R. China. Prof Li obtained her PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering from Shandong University in 2008 under the supervision of Prof Qinyan Yue and Prof Baoyu Gao. She was a postdoctoral researcher in the field of green chemistry at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University from 2008-2010, and a visiting scholar at Georgia Institute of Technology, USA from 2016-2017.

Her expertise and practical experience cover the areas of the development of environmental functional materials, low carbon and efficient management of environmental pollution and resource recovery, including but not limited to the resource of biomass solid waste, design of environmentally friendly materials and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), photothermal conversion processes, industrial water treatment, water and wastewater reclamation, soil improvement and remediation, etc. Her research involves preparations and applications of catalysts, adsorbent, nanomaterial, hydrogel, etc. from biomass-derived materials; AOPs including Fenton-like reactions, photocatalysis, etc. for organic pollutants degradation and resource recovery; recycling and reusing of the biosorbent and hydrogel as the templates for the preparation of hydrogen storage materials; design of biomaterial-based solar evaporators and their application in water purification; the use of biomass-derived materials to control soil nitrogen/phosphorus loss or to remediate soils contaminated with organic pollutants.

Qian has published over 120 research papers in the fields of environmental pollution control, chemical engineering, biomass resource engineering and materials engineering in a broad scope of journals such as Environmental Science & Technology, Water Research, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Chemical Engineering Journal, Bioresource Technology, RSC Advances, and so on.

Check out Prof Li’s latest RSC publications!

Adsorption behavior and mechanism of heavy metal ions by chicken feather protein-based semi-interpenetrating polymer networks super absorbent resin
Wenjia Kong, Qian Li, Jia Liu, Xiaodi Li, Liwei Zhao, Yuan Su, Qinyan Yue and Baoyu Gao
RSC Adv., 2016,6, 83234-83243

A wheat straw cellulose based semi-IPN hydrogel reactor for metal nanoparticles preparation and catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol
Jianzi Ding, Qian Li, Liwei Zhao, Xiaodi Li, Qinyan Yue and Baoyu Gao
RSC Adv., 2017,7, 17599-17611

Submit to RSC Advances today! Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest Popular Advances, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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Minerals2Materials – £1000 to an Early Career African Researcher

From Monday 26th June 2023 (12:00) to Tuesday 27th June 2023 (13:00), in celebration of Professor Nora de Leeuw’s 60th birthday, University College London will be holding a two day symposium which will include presentations and discussions on recent experimental and theoretical progress in the investigation of mineral-based materials.

Participation in the symposium event is free, but the number of spaces is limited, so registration is necessary – the last booking date for this symposium is 26th May 2023. Please see here for more information on the symposium.

RSC Advances is sponsoring the event and is offering a single award of £1000 to an early career researcher from Africa wishing to attend and give an oral presentation at this event.

Applications for this bursary are open until 30th April 2023. In order to apply, please send the following information by email to Sarah Sharp (RSC Advances Deputy Editor) at advances-rsc@rsc.org, using the phrase “minerals2materials bursary application” in the subject line:

  1. A short (two page) CV, clearly indicating the year of your PhD graduation (to be considered as early career, our guidance indicates that you should be roughly within 7 years of starting your first independent research position. However, career breaks will be taken into consideration, for example, parental or medical leave). Please include a summary of your educational and work experience details (including any career breaks), and a list of your top 5 publications over the past 10 years.
  2. A statement (400 words max) about your motivation to attend this event, and about the impact that having access to this bursary will have on your career at this stage.
  3. A proposed title of your talk plus a brief (1-2 sentence) outline of the research that you’d hope to present, highlighting how the content would be in scope with the theme of the conference.

We will notify all applicants about the outcome of the application within two weeks of the application deadline.

We look forward to reading your applications!

Head to our events page to find out about the symposiums, conferences, and training courses we run.

Find out more about funding opportunities available via the  Pan Africa Chemistry Network, which seeks to create a self-sustaining science base in Africa.

