RSC Advances Blog

Welcome to our Emerging Investigator Series 2021. This series showcases some of the very best work from chemists in the early stages of their independent careers. In keeping with the theme of RSC Advances as a cross-cutting chemistry journal, in this inaugural issue with the help of our Series Editor Professor James Batteas, 23 papers were published as part of the collection spanning the breadth of chemistry on topics ranging from the development and application of analytical tools and devices for chemical analysis, to the design and synthesis of bioactive materials for disease treatments, to catalysis and synthesis of new materials. You can read all about the contributions in this accompanying Editorial, prepared by the 2021 Series Editor James Batteas.

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

An ultrafast enzyme-free acoustic technique for detaching adhered cells in microchannels
Alinaghi Salari, Sila Appak-Baskoy, Imogen R. Coe, Scott S. H. Tsai and Michael C. Kolios
RSC Adv., 2021,11, 32824-32829

Dr. Scott Tsai is the Director of the Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). His undergraduate training in Mechanical Engineering is from the University of Toronto, and his masters and PhD degrees in Engineering Sciences are from Harvard University. Dr. Tsai’s laboratory specializes in droplet and bubble microfluidics. His group also collaborates actively with hospital researchers to implement these technologies in medical applications related to kidney disease and prostate cancer. Dr. Tsai is a recipient of the United States’ Fulbright Visiting Research Chair Award, Government of Ontario’s Early Researcher Award, and Toronto Metropolitan University’s Deans’ Teaching Award.

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?

Our paper describes an acoustic force technique for detaching cells initially attached to a substrate. This approach is interesting because it is chemical-free, while conventional methods usually utilize enzymatic reactions that can damage the cell membrane.

How big an impact could your results potentially have?
The impact may be significant for detaching adherent cells from microfluidic or lab-on-a-chip devices, where, due to the nature of the slow-moving flows, conventional detachment methods require multiple washing steps. Our acoustic technique enables single-step cell detachment.

Could you explain the motivation behind this study?
Adherent cultured cells are used ubiquitously in laboratories, and most of the time researchers use trypsinization (an enzymatic method) to detach cells from the substrate. We were motivated to create a non-enzymatic approach that detaches cells rapidly.

In your opinion, what are the key design considerations for your study?
We wanted to minimize the duration of the cells’ exposure to acoustic forces. This was realized since, due to the nature of the acoustic perturbation we introduced, the acoustic excitation exposure the cells experienced was greatly reduced as soon as the cells detached from the substrate.

Which part of the work towards this paper proved to be most challenging?
As a researcher with a background in engineering and physics, I found the most challenging aspect of this work to be figuring out what characteristics of a cell detachment method are important for other researchers. For example, we learned that it was critical to demonstrate the re-attachment ability of the cells, and whether they can spread and regain their original morphology within a short period of time.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?
Right now, we are working using a similar approach to generate acoustic microstreaming flows from adherent cells, and using the microstreaming velocity to predict the mechanical properties (like stiffness) of the cells. This is very exciting because existing gold-standard methods for measuring cellular mechanical properties are complicated, and we are developing an approach that can potentially help reduce the complexity.

How has your research evolved from your first article to this particular article?
I was trained as a fluid mechanician, so my first articles were all about fundamental fluid mechanics. Since becoming an independent investigator, and having my lab located in a hospital building, I’ve collaborated a lot more with biological scientists and clinicians, and learned much more about important questions in biology and medicines. Many of my more recent articles feature the application of physics and engineering to address biological questions.

What is the next step? What work is planned?
My lab is continuing our work on microfluidics with microbubbles, acoustics, and aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). For now, we will continue developing these technologies while collaborating with hospital researchers to apply the technologies in pre-clinical and clinical settings.

Why did you want to publish in RSC Advances?
Several RSC journals, including Lab on a Chip, Soft Matter, and RSC Advances, are read broadly by researchers in my field. I wanted to publish in RSC Advances so that my colleagues throughout the world can see and read our article.

What are your thoughts on open access publishing?

