Archive for the ‘RSC Advances’ Category

The year in review – Energy research in RSC Advances 2020

Looking back at 2020, we would like to share with you some of the great research that has been published in RSC Advances over the year. We are proud to present a selection of the most popular 2020 energy research papers, reviews and HOT articles published so far.

We hope you enjoy reading these articles and as always, all our articles are open access – free to read and accessible to everyone.

2020 HOT articles

Over the year, our reviewers and Associate Editors have handpicked articles of particular interest and marked them as HOT. We are very pleased to highlight some outstanding 2020 HOT articles on energy:

Photocurrent generation by a photosystem I-NiO photocathode for a p-type biophotovoltaic tandem cell
Yuya Takekuma, Morio Nagata et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01793K

Mechanistic understanding of humin formation in the conversion of glucose and fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in [BMIM]Cl ionic liquid
Zhanwei Xu, Z. Conrad Zhang et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA05641C

Selective production of bio-based aromatics by aerobic oxidation of native soft wood lignin in tetrabutylammonium hydroxide
Takashi Hosoya, Tatsuhiko Yamada et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03420G

Ethanol-blended petroleum fuels: implications of co-solvency for phytotechnologies
Michael O. Eze and Simon C. George et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10919F

Read the full HOT article collection

 

Most popular 2020 articles

Recent advances in the design of cathode materials for Li-ion batteries
Nourhan Mohamed and Nageh K. Allam, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03314F, Review

Synthesis of a hierarchical carbon fiber@cobalt ferrite@manganese dioxide composite and its application as a microwave absorber
Ailing Feng, Guanglei Wu , DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10327A

Biomass-derived three-dimensional carbon framework for a flexible fibrous supercapacitor and its application as a wearable smart textile
Chunghsuan Hsiao, Nyanhwa Tai et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA07441D

Gold nanoparticle–cellulose/PDMS nanocomposite: a flexible dielectric material for harvesting mechanical energy
Manojit Pusty and Parasharam M. Shirage, DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10811D

High voltage vacuum-processed perovskite solar cells with organic semiconducting interlayers
Azin Babaei, Henk J. Bolink et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00214C

Influence of electronically conductive additives on the cycling performance of argyrodite-based all-solid-state batteries
Florian Strauss, Torsten Brezesinski et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10253A

Computational prediction of structural, electronic, and optical properties and phase stability of double perovskites K2SnX6 (X = I, Br, Cl)
Un-Gi Jong, Chol-Jun Yu and Yun-Hyok Kye et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA09232C

Enhanced ethanol production from sugarcane molasses by industrially engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae via replacement of the PHO4 gene
Renzhi Wu,  Ribo Huang et al. DOI: 10.1039/C9RA08673K

Eucalyptus red grandis pretreatment with protic ionic liquids: effect of severity and influence of sub/super-critical CO2 atmosphere on pretreatment performance
Francisco Malaret, Jason P. Hallett et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA02040K

Process analysis of solar steam reforming of methane for producing low-carbon hydrogen
Enkhbayar Shagdar, Heping Tan et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA09835F

Silicon nanocrystal hybrid photovoltaic devices for indoor light energy harvesting
Munechika Otsuka, Tomohiro Nozaki et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00804D

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.

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

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

The year in review – Chemical biology & Medicinal chemistry in RSC Advances 2020

Looking back at 2020, we would like to share with you some of the great research that has been published in RSC Advances over the year. We are proud to present a selection of the most popular 2020 chemical biology and medicinal chemistry papers, reviews and HOT articles published so far.

We hope you enjoy reading these articles and as always, all our articles are open access – free to read and accessible to everyone.

2020 HOT articles

Over the year, our reviewers and Associate Editors have handpicked articles of particular interest and marked them as HOT. We are very pleased to highlight some outstanding 2020 chemical biology and medicinal chemistry HOT articles:

Accelerating the repurposing of FDA-approved drugs against coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19)
Simona De Vita, Gianluigi Lauro, Giuseppe Bifulco et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA09010G

In their article Giuseppe Bifulco, Gianluigi Lauro and colleagues at University of Salerno, Italy, developed a new computational protocol to identify FDA-approved drugs that could be used to fight the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Focussing on three SARS-CoV-2 targets; main protease, papain-like protease and spike protein, the researchers narrowed down the number of potential ligands by carrying out a virtual screening followed by applying the Inverse Virtual Screening approach previously developed by the research group. The best ligands for each protein were further investigated with molecular dynamics simulations confirming the promising binding modes.