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International Women’s Day – Editorial Board Members

International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on March 8th to honour the achievements of women all around the world. IWD has been observed since 1911 and remains significant in driving positive change for women. In honour of this day, at RSC Advances, would like to take the opportunity to highlight some members of our Editorial Board and Associate Editor group. These members share some of their own perspectives of being a woman in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), and provide some guidance for researchers.

Prof Karen Faulds, Editor-in-Chief, University of Strathclyde, UK

Karen FauldsWhat are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman in science and what positive progress have you seen throughout your career so far?

Early in my career the majority of speakers at conferences and in leadership roles were white males. Very few women were invited to speak at conferences therefore as an early career researcher there were very few visible female role models. It means it was harder and often took longer for a women in science to get visibility for their research through invitations to conferences and to be involved in leadership roles. Work still needs to be done on this aspect but it is better than it was 20 years ago with more emphasis on ensuring woman are represented but we also need to make sure that the science community as a whole is represented at conferences and committees. Role models for all aspects of the community are needed that early career scientists can identify with!

What do you think are the main factors perpetuating the gender gap in STEM fields, and what can we do to help close this gap?

In academia there are challenges around short term contracts through postdoctoral years and having to move to different institutions, as well as competition for academic positions, meaning there is a huge amount of job instability which is extremely difficult for people with caring responsibilities. The system does not support this and many women chose to leave academia to have more stable positions that support more stable and flexible working. This needs to change.

What advice would you give to early career female researchers?

Find a good mentor and take advantages of all opportunities that come your way!

Karen’s top publications:

Depth prediction of nanotags in tissue using surface enhanced spatially offset Raman scattering (SESORS)
Matthew E. Berry, Samantha M. McCabe, Neil C. Shand, Duncan Graham and Karen Faulds
Chem. Commun., 2022,58, 1756-1759

Rapid ultra-sensitive diagnosis of clostridium difficile infection using a SERS-based lateral flow assay
Waleed A. Hassanain, Julia Spoors, Christopher L. Johnson, Karen Faulds, Neil Keegan and Duncan Graham
Analyst, 2021,146, 4495-4505

Stimulated Raman scattering microscopy with spectral phasor analysis: applications in assessing drug–cell interactions
William J. Tipping, Liam T. Wilson, Connie An, Aristea A. Leventi, Alastair W. Wark, Corinna Wetherill, Nicholas C. O. Tomkinson, Karen Faulds and Duncan Graham
Chem. Sci., 2022,13, 3468-3476

Prof Shirley Nakagaki Bastos, Editorial Board Member, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil

Shirley Nakagaki RSC Advances Editorial BoardWhat are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman in science and what positive progress have you seen throughout your career so far?

As a woman aiming to become a scientist in the field of chemistry and at the same time wanting to build a family, I faced a few issues during grad school, such as the need to create, together with my husband, a support network that was conciliatory with my research activities. Finding a full-time day care that had quality and was affordable, considering our scholarship budget at the time, was a challenge. Another one was the lack of outstanding inspiring female examples in the sciences in general, because even if they existed, they were not well-known. In addition, I took some time to recognize that there is gender inequality in the various sciences and therefore lack of discussion and search for solutions, among many other factors that discouraged girls from opting for this area of activity. Throughout my career I have seen a lot of progress in this area, mainly regarding the greater discussion of the need for a more pluralistic environment with regard to gender issues, working in the science area.

What do you think are the main factors perpetuating the gender gap in STEM fields, and what can we do to help close this gap?

Gender stereotypes are established in different cultures and areas of activity, mainly STEM, and the lack of information and knowledge contributes to their perpetuation. And, looking at my journey, I see how having a good support network, access to quality daycare and being able to count on my husband gave me the peace of mind to focus on my career as much as I wanted. I believe that only through the discussion of problems, knowledge and education can we arrive at answers that will act to reduce this gap.

What advice would you give to early career female researchers?