I support the principle of open access publishing, but the publishing fees are painful to pay. As a result, I am only able to publish a small fraction of my papers with open access.

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 articles, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

Welcome to our Emerging Investigator Series 2021. This series showcases some of the very best work from chemists in the early stages of their independent careers. In keeping with the theme of RSC Advances as a cross-cutting chemistry journal, in this inaugural issue with the help of our Series Editor Professor James Batteas, 23 papers were published as part of the collection spanning the breadth of chemistry on topics ranging from the development and application of analytical tools and devices for chemical analysis, to the design and synthesis of bioactive materials for disease treatments, to catalysis and synthesis of new materials. You can read all about the contributions in this accompanying Editorial, prepared by the 2021 Series Editor James Batteas.

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

Green synthesis of ZnO coated hybrid biochar for the synchronous removal of ciprofloxacin and tetracycline in wastewater
Abisola O. Egbedina, Kayode O. Adebowale, Bamidele I. Olu-Owolabi, Emmanuel I. Unuabonah and Morenike O. Adesina
RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 18483-18492

Abisola Egbedina completed her PhD in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, under the supervision of Professor Kayode Adebowale and Professor Bamidele Olu-Owolabi. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Chemistry from Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria (2009) and her master’s degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Ibadan (2012). She received the 2017 Commonwealth Science Conference follow-on grant from the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2018 to conduct research at the University of Toronto, Canada, under the supervision of Professor Ya-Huei (Cathy) Chin. Her research interests lie in the synthesis of low-cost and environmentally benign materials for applications in wastewater treatment. Specifically, she focuses on tuning the surface properties of these materials for optimum selectivity and efficiency. Her current research focuses on the synthesis of carbon materials from biomass for the removal of pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants from water. She has a number of peer-reviewed publications in international journals. She has also presented some of her research findings at various local and international conferences. Abisola Egbedina was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan in November 2016, and is currently a Lecturer II. Besides teaching and carrying out research, Abisola loves reading novels, watching movies, swimming and dancing.

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?
The goal of the study in the research article was to remove antibiotic contaminants from water sources utilizing an adsorption approach and low-cost, environmentally benign adsorbents.
Antibiotic resistance in organisms has been linked to the presence of these contaminants. Antibiotic resistance is increasing all over the world at an alarming rate, making common infectious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning and gonorrhoea more difficult to treat. The healthcare system has also been strained because of this. As a result, this research topic is timely since it aids in addressing these issues by looking for strategies to minimize the quantities of these harmful pollutants in the environment.

How big an impact could your results potentially have?
The findings described in the journal are just one in a series of studies that could lead to the identification of a cheaper alternative to activated carbon, which is now the most widely used and also the most expensive. Activated carbon is currently used in wastewater treatment plants and portable drinking water treatment systems. This raises the overall treatment cost due to its high cost. Demonstrating the effectiveness of the adsorbents presented in this work for a wide range of pollutants and their subsequent acceptance could result in lower water treatment costs and greater accessibility to clean water for everyone.

Could you explain the motivation behind this study?
In Nigeria, kaolinite clay is the most common clay mineral. However, because it is a 1:1 clay it is non-expandable and hence has a low cation exchange capacity. The notion of mixing it with biomass arose as a result of this. Biomass has been widely used to remove pollutants from aqueous media, but its efficiency is rather low when compared to other materials and it frequently presents the problem of bleeding and separation difficulties. The goal was to see if by combining these two materials, the overall efficiency might be increased. Indeed, because this combination (kaolinite clay and pawpaw seeds) was proven to boost the heavy metal adsorption capability, we chose to use it to remove organic contaminants. We also used coconut husk instead of pawpaw seeds to test how this affected the overall results.

In your opinion, what are the key design considerations for your study?
The initial priority, I believe, was to develop adsorbents that are more cost-effective and efficient than activated carbon, which is currently the industry standard. We did so by employing a system that ensured appropriate energy and reagent utilization and manufacturing. These are, in my opinion, critical points to examine as the world grapples with the effects of climate change and aims to adjust to conducting research in a “green” manner.