Italy was one of the countries most affected by the first outbreak this spring and we felt the responsibility, as scientists, to contribute to the research of possible cures,’ says Bifulco. ‘We hope that our data can be used by other research groups as starting point to figure out new treatments for this disease. We are very confident about the results achieved and we will keep on working on the matter.’

Read the interview with the authors about their article here.

 

 

 

 

More HOT articles

Molecular targets and anticancer activity of quinoline–chalcone hybrids: literature review
Mamdouh F. A. Mohamed and Gamal El-Din A. Abuo-Rahma, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA05594H, Review

In silico identification of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein–ACE2 complex inhibitors from eight Tecoma species and cultivars analyzed by LC-MS
Seham S. El Hawary, Usama Ramadan Abdelmohsen et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA08997D

P-stereocontrolled synthesis of oligo(nucleoside N3′→O5′ phosphoramidothioate)s – opportunities and limitations
Ewa Radzikowska, Barbara Nawrot et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA04987E

A novel cerium(III)–isatin Schiff base complex: spectrofluorometric and DFT studies and application as a kidney biomarker for ultrasensitive detection of human creatinine
Sheta M. Sheta, El-Sayed R. H. El-Gharkawy et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10133K

A simple and cost-effective approach to fabricate tunable length polymeric microneedle patches for controllable transdermal drug delivery
Yongli Chen, Xu Zhang et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01382J

Consensus virtual screening of dark chemical matter and food chemicals uncover potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 main protease
Marisa G. Santibáñez-Morán, José L. Medina-Franco et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA04922K

Read the full HOT article collection

 

Most popular 2020 articles

Reviews

Nature as a treasure trove of potential anti-SARS-CoV drug leads: a structural/mechanistic rationale
Ahmed M. Sayed, Usama Ramadan Abdelmohsen et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA04199H

Synthesis and application of coumarin fluorescence probes
Xiao-ya Sun, Xiao-jing Wang et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10290F

Benefits and applications of microwave-assisted synthesis of nitrogen containing heterocycles in medicinal chemistry
Maged Henary, Giancarlo Cravotto et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01378A

Non-ionic small amphiphile based nanostructures for biomedical applications
Badri Parshad, Ljiljana Fruk et al. DOI: 10.1039/D0RA08092F

Papers

Facile approach to benzo[d]imidazole-pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine hybrid structures through double cyclodehydration and aromatization and their unique optical properties with blue emission
Gi Hun Bae, Ikyon Kim et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01140A

Synthesis of phosphonoacetate analogues of the second messenger adenosine 5′-diphosphate ribose (ADPR)
Ondřej Baszczyňski, Barry V. L. Potter et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA09284F

Evaluation of cytotoxic potential of structurally well-characterized RNA targeted ionic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) Cu(II) & Zn(II) DACH–mefenamato drug conjugates against human cancer cell lines
Huzaifa Yasir Khan, Farukh Arjmand et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA07464C

Two novel ACE inhibitory peptides isolated from longan seeds: purification, inhibitory kinetics and mechanisms
Atthasith Nuchprapha, Aphichart Karnchanatat et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00093K

Antibiofilm, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of extracellular green-synthesized silver nanoparticles by two marine-derived actinomycete
Ahmed A. Hamed, Ahmed N. Emam et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA11021F

Enhancement of ibuprofen solubility and skin permeation by conjugation with L-valine alkyl esters
Ewa Janus, Adam Klimowicz et al. DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00100G

Extracellular electron transfer mediated by a cytocompatible redox polymer to study the crosstalk among the mammalian circadian clock, cellular metabolism, and cellular redox state
Masahito Ishikawa, Katsutoshi Hori et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10023G

Development and characterization of a babassu nut oil-based moisturizing cosmetic emulsion with a high sun protection factor
Michael Jackson Ferreira da Silva, Maria Célia Costa Pires et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00647E