Everyday we face problems that can have solutions based on scientific knowledge and this knowledge can be discovered by anyone who is interested in the scientific solution, regardless of their gender. So, when it comes to the development of a scientific career, if it is their wish, researchers can, are able, and will be successful!

Shirley’s top publications:

Synthesis, crystallographic characterization and homogeneous catalytic activity of novel unsymmetric porphyrins
A. R. Antonangelo, K. C. M. Westrup, L. A. Burt, C. Grazia Bezzu, T. Malewschik, G. S. Machado, F. S. Nunes, N. B. McKeown and S. Nakagaki
RSC Adv., 2017,7, 50610-50618

New highly brominated Mn-porphyrin: a good catalyst for activation of inert C–H bonds
Vinicius Santos da Silva, Shirley Nakagaki, Geani Maria Ucoski, Ynara Marina Idemori and Gilson DeFreitas-Silva
RSC Adv., 2015,5, 106589-106598

Fabienne Dumoulin, Editorial Board Member and Associate Editor, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Türkiye

What are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman in science and what positive progress have you seen throughout your career so far?

I would say that problems started when I started to have ambition and apply to more prestigious tasks and positions. In a society I am involved with, I had to fight to have maternity considered in age calculations for young investigator awards. Also, when I ask for a better gender balance in various scientific activities (symposium organization in congresses), I still face those who argue “it should be about excellence, not gender”.  Others argue “there are only 30% of women in our field, why should they be 50% in the board / committee / etc…”. If this is the case, they should rather wonder about the 30% ratio! It is hard to pinpoint significant progresses, it seems to be one step forward and one step back.

What do you think are the main factors perpetuating the gender gap in STEM fields, and what can we do to help close this gap?

The use of friendly but still respectful/considerate words should be used to describe/mention women. I remember a French professor who designated all female colleagues by “fillette” (meaning little girl), from students to full professor, without realizing the implications. When there are decisions to make, being a “fillette” does not help ascertain your credibility and generate respect. Also, how many colleagues, when learning that a female postgrad student is pregnant, immediately say “oh, she will not complete her Msc/PhD, for sure” instead of wondering how they could help? In their private lives, many women do not have a supportive partner who does their part at home – and I chose my words carefully because it is frustrating to hear male colleagues say they “help” their wife/partner. They are not “helping”, they are just doing their part.

Sadly, I do believe gender and other minority quotas work. I would prefer to be included in something “just because I am woman”, and be able to prove I actually deserve to be there, rather than not be included at all.

What advice would you give to early career female researchers?

Find other friendly (female or not) researchers and watch and warn each other when you suspect or see a gender-biased behaviour. Be kind to yourself: you have enough burden, it is not your mission to change the system alone, do not feel guilty if you don’ manage to or don’t have the strength to try. Be kind with all other women, including students, cleaning, and admin staff.

The theme of this year’s IWD is Embrace Equity. Do you have any recommendations for improving the STEM workforce to create an environment that better supports women?

  • Do not let it be only a front to say something has been done, be active
  • Defend long paternity leaves in academia
  • Fight toxic metrics and evaluation criteria
  • Increase funding

Fabienne’s top publications:

Far-red triplet sensitized Z-to-E photoswitching of azobenzene in bioplastics
Pankaj Bharmoria, Shima Ghasemi, Fredrik Edhborg, Raúl Losantos, Zhihang Wang, Anders Mårtensson, Masa-aki Morikawa, Nobuo Kimizuka,Ümit İşci, Fabienne Dumoulin, Bo Albinsson and Kasper Moth-Poulsen
Chem. Sci., 2022,13, 11904-11911

Phthalocyanine-based mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles: NIR photodynamic efficiency and siRNA photochemical internalization
Gülçin Ekineker, Christophe Nguyen, Sümeyra Bayır, Sofia Dominguez Gil, Ümit İşci, Morgane Daurat, Anastasia Godefroy, Laurence Raehm, Clarence Charnay, Erwan Oliviero, Vefa Ahsen, Magali Gary-Bobo, Jean-Olivier Durand and Fabienne Dumoulin
Chem. Commun., 2019,55, 11619-11622

The unique features and promises of phthalocyanines as advanced photosensitisers for photodynamic therapy of cancer
Pui-Chi Lo, M. Salomé Rodríguez-Morgade, Ravindra K. Pandey, Dennis K. P. Ng, Tomás Torres and Fabienne Dumoulin
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2020,49, 1041-1056

Check out our Women in Chemistry page to learn more about women working as chemists and the issues that affect them in science education.