Which part of the work towards this paper proved to be most challenging?
The analysis would be the most challenging aspect of the investigation. Accessing modern analytical instruments for the detection of pollutants at concentrations close to those seen in real water systems was not just expensive but unavailable. Finally, we had to use UV-Vis spectroscopy to determine this parameter which is accurate but has a limited detection limit when compared with LC-MS.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?
It is a wonderful feeling to finally have your study published and available to millions of people. This comes after months of hard work in the lab and multiple drafts of the manuscript. What excites me most is seeing that others find the work intriguing enough to read. Individuals from all around the world have requested copies of my article. I also look at the number of citations and downloads and feel like I have accomplished something meaningful.

How has your research evolved from your first article to this particular article?
The use of watermelon rind as a stabilizing agent for magnetite for the removal of pollutants from water sources was the subject of my first article. Following that, I have been curious to investigate what additional effects modifying these biomasses with other low-cost and widely available natural materials, such as clay, has on the adsorption of these contaminants. It is envisaged that the modifications will give synergistic enhancement of these materials’ beneficial properties, ultimately resulting in increased adsorption capacity.

What is the next step? What work is planned?
Currently, I am working on a project that entails the application of low-cost adsorbents for the removal of organic contaminants from real-life industrial and hospital effluents to examine how well they perform in real-world environmental conditions. For my postdoctoral research, I am working on a proposal to examine how these adsorbents may be used to clean drinking water in households quickly, efficiently and at a cheap cost. The goal is to provide safe and clean drinking water to individuals at all levels without the need for expensive and time-consuming treatment.

Why did you want to publish in RSC Advances?
I chose RSC Advances because I wanted to publish in a high-quality publication that featured research in all fields of Chemistry, ensuring that my article would reach a wider audience. RSC Advances made it possible for me to publish open access by waiving the article processing charge [this is part of our commitment to waive the article processing charge for corresponding authors based at Research4Life countries, both groups A and B]. My research article’s readership and impact will grow as a result of its open access policy.

What are your thoughts on open access publishing?
Open access publishing, in my opinion, encourages access to free, high-quality and valuable research information, particularly for academics in developing countries who otherwise would be unable to obtain it. Open access, on the other hand, can require authors to pay to have their articles published which might be a problem in circumstances when research is primarily self-funded.

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 articles, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

Welcome to our Emerging Investigator Series 2021. This series showcases some of the very best work from chemists in the early stages of their independent careers. In keeping with the theme of RSC Advances as a cross-cutting chemistry journal, in this inaugural issue with the help of our Series Editor Professor James Batteas, we have 23 papers spanning the breadth of chemistry on topics ranging from the development and application of analytical tools and devices for chemical analysis, to the design and synthesis of bioactive materials for disease treatments, to catalysis and synthesis of new materials. You can read all about the contributions in this accompanying Editorial, prepared by the 2021 Series Editor James Batteas.

You can read below the biographies of some of the brilliant authors who have been published in the 2021 collection:

Thiago Regis Longo Cesar da Paixão

Enhanced performance of pencil-drawn paper-based electrodes by laser-scribing treatment

Thiago Regis Longo Cesar da Paixão received a B.Sc. from the Institute of Chemistry of the University of São Paulo in 2001 and became a graduate student at the same institution, where he received his M.Sc. (2004) and Ph.D. (2007). For a year (2008/2009), he was a postdoctoral fellow at the same University. Following his postdoctoral fellowship, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University Federal of ABC, where he stayed for two years. In 2011, he was hired as an assistant professor at the University of São Paulo and promoted to Associate Professor in 2016. At the beginning of 2018, he was nominated as an affiliate member of the Brazilian Academy of Science as a promising young researcher. His fields of interest include chemical sensors, paper-based devices, and electronic tongues aiming at forensic and clinical applications.