Histidine-conjugated DNA as a biomolecular depot for metal ions
Soyoung Park, Hiroshi Sugiyama et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01267J

High-throughput toxicity screening of novel azepanium and 3-methylpiperidinium ionic liquids
Angela L. Tether, Stephen A. Kelly et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03107K

A ZnII complex of ornidazole with decreased nitro radical anions that is still highly active on Entamoeba histolytica
Promita Nandy, Saurabh Das et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA02597F

Synthesis of tricyclic carbohydrate–benzene hybrids as selective inhibitors of galectin-1 and galectin-8 N-terminal domains
Chunxia Wu, Yuanyuan Zhang et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03144E

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.

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

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

The year in review – Catalysis in RSC Advances 2020

Looking back at 2020, we would like to share with you some of the great research that has been published in RSC Advances over the year. We are proud to present a selection of the most popular 2020 catalysis papers, reviews and HOT articles published so far.

We hope you enjoy reading these articles and as always, all our articles are open access – free to read and accessible to everyone.

2020 HOT articles

Over the year, our reviewers and Associate Editors have handpicked articles of particular interest and marked them as HOT. We are very pleased to highlight some outstanding 2020 HOT articles on catalysis:

Ultrathin sulfate-intercalated NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanosheets for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution

Xiao-Xiao Jiang, Jian-Ping Lang et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00845A

Jian-Ping Lang, Soochow University, and colleagues have introduced a facile method for the synthesis and modification of ultrathin NiFe-layered double hydroxides (LDHs). The LDH nanosheets are highly efficient electrocatalysts in the oxygen evolution reaction.

We have acquired a simple and promising method for synthesizing ultrathin LDHs nanosheets. In particular, we are very excited about the universality of the synthesis of different two-dimensional materials that are widely used in the field of energy storage and conversion,’ says Lang.

Read the interview with Jian-Ping Lang about his article here.

 

 

More HOT articles

Nanocellulose enriches enantiomers in asymmetric aldol reactions
Naliharifetra Jessica Ranaivoarimanana, Takuya Kitaoka et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA07412H

NaBH4 induces a high ratio of Ni3+/Ni2+ boosting OER activity of the NiFe LDH electrocatalyst
Yaqiong Wang, Shihe Yang et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA06617F

Understanding the mechanism of the competitive adsorption in 8-methylquinoline hydrogenation over a Ru catalyst
Yuan Dong, Hansong Cheng et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01277G

Read the full HOT article collection

Most popular 2020 articles

Reviews

Catalytic conversion of ethane to valuable products through non-oxidative dehydrogenation and dehydroaromatization
Hikaru Saito and Yasushi Sekine, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03365K

Cu2O as an emerging semiconductor in photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic treatment of water contaminated with organic substances: a review
Babatunde A. Koiki and Omotayo A. Arotiba, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA06858F

Recent advancements in g-C3N4-based photocatalysts for photocatalytic CO2 reduction: a mini review
Runlu Liu, Shenmin Zhu et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA05779G

Papers

One-pot multicomponent synthesis of thieno[2,3-b]indoles catalyzed by a magnetic nanoparticle-supported [Urea]4[ZnCl2] deep eutectic solvent
The Thai Nguyen and Phuong Hoang Tran, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00773K

Green synthesis of CuO nanoparticles using Lantana camara flower extract and their potential catalytic activity towards the aza-Michael reaction
Rakesh Chowdhury, Md. Harunar Rashid et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01479F

Comparison of electrocatalytic activity of Pt1−xPdx/C catalysts for ethanol electro-oxidation in acidic and alkaline media
Qiang Zhang, Fengxing Jiang et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00483A

CO2 photoreduction to CO/CH4 over Bi2W0.5Mo0.5O6 solid solution nanotubes under visible light
Yang Wang, Mingyi Zhang et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00672F

Production of green diesel from catalytic deoxygenation of chicken fat oil over a series binary metal oxide-supported MWCNTs
N. Aliana-Nasharuddin, Y. H. Taufiq-Yap et al. DOI: 10.1039/C9RA08409F

Sulfamic acid incorporated HKUST-1: a highly active catalyst and efficient adsorbent
Mahmoud M. Kaid, Amr Awad Ibrahim et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01063D