In 2019, the Royal Society of Chemistry published a report to assess if publishing in the chemical sciences is gender biased. The full report and guidance as a result of the findings can be viewed here https://www.rsc.org/new-perspectives/talent/gender-bias-in-publishing

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International Women’s Day – Associate Editors

International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on March 8th to honour the achievements of women all around the world. IWD has been observed since 1911 and remains significant in driving positive change for women. In honour of this day, at RSC Advances, would like to take the opportunity to highlight some members of our Editorial Board and Associate Editor group. These members share some of their own perspectives of being a woman in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), and provide some guidance for researchers.

Prof Shannon Biros, Associate Editor, Grand Valley State University, USA

What advice would you give to early career female researchers?

I would tell early career female researchers to never give up. Building a career in science is hard; I think it is hard for everyone, just in different ways. I would tell them that they are going to make plenty of mistakes, and when they do to learn from them and move forward. I would tell them to always stand up for themselves, and to trust their instincts. I would tell them that they are smart enough, they do work hard enough, and they do belong here. And then I would tell them that balance is important, to make sure they have friends and interests outside of their career. Lastly, I would tell them that they should have a job that they look forward to going to every day (well…most days) that brings them joy. If their current job doesn’t do that, then it’s time to reassess. But to always remember that they can do this, and that just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s not right.

Shannon’s top publications:

Synthesis of diphenyl-(2-thienyl)phosphine, its chalcogenide derivatives and a series of novel complexes of lanthanide nitrates and triflates
Troy Luster, Hannah J. Van de Roovaart, Kyle J. Korman, Georgia G. Sands, Kylie M. Dunn, Anthony Spyker, Richard J. Staples,  Shannon M. Biros and John E. Bender
Dalton Trans., 2022,51, 9103-9115

Supramolecular ligands for the extraction of lanthanide and actinide ions
Eric J. Werner and Shannon M. Biros
Org. Chem. Front., 2019,6, 2067-2094

X-ray crystallographic, luminescence and NMR studies of phenacyldiphenylphosphine oxide with the Ln(iii) ions Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb and Dy
Erin G. Leach, Justin R. Shady, Adam C. Boyden, Anne-lise Emig, Alyssa T. Henry, Emily K. Connor, Richard J. Staples, Stephanie Schaertel, Eric J. Werner and Shannon M. Biros
Dalton Trans., 2017,46, 15458-15469

Dr Vandana Bhalla, Associate Editor, Guru Nanak Dev University, India

What are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman in science and what positive progress have you seen throughout your career so far?

In the field, I have definitely faced my share of challenges. Starting from the basic level of scoring a job interview and unfavourable work environment due to subconscious and unintended gender insensitivity. To receive similar levels of recognition/respect for my research work as received by male colleagues, I had to show exceptional productivity.
Fortunately, I am lucky enough to witness the positive progress in the field. We are now initiating the conversation about this issue at all levels. Multiple initiatives have already been started to achieve gender equity in STEM like increased job openings, funding opportunities for women.

What do you think are the main factors perpetuating the gender gap in STEM fields, and what can we do to help close this gap?

In my opinion, there are multiple prejudices that contribute towards the large gender gap in STEM. It is common practice to refer a male researcher as ‘Scientist ‘ while the female counterpart is referred as ‘Female Scientist’. The general perception about STEM as a career is that it requires high intelligent quotient (IQ) and low emotional quotient (EQ) and consequently, people with high EQs are usually considered unsuitable for the field.