Zbigniew Pianowski

Selective release of a potent anticancer agent from a supramolecular hydrogel using green light

Zbigniew Pianowski received his PhD in chemistry in 2008 under the supervision of Prof. Nicolas Winssinger at the ISIS ULP Strasbourg, France, investigating peptide nucleic acids (PNA) – functional oligonucleotide analogues – for templated reactions and catalytic RNA sensing. Then, he joined the group of Prof. Donald Hilvert at the ETH Zürich, Switzerland, as a Marie-Curie postdoctoral fellow. There, he worked in the area of protein engineering, like de novo enzyme design and engineering of protein capsids. Since 2014 he has been an independent group leader at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, and served as a deputy professor of organic chemistry at the University of Heidelberg (2017-2019). His current research interests are focused on applications of molecular photoswitches in smart materials and biological systems. Within this area, his group intensively explores photochromic supramolecular hydrogels reversibly disassembled with light, their use for light-controlled drug release, and other photopharmacology applications of photochromic cyclic dipeptides.

Darci Trader

Identification of a covalent binder to the oncoprotein gankyrin using a NIR-Based OBOC screening method

Prof. Trader obtained her Ph.D. under the mentorship of Erin E. Carlson while at Indiana University in 2013. She then went on to do a NIH-funded postdoc with Prof. Thomas Kodadek, where she was introduced to proteasome-related research. She began her independent career at Purdue University in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology in 2016. Her lab is focused on furthering the understanding of how small molecules can be used to perturb the activity of the proteasome. Her lab has developed activity probes for both the standard proteasome and immunoproteasome, and is actively applying these probes to discover proteasome inhibitors and stimulators.

Christine Beemelmanns

GNPS-guided discovery of xylacremolide C and D, evaluation of their putative biosynthetic origin and bioactivity studies of xylacremolide A and B

Dr. Beemelmanns studied Chemistry at the RWTH Aachen. She then went to Japan for a one year research stay in the group of Prof.  Sodeoka at RIKEN. Back in Germany she worked at the FU Berlin with Prof. Reißig and received her PhD in Organic Chemistry. She then worked another six month in Japan at the University of Tokyo under the supervision of Prof K. Suzuki and joined shortly afterwards the group of Prof. Clardy at Harvard Medical School (Boston) in 2011. End of 2013, she received an offer from the Hans-Knöll Institute (HKI), where she established the Leibniz Junior Research Group in the field of Natural Products Chemistry and Chemical Biology. In 2021 she accepted a call from the Leipzig University for a Professorship Biochemistry of Microbial Physiology. Her research combines different aspects of chemical ecology and organic and natural product chemistry and aims to chemically and functionally characterize microbial signaling and defense molecules in different symbiotic model systems. By analyzing coevolved microbial interactions, unprecedented chemical core structures with potential pharmaceutical application are likely to appear.

Abisola Egbedina

Green synthesis of ZnO coated hybrid biochar for the synchronous removal of ciprofloxacin and tetracycline in wastewater

Abisola Egbedina is a PhD student in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria under the supervision of Professor Kayode Adebowale and Professor Bamidele Olu-Owolabi. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Industrial Chemistry from Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria (2009) and her master’s degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Ibadan (2012). She received the 2017 Commonwealth Science Conference follow-on grant from the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2018 to conduct research at the University of Toronto, Canada under the supervision of Professor Ya-Huei (Cathy) Chin.

Her research interests lie in the synthesis of low-cost and environmentally benign materials for applications in wastewater treatment. Specifically, she focuses on tuning the surface properties of these materials for optimum selectivity and efficiency. Her current research focuses on the synthesis of carbon materials from biomass for the removal of pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants from water. She has a number of peer-reviewed publications in international journals. She has also presented some of her research findings at various local and international conferences.

Abisola Egbedina was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan in November 2016, and is currently a Lecturer II. Besides teaching and carrying out research, Abisola loves reading novels, watching movies, swimming and dancing.