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by co-catalyst-free TiO2/C bulk heterostructures synthesized under mild conditions
Claudio Imparato, Antonio Aronne et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01322F

One-pot synthesis at room temperature of epoxides and linalool derivative pyrans in monolacunary Na7PW11O39-catalyzed oxidation reactions by hydrogen peroxide
Castelo B. Vilanculo, Jesus Avendano Villarreal et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00047G

Three-dimensional NiCoP hollow spheres: an efficient electrode material for hydrogen evolution reaction and supercapacitor applications
Jiban K. Das, J. N. Behera et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00047G

Modification of fibrous membrane for organic and pathogenic contaminants removal: from design to application
Mohammad Neaz Morshed, Vincent Nierstrasz et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01362E

Elucidating the ionic liquid distribution in monolithic SILP hydroformylation catalysts by magnetic resonance imaging
Jakob Maximilian Marinkovic, Anders Riisager et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA09515B

Characterization of biocompatible pig skin collagen and application of collagen-based films for enzyme immobilization
Li He, Yaowen Liu et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10794K

Synergistic effect of Ni–Ag–rutile TiO2 ternary nanocomposite for efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity
Petri M. Leukkunen, Marko Huttula et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA07078E

Proline derived guanidine catalysts forge extensive H-bonded architectures: a solution and solid state study
Zahraa S. Al-Taie, Jack A. Wilson et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA07508A

Enzyme immobilization inside the porous wood structure: a natural scaffold for continuous-flow biocatalysis
Christian Goldhahn, Munish Chanana et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10633B

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.

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

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

The year in review – Biological chemistry in RSC Advances 2020

Looking back at 2020, we would like to share with you some of the great research that has been published in RSC Advances over the year. We are proud to present a selection of the most popular 2020 biological chemistry papers, reviews and HOT articles published so far.

We hope you enjoy reading these articles and as always, all our articles are open access – free to read and accessible to everyone.

RSC Advances in the news

Smart capsule for non-invasive sampling and studying of the gastrointestinal microbiome
Jose Fernando Waimin, Rahim Rahimi et al. DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10986B

Source: Purdue University photo/Mark Simons

The study by Rahim Rahimi and colleagues was published in April and was covered in several news outlets. Purdue University News describes the invention: Purdue University researchers built a way to swallow a tool that acts like a colonoscopy, except that instead of looking at the colon with a camera, the technology takes samples of bacteria. The technology could also move throughout the whole GI tract, not just the colon. This tract, in addition to the colon, includes the mouth, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, small intestine and rectum. Essentially, this tool would make it possible to conduct a “gut-oscopy”. A video showing how it would work is on YouTube.

It’s all about being able to take samples of bacteria anywhere in the gut. That was impossible before,’ said Rahim Rahimi, a Purdue assistant professor of materials engineering.

 

2020 HOT articles

Over the year, our reviewers and Associate Editors have handpicked articles of particular interest and marked them as HOT. We are very pleased to highlight some outstanding 2020 biological chemistry HOT articles:

Molecular crowding induces primer extension by RNA polymerase through base stacking beyond Watson–Crick rules
Shuntaro Takahashi, Naoki Sugimoto et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA06502A

In their article Shuntaro Takahashi, Naoki Sugimoto and colleagues investigated the effect of chemical environments on gene replication of the virus RNA polymerase, providing insight into not only the evolution of life but also the mechanism of mutation of the virus genome including SARS-CoV-2.

The stability of the Watson-Crick base pair is NOT always the most stable, which can be perturbed by molecular environments. Therefore, we speculated that the replication of nucleic acids in the enzyme could also be affected by molecular environments and cause replication errors”, says Professor Sugimoto. “We were excited to find the replication rules became dependent on the stacking interactions more than Watson-Crick base pairing under molecular crowding conditions. This indicates that the replication error can be simply explained by the changes in dielectric constant.

Their results suggest that the molecular environment could take part in the evolution of life by enhancing the replication error of genome sequences and highlight the significance of molecular environments of patients’ cells for spreading viruses.

Read the interview with the authors about their article here.