To close the gap, efforts are needed at multiple educational levels starting from the primary schools. It is important to educate young minds that there is no competition to prove gender superiority rather we are working as a team to build sustainable future through positive initiatives in STEM.

Why do you think it is that women are often under-represented at senior levels? What are the benefits of taking on a leadership role?

According to me there is an uneven competition in the pathway to reach up the ladder.
Taking up leadership roles is essential in shaping the careers of young researchers. It is important to have an opportunity to bring your opinion to the table. Often women participation at senior levels is to complete the checklist, it is imperative to turn it into true representation.

The theme of this year’s IWD is Embrace Equity. Do you have any recommendations for improving the STEM workforce to create an environment that better supports women?

Honestly, I believe that holistic approach is required to improve effective participation of women in STEM. Interventions should be made at multiple levels starting from promoting gender equity at home, gender sensitivity at educational institutions and gender inclusivity at work place. More job openings and research opportunities should be created to close the gap.

Vandana’s top publications:

Enzyme-/metal-free quinoxaline assemblies: direct light-up detection of cholesterol in human serum
Amrit Kaur, Manoj Kumar and Vandana Bhalla
Chem. Commun., 2023,59, 1501-1504

A photocatalytic ensemble HP-T@Au-Fe3O4: synergistic and balanced operation in Kumada and Heck coupling reactions
Harpreet Kaur, Manoj Kumar and Vandana Bhalla
Green Chem., 2020,22, 8036-8045

Visible light promoted PANI@Au:CuO catalyzed sequential amination, azidation and annulation for the preparation of 2-arylbenzimidazoles
Radhika Chopra, Manoj Kumar, Neelam and Vandana Bhalla
Green Chem., 2019,21, 3666-3674

Dr Estelle Roth, Associate Editor, University of Reims, France

What do you think are the main factors perpetuating the gender gap in STEM fields, and what can we do to help close this gap?

In my opinion, the main obstacle lies in the self-censorship of women in the consideration of a scientific career due to lack of confidence and a position behind the male sex. Many actions are currently being conducted to remedy this situation; for example, in France, the association Femmes et Sciences, of which I am a member, promotes scientific studies among young girls and supports doctoral students at the end of their thesis and in the construction of their careers. As well, recruitment of assistant professors to limit gender bias…. and so on.

What advice would you give to early career female researchers?

Recruitment of lecturers is accompanied by training to limit gender bias. So my main advice would be to be self-confident and ambitious, and don’t worry about pregnancy affecting your career.

Why do you think it is that women are often under-represented at senior levels? What are the benefits of taking on a leadership role?

Women are still underrepresented in high responsibility jobs. I don’t think they are hindered in taking on responsibility, but they are not recognized in an official capacity. For example, being a woman should not affect whether you are the project investigator of a scientific project. Gender balance is a requirement for institutions. However, it is still much more difficult for women to reach the status of Professor or Director of a scientific institute. Women face the “glass ceiling” as we say in French!

Estelle’s top publications:

Gas-phase UV absorption spectra and OH-oxidation kinetics of 1H-1,2,3-triazole and pyrazole
Brahim Samir, Carmen Kalalian, Estelle Roth, Rachid Salghi and Abdelkhaleq Chakir 
RSC Adv., 2019,9, 27361-27368

Prof Shivani Bhardwaj Mishra, Associate Editor, University of South Africa, Johannesburg

What are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman in science and what positive progress have you seen throughout your career so far?

Being a woman, the challenges started appearing at the very start of my academic journey as a student transitioning to a career in STEM. I could not score any fellowships for any of my degrees, and therefore made myself self-sufficient in pursing higher studies by outsourcing my knowledge as a tutor. The challenge was juggling university and work to contribute towards my academic expenses. At the time, it was tiring and demotivating but it helped me to develop teaching skills as well as retain the fundamentals of my chosen discipline and its implementation to research and development. A challenge can be difficult but if it is taken advantage of it can transform career. The opportunity in higher education lacked resources but even this challenge was a blessing in disguise that made me understand the value of collaboration, which also helped me to develop global networking at a later stage of my career.