Kishor Sarkar

RAFT polymerization mediated core–shell supramolecular assembly of PEGMA-co-stearic acid block co-polymer for efficient anticancer drug delivery

Dr. Kishor Sarkar was awarded PhD in Polymer Science and Technology from University of Calcutta, India in August 2014. In 2016, he has joined as Assistant Professor in the Department of Polymer Science and Technology, University of Calcutta in June 2016. Before joining here, he worked as postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, USA (May 2015-April 2016). He was awarded Dr. D.S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship in India and carried out his postdoctoral work under Prof. Giridhar Madras, Department of Chemical Engineering and Dr. Kaushik Chatterjee, Dept. Of Materials Engineering, IISc, Bangalore, India from Nov. 2013 to March 2015. Dr. Sarkar has broad background in Polymer Chemistry with specific training and expertise on the development of polymeric non-viral vectors for gene therapy application. After joining as Assistant Professor, Dr. Sarkar received Early Career Research Award from SERB, Govt. of India in March 2017. Presently, the main research area of Dr. Sarkar focuses on the development of efficient polymeric vector for drug delivery or gene therapy application and synthesis of novel biopolymers from recycled plastic wastes for Tissue Engineering applications.

Michiel Dusselier

On the key role of aluminium and other heteroatoms during interzeolite conversion synthesis

Prof. Michiel Dusselier obtained his Ph.D. degree in Bioscience Engineering (Catalytic Technology, 2013) at KU Leuven, Belgium, with Bert Sels, inventing new catalytic routes for bioplastics synthesis. In 2014–15, he did postdoctoral work with Mark Davis at Caltech, studying the synthesis of zeolites and methanol-to-olefins. In 2017, he accepted a tenure track professorship at KU Leuven and co-founded the new Center for Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering (CSCE) in 2019. He is focusing on zeolite synthesis methods, reactor design, functional biodegradable plastics and heterogeneous catalysis (CO2 activation). In particular, he is enthusiastic about elaborate synthesis-structure-activity relations and bottom-up catalyst design. He has (co)authored over 60 peer-reviewed papers and 7 patents, of which one transferred to industry. He is the holder of an ERC starting Grant (2020) called Z-EURECA, studying unusual reactors for zeolite synhtesis. In 2021, he received the alumni award in applied sciences of the Belgian American Educational Foundation.

Erin Leitao

The photophysical properties of naphthalene bridged disilanes

Dr Erin Leitao obtained her BSc degree in Chemistry from the University of Victoria (BC, Canada) in 2006.  Her final project, with Prof Scott McIndoe, involved the synthesis of electrospray active distannoxane catalysts.  Erin’s PhD degree was awarded from the University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) in 2011 and was supervised by Prof Warren Piers. Her research project investigated the decomposition and re-design of an olefin metathesis catalyst. Erin was then a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Prof Ian Manners at the University of Bristol (UK) where she transitioned into researching catalysis of main-group compounds as well as polymer self-assembly. Erin has been at the University of Auckland for six years and in 2016 she was the NZ recipient of the L-Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science fellowship. Members of the Leitao lab are working towards the synthesis of new main-group molecules and materials using catalysis.

Chandra Sekhar Tiwary

Development of a schwarzite-based moving bed 3D printed water treatment system for nanoplastic remediation

Chandra Sekhar Tiwary is a professor at Department of metallurgical and materials engineering, at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur India. After receiving his Ph.D from Indian Institute of Science Bangalore India. He worked as postdoc at Rice University, Houston, USA. His group works on 3D printing, 2D materials, nanomaterials, development of new alloys and its applications in environment, energy, electronics and catalysis etc. Based on his contributions, all three Academies of India (Indian National Science Academy, National Science Academy, India and Indian National Academy of Engineers) awarded him the Young Scientist Awards. Apart from this, the Ministry of Steel, India, has awarded him the Young Metallurgist of the year 2020 for his contributions to metal research. Electron microscopy society of India has recognized his contribution to electron microscopy and awarded him the Excellent Microscopist of 2020. He has been also awarded the Alain Reza Yavari Young/Junior Scientist Award -International Society of ISMANAM and many more. For carrying out cutting-edge research in India, the Department of Science and Technology, India, has awarded Prof. Tiwary the Ramanujan Fellowship in 2018.