 

 

 

More HOT articles

Aggregation of biologically important peptides and proteins: inhibition or acceleration depending on protein and metal ion concentrations
Benjamin Gabriel Poulson, Mariusz Jaremko et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA09350H, Review

Lophiostomin A–D: new 3,4-dihydroisocoumarin derivatives from the endophytic fungus Lophiostoma sp. Sigrf10
Ziling Mao, Ligang Zhou et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00538J

Read the full HOT article collection

Most popular 2020 articles

Reviews

Nanozyme-based catalytic theranostics
Yanan Zhang, Kelong Fan et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA09021E

G-Protein coupled receptors: structure and function in drug discovery
Chiemela S. Odoemelam, Philippe B. Wilson et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA08003A

Antimicrobial peptides from Bombyx mori: a splendid immune defense response in silkworms
Jannatun Nesa, Octavio L. Franco et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA06864C

Papers

Anti-HIV drug repurposing against SARS-CoV-2
Peng Sang, Li-Quan Yang et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA01899F

Merits of photocatalytic and antimicrobial applications of gamma-irradiated CoxNi1−xFe2O4/SiO2/TiO2; x = 0.9 nanocomposite for pyridine removal and pathogenic bacteria/fungi disinfection: implication for wastewater treatment
Gharieb S. El-Sayyad, Mohamed Gobara et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10505K

An atomic resolution description of folic acid using solid state NMR measurements
Manasi Ghosh, Krishna Kishor Dey et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03772A

Characterization of insulin cross-seeding: the underlying mechanism reveals seeding and denaturant-induced insulin fibrillation proceeds through structurally similar intermediates
Mohsen Akbarian, Ali Akbar Moosavi-Movahedi et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA05414C

iTRAQ-based proteomic analysis reveals several key metabolic pathways associated with male sterility in Salvia miltiorrhiza
Ruihong Wang, Hongbo Guo et al. DOI: 10.1039/C9RA09240D

Natural deep eutectic solvent supported targeted solid–liquid polymer carrier for breast cancer therapy
Xianfu Sun, Mariappan Rajan et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03790G

Lessons learned in engineering interrupted adenylation domains when attempting to create trifunctional enzymes from three independent monofunctional ones
Taylor A. Lundby, Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA05490A

An intermolecular-split G-quadruplex DNAzyme sensor for dengue virus detection
Jeunice Ida, Theam Soon Lim et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA05439A

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.

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

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

The year in review – Analytical chemistry in RSC Advances 2020

Looking back at 2020, we would like to share with you some of the great research that has been published in RSC Advances over the year. We are proud to present a selection of the most popular 2020 analytical chemistry papers, reviews and HOT articles published so far.

We hope you enjoy reading these articles and as always, all our articles are open access – free to read and accessible to everyone.

RSC Advances in the news

Confirmatory non-invasive and non-destructive differentiation between hemp and cannabis using a hand-held Raman spectrometer
Lee Sanchez, Dmitry Kurouski et al. DOI: 10.1039/C9RA08225E

In the beginning of the year, the paper by Lee Sanchez an colleagues received a lot of attention in the media, including an article in Chemistry World: “Scientists in the US have found a new use for their handheld Raman spectrometer: it can determine whether a sample should legally be classified as cannabis. In the US, hemp can contain up to 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) but above that concentration, it is considered cannabis. The device produces a chemical fingerprint that clearly indicates how much THC it contains.”

 

2020 HOT articles

Over the year, our reviewers and Associate Editors have handpicked articles of particular interest and marked them as HOT. We are very pleased to highlight some outstanding 2020 analytical chemistry HOT articles:

New, inexpensive and simple 3D printable device for nephelometric and fluorimetric determination based on smartphone sensing
Ezequiel Vidal, Claudia E. Domini et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA02975K

The article by Ezequiel Vidal and colleagues ‘describes the creation and validation of a cheap 3D printed device that can be attached to a smartphone for making chemical determinations. This gadget represents an ideal solution for developing countries, remote places and on site determinations.

 Read the interview with Ezequiel about his article here.