What do you think are the main factors perpetuating the gender gap in STEM fields, and what can we do to help close this gap

Unfortunately, its a huge gap. There are many factors for this, including underestimating the capabilities of women understanding STEM, and the patriarchal power play that involves demoralising ambitious women. To add onto is social stigma, there are set norms for woman regarding families, society and academic fraternity. STEM is gender biased just like any other sector. There is a need to bridge the gap in order to provide a platform for the flowers to bloom to their and contribute or participate towards further scientific advancement. For this, the academic sector has to work together with Government and other academic bodies at their respective levels to promote gender equity in STEM by introducing more fellowships, positions, academic women’s organizations and universities dedicated to uplift the STEM gap.

What advice would you give to early career female researchers?

The best advise to early career female researchers is “Never give up girls” if STEM is your dream. Transform your challenge into a long term investment for your career. Identify the purpose of your dreams and your life and respect your existence. No challenge is bigger or difficult than your will power. Stay patient when time tests you or your passion and keep working hard and the right opportunity will knock on your door at the right time.

The theme of this year’s IWD is Embrace Equity. Do you have any recommendations for improving the STEM workforce to create an environment that better supports women?

I would recommend new opportunities dedicated to women, new STEM institutions supporting only women both at leadership positions and as a work force. Promoting their achievements and contributing towards career development. Celebrating their performances locally and globally to present role models to new generation of STEM. Bring forward the historical STEM women who made significant contributions by organizing funds, holding conferences, colloquium, and symposiums in the name of these STEM women. Special issues dedicated to woman scientists could provide assistance, as well as support, through fellowships.

Shivani’s top publications:

Mechanistic pathways for the degradation of SMX drug and floatation of degraded products using F–Pt co-doped TiO2 photocatalysts
Majid Jahdi, Shivani B. Mishra, Edward N. Nxumalo, Sabelo D. Mhlanga and Ajay K. Mishra
RSC Adv., 2020,10, 27662-27675

Dr Xi Chen, Associate Editor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

What are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman in science and what positive progress have you seen throughout your career so far? Why do you think it is that women are often under-represented at senior levels? What are the benefits of taking on a leadership role?

As a female researcher, I am delighted to be invited by RSC Advances to share my experience. When I was looking for a faculty position, women were still underrepresented in many fields of science, particularly in leadership positions. But today, more women are entering the field of science and pursuing advanced degrees in STEM fields. And more women are being appointed to leadership positions in science. For example, two women—Prof Lesley Yellowlees and Dame Carol Vivien Robinson—have held the presidency of RSC in the past ten years. These women can help us better advocate for gender equality in STEM fields. These are all gratifying progress. Also, as a mother, I sometimes struggle to balance my work and personal life. Fortunately, I have family members and colleagues who always support me on the road of scientific research, take care of me and share happiness with me.

What advice would you give to early career female researchers?

Some women with great scientific research potential may give up their favourite career due to the pressure of some traditional ideas or the need to take on more family tasks, but I want to encourage those outstanding female researchers not to give up easily, but to follow their hearts, be the truest self and don’t set limits on life. There may be a lot of challenges for early female researchers, but I hope we can have more courage and determination to go the way we like.

Xi’s top publications:

Acid hydrolysis of chitin in calcium chloride solutions
Yudi Wang, Jia Kou, Xuewei Wanga and Xi Chen
Green Chem., 2023, Advance Article

Base-catalysed, one-step mechanochemical conversion of chitin and shrimp shells into low molecular weight chitosan
Xi Chen, Huiying Yang, Ziyi Zhong and Ning Yan 
Green Chem., 2017,19, 2783-2792

Direct conversion of chitin into a N-containing furan derivative
Xi Chen, Shu Ling Chew, Francesca M. Kerton and Ning Yan
Green Chem., 2014,16, 2204-2212

Prof Abha Misra, Associate Editor, IISc Bangalore, India

What are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman in science and what positive progress have you seen throughout your career so far?