Jiangshui Luo

Phase-dependent dielectric properties and proton conduction of neopentyl glycol

Dr. Jiangshui Luo has been a Professor in College of Materials Science and Engineering, Sichuan University in China since 2020, where he is the Head of the team of Electrolytes and Phase Change Materials. He has been appointed by Sichuan province as a distinguished expert since 2021. He has also been appointed by KU Leuven in Belgium as a visiting professor.

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Xiamen University and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, respectively. From 2008 and 2011, he worked as a project researcher on high temperature electrolytes in EWE Research Center for Energy Technology in Germany. He completed his PhD study on protic salt electrolytes for fuel cells in KU Leuven within 2 years in November 2012.

His research interest includes electrolytes, phase change materials, electrocatalysts, heat transfer fluids, solid-state refrigeration, isotope effects and scientometrics. So far, he has published 52 journal papers and holds 10 patents. He proposed and demonstrated protic organic ionic plastic crystals (POIPCs) as a novel type of proton conductors for fuel cells. He has been the PI of 7 national projects and received several governmental awards. He is an Editorial Board Member of Journal of Ionic Liquids.

Daniel A. Heredia

Photoactive antimicrobial coating based on a PEDOT-fullerene C60 polymeric dyad

Daniel A. Heredia is an Adjunct Researcher of CONICET at National University of Río Cuarto (UNRC). He graduated in 2009 with a BSc and he received his PhD degree in material science and electrochemistry in 2014 from UNRC. He obtained a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Institute of Chemistry of Rosario, where he did research into the total synthesis of structurally relevant natural products. He was visiting researcher at Complutense University of Madrid, at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH and at Arizona State University. His interests are wide, ranging from organic synthesis to the development of new materials and their photophysical characterization. His current research activities focus on the synthesis of organic materials to apply in photodynamic inactivation and optoelectronic devices.

Frank Hahn

Cross-linking of a polyketide synthase domain leads to a recyclable biocatalyst for chiral oxygen heterocycle synthesis

Frank studied Chemistry at the Universities of Karlsruhe, Paris VI and Bonn and finished his PhD on solid phase synthesis and biological evaluation of polyamines in 2008. He then moved to the University of Cambridge (UK) to study polyketide biosynthetic pathways with Prof. Peter F. Leadlay. In 2011, he returned to Germany to start his independent career at the Leibniz University Hannover, where he became leader of a DFG-funded Emmy Noether Research Group in 2013. In 2016, he moved to his current position as a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Bayreuth. His research interests are in the fields of natural product synthesis and biosynthesis as well as the biotechnological exploitation of the microbial secondary metabolism.

David J. Lewis

Preparation of solution processed photodetectors comprised of two-dimensional tin(ii) sulfide nanosheet thin films assembled via the Langmuir–Blodgett method

David J. Lewis (DJL, h = 31) is Deputy Head of Department, Head of Research & Reader in Materials Chemistry in the Department of Materials at The University of Manchester, UK. DJL leads a research group actively researching soft processing and applications of nanostructured and low-dimensional materials broadly related to energy generation. DJL’s research has led to over 100 publications and he has been the recipient of funding from EPSRC and The Royal Society as well as a number of industrially-sponsored grants. In 2021 he was elected by Members and Fellows to serve on the RSC Materials Chemistry Division council for 3 years.

Binju Wang

The molecular mechanism of P450-catalyzed amination of the pyrrolidine derivative of lidocaine: insights from multiscale simulations

Binju Wang obtained his PhD in 2012 from Xiamen University in China. After two periods of post-doctoral research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (with Prof. Sason Shaik) and Universitat de Barcelona, Spain (with Prof. Carme Rovira), he joined Xiamen University in 2018 as a full professor. His current research interest focuses on the use of multiscale modeling to decipher the catalytic mechanisms of metalloenzymes, including O2 and H2O2 activations, electronic state and spin-state reactivities, protein environment effects, as well as the rational design of metalloenzymes for biocatalysis. Professor Wang has published over 50 peer reviewed publications.