 

 

 

More HOT articles

A phenol phosphorescent microsensor of mesoporous molecularly imprinted polymers
Xiaodong Lv and Peng Gao, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA02834G

Real-time and in situ observation of structural evolution of giant block copolymer thin film under solvent vapor annealing by atomic force microscopy
Kaori Takano, Tomohiro Hayashi et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA09043F

A gradient screening approach for retired lithium-ion batteries based on X-ray computed tomography images
Aihua Ran, Guodan Wei et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03602A

Label-free single-molecule identification of telomere G-quadruplexes with a solid-state nanopore sensor
Sen Wang, Deqiang Wang et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA05083K

Gas phase methanol synthesis with Raman spectroscopy for gas composition monitoring
Pavel Maksimov, Jero Ahola et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA04455E

Read the full HOT article collection

Most popular 2020 articles

Reviews

Flexible potentiometric pH sensors for wearable systems
Libu Manjakkal, Saoirse Dervin and Ravinder Dahiya, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA00016G

Graphene quantum dot based materials for sensing, bio-imaging and energy storage applications: a review
Y. Ravi Kumar, S. K. Khadheer Pasha et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03938A

Recent progress in chemosensors based on pyrazole derivatives
Alexis Tigreros and Jaime Portilla, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA02394A

Papers

Ecofriendly densitometric RP-HPTLC method for determination of rivaroxaban in nanoparticle formulations using green solvents
Prawez Alam, Faiyaz Shakeel et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA07825H

Coupling of digital image processing and three-way calibration to assist a paper-based sensor for determination of nitrite in food samples
Zohreh Almasvandi, Ali R. Jalalvand et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10918H

Rapid, quantitative and ultra-sensitive detection of cancer biomarker by a SERRS-based lateral flow immunoassay using bovine serum albumin coated Au nanorods
Luchun Lu, Chongwen Wang et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA09471G

Room-temperature preparation of a chiral covalent organic framework for the selective adsorption of amino acid enantiomers
Fang Liu, Xiu-Ping Yan et al. DOI: 10.1039/D0RA02647F

A comparative study on the structural features of humic acids extracted from lignites using comprehensive spectral analyses
Yuanqin Zhang, Yi Su et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03166F

Slowness curve surface acoustic wave transducers for optimized acoustic streaming
Richard O’Rorke, Ye Ai et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10452F

Electrochemical detection of 2-nitrophenol using a heterostructure ZnO/RuO2 nanoparticle modified glassy carbon electrode
Md. Tamez Uddin, Md. Akhtarul Islam et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA08669B

Di-functional luminescent sensors based on Y3+ doped Eu3+ and Tb3+ coordination polymers: fast response and visible detection of Cr3+, Fe3+ ions in aqueous solutions and acetone
Hongyan Liu, Jun Han et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA06407F

Dual enzyme-like activity of iridium nanoparticles and their applications for the detection of glucose and glutathione
Qingqing Wang, Shaoqin Liu et al., DOI: 10.1039/D0RA05342B

Microscopic investigations on the healing and softening of damaged salt by uniaxial deformation from CT, SEM and NMR: effect of fluids (brine and oil)
Jie Chen, Deyi Jiang et al., DOI: 10.1039/C9RA05866D

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.

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

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Feature interview with RSC Advances Executive Editor Laura Fisher

Laura Fisher is Executive Editor for RSC Advances at the Royal Society of Chemistry. She is responsible for the strategic development of the journal, working with members of the Editorial Board and Associate Editors to ensure RSC Advances upholds its standards of quality and impact, and supports the global chemistry community. She kindly agreed to talk about her career in publishing and her aspirations for RSC Advances in the future.

You started as Managing Editor for RSC Advances in June 2019 and in January this year, you were appointed as Executive Editor. Going forward, what is your vision for the journal? What can authors and readers expect of RSC Advances in the future?

I’ve really enjoyed working with the RSC Advances team for the past year. My previous role was across five journals, all of which were much smaller and more subject-specific, as well as not being open access. RSC Advances offers completely different challenges in terms of the size of the journal and engaging with authors across a much broader subject range, and I have learned a lot in the past year! I have really enjoyed the Open Access focus, and working with our huge team of Associate Editors who cover so many different subjects and geographies, but are all so engaged with what we are doing.