It is difficult to find support from women and mentors to give advice on how to tackle the challenges that you face to make any significant progress in your early career. A slow and steady progress pays off in a long run.

What advice would you give to early career female researchers?

My advice is to see challenges as opportunities which bring a completely different perspective and can help with positive progress. It is important to be role model for other women facing similar problems and be part of the system to make changes for the young women of the future.

The theme of this year’s IWD is Embrace Equity. Do you have any recommendations for improving the STEM workforce to create an environment that better supports women?

Provide a support system to ensure an environment of trust and enable an understanding of the challenges faced. Women should also be given support at senior levels especially when it becomes important to have more role models.

Abha’s top publications:

Self-powered ZnO-based pyro-phototronic photodetectors: impact of heterointerfaces and parametric studies
Vinod Panwar, Sukanta Nandi, Mandira Majumder and Abha Misra
J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022,10, 12487-12510

Role of the electrode-edge in optically sensitive three-dimensional carbon foam-MoS2 based high-performance micro-supercapacitors
Sumana Kumar, Anwesha Mukherjee, Swanand Telpande, Ayon Das Mahapatra, Praveen Kumar and Abha Misra 
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 4963-4976

Stacked vanadium pentoxide–zinc oxide interface for optically-chargeable supercapacitors
Pankaj Singh Chauhan, Sumana Kumar, Anindita Mondal, Pragya Sharma, Mihir N. Parekh, Vinod Panwar, Apparao M. Rao and Abha Misra
J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 95-107

Dr Donna Arnold, Associate Editor, University of Kent, UK

What are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman in science and what positive progress have you seen throughout your career so far?

Early in my career I found that I would be the only woman in a meeting. Sometimes this even meant that no one would know where female toilets were located! This could make you feel like you did not belong. Things have changed. There is now normally much wider representation in meetings and on the occasions where this is not the case there is enough awareness to ensure that it is a meeting of scientific equality.

What advice would you give to early career female researchers?

Change will only come from within. Do not be put off if you find yourselves in challenging environments and do not feel guilty for striving to have a career and a family. Both are possible. Remember that you are the voices of change and that once you get to the later part of your own career you are the voice that will inspire next generations and facilitate further change.

Why do you think it is that women are often under-represented at senior levels? What are the benefits of taking on a leadership role?

Whilst things are definitely changing women are more likely to take career breaks and then juggle family life alongside a STEM career. The demands of senior management often pulls against this. Additionally, these roles often require a certain seniority and thus also come about when women are entering menopause. This comes with self-doubt and other complicated emotional, mental health and physical states. We are still not open enough about menopause and the effects it can have on women and how that fits with delivering work demands.

Taking a leadership role can help to affect change and provide platform from which to do so. These are also the roles that end up shaping roles for early career individuals so it is important to have broad representation.

Donna’s top publications:

A new series of sodium cobalt oxyhydrates
Sundip Mistry, Donna C. Arnold, Chris J. Nuttall, Alexandros Lappas and Mark A. Green
Chem. Commun., 2004, 2440-2441

B-cation effects in relaxor and ferroelectric tetragonal tungsten bronzes
Donna C. Arnold and Finlay D. Morrison
J. Mater. Chem., 2009,19, 6485-6488

Investigation of the role of morphology on the magnetic properties of Ca2Mn3O8 materials
Laura J. Vera Stimpson, Silvia Ramos, Gavin B. G. Stenning, Marek Jura, Stephen Parry, Giannantonio Cibin and Donna C. Arnold 
Dalton Trans., 2017,46, 14130-14138

Dr Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi, Associate Editor, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, India

What are some of the challenges you have faced as a woman in science and what positive progress have you seen throughout your career so far?

Meeting both domestic responsibilities and professional activities has been a major challenge throughout my career. I have always motivated myself to do so. 

What advice would you give to early career female researchers?