Scott Tsai

An ultrafast enzyme-free acoustic technique for detaching adhered cells in microchannels

Dr. Scott Tsai is the Director of the Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). His undergraduate training in Mechanical Engineering is from the University of Toronto, and his masters and PhD degrees in Engineering Sciences are from Harvard University. Dr. Tsai’s laboratory specializes in droplet and bubble microfluidics. His group also collaborates actively with hospital researchers to implement these technologies in medical applications related to kidney disease and prostate cancer. Dr. Tsai is a recipient of the United States’ Fulbright Visiting Research Chair Award, Government of Ontario’s Early Researcher Award, and Toronto Metropolitan University’s Deans’ Teaching Award.

Daniel Globisch

Investigation of the individual human sulfatome in plasma and urine samples reveals an age-dependency

Daniel Globisch is an Associate Professor in Analytical Chemistry at Uppsala University. He studied Chemistry at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (Germany) and the University of Southern Denmark, Odense (Denmark). He received his Ph.D. from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (Germany) with Professor Thomas Carell in March 2011 and joined the laboratory of Professor Kim D. Janda at The Scripps Research Institute (CA, USA) for his postdoctoral studies for 4.5 years. He started his independent career in September 2015 at Uppsala University (Sweden) after recruitment as a Science For Life Laboratory Fellow. He was appointed as Associate Professor in 2017 and joined the Department of Chemistry – BMC after securing a tenured position in December 2020. Daniel has been elected as a board member of the Nordic Metabolomics Society for two terms and as an Editorial Board Member for the metabolomics society journal Metabolites. The interdisciplinary nature of his research projects is focused on the elucidation of the metabolic interaction between the gut microbiota and their human host. Towards this goal, his laboratory develops new Chemical Biology tools to extend the scope of metabolomics research for the selective discovery of unknown biomarkers and bioactive metabolites.

Tangxin Xiao

Efficient artificial light-harvesting system constructed from supramolecular polymers with AIE property

Tangxin Xiao was born in China in 1987. He obtained his B.Sc. degree in chemistry from Hubei Normal University in 2009. Then he joined the laboratory of Prof. Leyong Wang at Nanjing University and got his Ph.D. in supramolecular chemistry in 2014. After postdoctoral research on fine chemicals at Zhejiang University-NHU Company United R&D Center, he joined Changzhou University in 2017, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. Between March 2021 and June 2022, he worked as a visiting scholar in Prof. Oren Scherman group at University of Cambridge. His current research interests concern the supramolecular chemistry and luminescent materials. He has co-authored more than 50 publications with a total citation of more than 2700 times and his H-index is 23.

Xiao-Yu Hu

Influence of water-soluble pillararene hosts on Kemp elimination

Xiao-Yu Hu obtained her Ph.D. in pharmaceutical chemistry from the Chengdu Institute of Biology (CAS) in 2011. After postdoctoral research with Prof. Leyong Wang, she joined Nanjing University as an associate research professor in 2013. In 2016, she joined University of Duisburg-Essen as a senior AvH Fellow (“The Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researcher”) working with Prof. Carsten Schmuck. Since 2018, she has been appointed as the Full Professor of Organic Chemistry at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Her current research interests are focused on supramolecular self-assembly and functional supramolecular materials. She is currently the associate editor of Frontiers in Chemistry, and an editorial board member of Chinese Chemical Letters, Green Synthesis & Catalysis, and Molecules.

She has authored and coauthored over 100 research publications, including Nat. Commun., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Acc. Chem. Res., CCS Chem. and so on. Moreover, has received many grants and awards, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province for Outstanding Young Scholar, the Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researcher, the Science and Technology Award of Jiangsu Province, the National New Star Award in Supramolecular Chemistry of Aromatic Macrocycles, and the Teaching and Research Achievement Award of Jiangsu Province.

We would like to give a huge thank you to Series Editor James Batteas, 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 2022!

We are pleased to announce the Series Editors of the next Emerging Investigator series of 2022: Fabienne Dumoulin and Shirley Nakagaki, and 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 for the journal, 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 up coming 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

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.