In the future I would like us to engage with more and more early career researchers, and give them opportunities to be involved in the journal, whether it is as web writers on our blog, as reviewers, or as Associate Editors. I’d also really like to engage with more people who are really passionate about open access publishing, as I really believe it is the future of our field.

Soon after you started as Executive Editor, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. How has this affected you and the journal? What has been most challenging?

From a personal standpoint the biggest transitions have been working from home rather than seeing my colleagues and teammates in the office every day, and also the lack of international travel. I was lucky to get out to China and meet some of the community there last November, but it has been really strange not getting to meet authors and readers in person at conferences over the past year.

From a journal point of view we saw a big spike in submissions at the start of lockdown, when I guess more people had time for writing, and more recently a slight dip as labs are opening up and people are focussing on getting their research back on track. We are also seeing funding being limited in certain regions, which can be challenging for open access.

I also think there have been some positives though, such as the way we have learned to communicate with each other remotely through various means, and that could have a really big benefit going forwards both in terms of collaboration, but also in limiting the amount of international travel for conferences, which is a big part of both my role as an Executive Editor, as well as those of our authors, editors, and readers.

It is the International Open Access Week and you are leading one of the largest gold open access chemistry journals in the world. What makes RSC Advances an important journal in the work towards open research?

The main thing for me is that we are really trying to make open access publishing as inclusive as possible. Our APCs are some of the lowest in the industry, and we offer waivers and discounts to authors from developing countries. To me that shows that we really are doing this for the researchers, and to make chemical science more accessible for everyone.

What would you say to researchers who are on the fence about open access?

It really depends on their reasoning. For those who have concerns about whether the research is reliable and of high quality, I would highlight the fact that at RSC Advances our standards have not changed since before we were open access. Our reject rate has been steady at ~55% for the past 7 years, and this shows that we are applying the same quality standards to open access work as we were previously. 

It is also important to clarify that at the RSC we keep our editorial decisions very separate from any decisions about discounts or waivers. We do that for a good reason – so that we are only judging people’s research on the research itself, and not on the author’s ability to pay an APC. That is the way it should always be.

Finally I would tell people that one of the main benefits of open access is that your research can be read by more people. Under the subscription model only people at institutions with subscription access, or those who pay per article, can read articles, whereas with Open Access anyone can read your work. That includes people at institutions with lower budgets, people in developing countries who don’t generally have broad access to research, and people working in different fields. This means more opportunities for citation and collaboration.

You have a background in research yourself, a PhD in chemistry. Please could you tell us about that?

I did my undergraduate degree and my PhD at the University of Bath. Technically my PhD is in chemical engineering, but it had a quite heavy chemistry focus – synthesising and characterising MOFs, and then measuring their hydrogen adsorption capacity for potential use in fuel cells. After leaving Bath I completed a postdoc at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. However, I have to say I was never a very good practical chemist, and my accident-prone nature made me realise that being in the lab probably wasn’t the best career path for me. I really wanted to stay involved in science though, which is why I applied to work at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

In the past, you have worked on several different journals as well as been involved in the launching of new journals. What made you interested in a career in publishing in the first place? What do you find most exciting with RSC Advances?

As I said in the previous question, it was mostly wanting to stay involved in science but recognising that a career in research didn’t really suit me. I also really enjoy writing, and initially was attracted to the language editing side of the role – helping authors improve their papers. As my career developed I realised I was better at the more outward-facing side of the editor role, and I really enjoy getting to work directly with members of the scientific community on a daily basis. The breadth of scope in RSC Advances makes that even better, because there are so many people who have published in, reviewed for, or read the journal, and each has a different insight.

What is the most common question people ask you about RSC Advances and what is your response to it?

I get a lot of questions from people who have been offered a transfer to RSC Advances from another RSC journal, asking why this is. The main reason is that we get a lot of really great work submitted to all of our journals at the RSC, but sometimes that work isn’t suitable for the journal it was submitted to, whether that is because it isn’t in scope, or because it doesn’t meet the novelty or impact standards of that journal. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t great work, and we want to keep as much of that great work as we can at the RSC, by offering the authors the option to publish in a more suitable journal. 