Equal opportunities have rarely been given to female researchers. So my advice to early career researchers would be to motivate yourself and stay inspired, even by smaller successes and recognitions in your career. Don’t be defeated – follow your consciousness and success will follow.

The theme of this year’s IWD is Embrace Equity. Do you have any recommendations for improving the STEM workforce to create an environment that better supports women?

Flexibility in the work place! The lack of adequate numbers of female mentors is a lacuna in STEM.

Devi’s top publications:

Some interesting insights into the acetone sensing characteristics of monoclinic WO3
Puja Ghosh, M Manikandan, Shrabanee Sen, Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi,
Mater. Adv., 2023,4, 1146-1160

ZnO decorated ZnSnO3 as efficient fillers to PVDF: toward simultaneous enhancement of energy storage density and efficiency and improved energy harvesting activity
Abhishek Sasmal, Samar Kumar Medda, Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi, Shrabanee Sen Nano
Nanoscale, 2020,12, 20908-20921

Surface functionalized multifunctional ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles as ad carrier of hydrophobic and hydrophilic anti-cancer drug molecules
Debabrata Maiti, Arindam Saha and Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016,18, 1439-1450

Check out our Women in Chemistry page to learn more about women working as chemists and the issues that affect them in science education.

In 2019, the Royal Society of Chemistry published a report to assess if publishing in the chemical sciences is gender biased. The full report and guidance as a result of the findings can be viewed here https://www.rsc.org/new-perspectives/talent/gender-bias-in-publishing

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RSC Advances Welcomes Stephen Ojwach as a New Associate Editor

The RSC Advances team are delighted to welcome Professor Stephen Ojwach as our newest Associate Editor!

Professor Stephen Ojwach, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Research Areas: organometallic chemistry, homogeneous catalysis, coordination chemistry, ligand design, transition metal chemistry, and green chemistry.

Prof Ojwach obtained his PhD in Organometallic Chemistry and Homogeneous Catalysis from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa under the supervision of Professor James Darkwa. Currently a professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, he is also a visiting professor at a number of institutions: the University of Lethbridge, Canada, RWTH Aachen University and Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, and University of Strasbourg, France, among others.

Prof Ojwach has made exemplary contribution to the design and development of transition metal complexes as catalysts for various organic transformations, including, but not limited to, oligomerization, polymerization, carbonylation, and hydrogenation reactions. His research involves careful manipulation of ligand design to optimize the catalytic properties (Structure-Property-Activity-Relationship, SPAR) of complexes in given transformation. Kinetics, mechanistic and theoretical studies are undertaken to offer insights for rationale future catalyst designs.

Prof Ojwach has published over 100 research articles in the fields of inorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and catalysis in a broad scope of journals such as RSC Advances, Dalton Transactions, Organometallics, Molecular Catalysis, and Inorganic Chemistry.

Check out Prof Ojwach’s latest RSC publications!

Structural and ethylene oligomerization studies of chelating (imino)phenol Fe(ii), Co(ii) and Ni(ii) complexes: an experimental and theoretical approach
Makhosonke Ngcobo, Holliness Nose, Arumugam Jayamani and Stephen O. Ojwach
New J. Chem., 2022,46, 6219-6229

Carboxamide carbonyl-ruthenium(II) complexes: detailed structural and mechanistic studies in the transfer hydrogenation of ketones
Robert T. Kumah, Paranthaman Vijayan and Stephen O. Ojwach
New J. Chem., 2022,46, 3146-3155

Role of π-conjugation on the coordination behaviour, substitution kinetics, DNA/BSA interactions, and in vitro cytotoxicity of carboxamide palladium(II) complexes
Reinner O. Omondi, Nicole R. S. Sibuyi, Adewale O. Fadaka, Mervin Meyer, Deogratius Jaganyi and Stephen O. Ojwach.
Dalton Trans., 2021,50, 8127-8143

Prof Ojwach is looking forward to receiving your papers! Submit to RSC Advances today. Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

Keep up to date with our latest Popular Advances, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

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