We see this as a service for authors, because the transfer is automatic once they approve it, so they don’t have to go through the submission process from the beginning again, and if their paper has already been through peer review, we can often use the same referees, or even the same referee reports, saving the authors time.

Sometimes a transfer offer will be made to one of our subscription journals, and sometimes it will be an open access journal, such as RSC Advances. The only criterion driving transfer offers is the suitability of the venue for the paper in question. And of course, these transfer offers are always optional! 

Do you have any favourite RSC Advances articles? If so, which ones and why?

There was a paper earlier in the year where the authors had been inspired by the way beetles capture water from the air in deserts, and had used the same concept to design a surface that could capture water from fog, with the potential to generate drinking water in arid regions. I really do love how nature can inspire scientists in so many ways!

Back in 2016–2018 when I was working on the journal Soft Matter there was a series of papers in RSC Advances and Soft Matter where the authors were engineering edible microballoons that could be used to deliver nutritional supplements to babies in developing countries. The work they had published with us helped them secure a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant. It’s really great when publications in our journals lead to work that can make such a difference in the world.

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.

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

 

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Introducing our new Associate Editors: Camilla Abbehausen & Megan O’Mara

We are very pleased to welcome Professors Camilla Abbehausen and Megan O’Mara to the RSC Advances team as Associate Editors today!

 

Camilla Abbehausen

Camilla Abbehausen received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Campinas in 2003 and was honored by the Regional Chemistry Council Prize for Bachelors in the same year. Before diving into academics, she worked from 2002 – 2010 at Dow Corning Co. in the Application Development and Research department to develop health and personal care applications for silicone polymers. In 2007 she received an Application Services – Latin America award for the services developed. Camilla received a Master’s degree in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Campinas in 2009 and a Ph.D. from the same University in 2014. In a collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University, under the supervision of Prof. Pedro Paulo Corbi and Prof. Nicholas Farrell, she studied the interaction of metal complexes with zinc finger domains and the development of metal-based antitumor, antiviral and antibacterial agents. Camilla was selected as Assistant Professor at the University of Campinas in 2015 and started a group on bioinorganic and medicinal inorganic chemistry. Camilla acted as a visiting professor at the Technical University of Munich (2020).

Her interests are the development of metal-based compounds for medical applications, especially in the interaction of these compounds with biomolecules and the studies of their mechanism of action. She is also studying metalloenzyme mechanism and inhibition, and developing novel methodologies for the synthesis of transition metal coordination compounds.

 

 

Megan_O'Mara_photoMegan O’Mara grew up in regional Queensland, Australia and is currently an Associate Professor at the Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. She was awarded her PhD (Physical Sciences) in 2005 from the Australian National University before undertaking postdoctoral training at the University of Calgary (Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research postdoctoral fellow) and at the University of Queensland (University of Queensland Postdoctoral Fellowship).

Megan’s research is highly interdisciplinary and uses computational chemistry to understand the chemical basis of biomolecular interactions, focusing on lipid organization and dynamics, small molecule small molecule and drug interactions with membrane proteins and lipid membranes, and self-assembly processes in bio-inspired systems.

 

Browse a selection of Camilla & Megan’s work published by the RSC:

Evaluation of cobalt complexes with tripod ligands for zinc finger targeting
Heiðar Mar Aðalsteinsson, Frederico A. Lima, Carolina Galuppo and Camilla Abbehausen
Dalton Trans., 2020, Advance Article
DOI: D0DT00067A, Paper

The influence of ZnII coordination sphere and chemical structure over the reactivity of metallo-β-lactamase model compounds
Eduardo Guimarães Ratier de Arruda, Bruno Alves Rocha, Manoel Victor Frutuoso Barrionuevo, Heiðar Már Aðalsteinsson, Flávia Elisa Galdino, Watson Loh, Frederico Alves Lima and Camilla Abbehausen
Dalton Trans., 2019, 48, 2900-2916
DOI: C8DT03905D, Paper

Aryl urea substituted fatty acids: a new class of protonophoric mitochondrial uncoupler that utilises a synthetic anion transporter
Tristan Rawling, Hugo MacDermott-Opeskin, Ariane Roseblade, Curtis Pazderka, Callum Clarke, Kirsi Bourget, Xin Wu, William Lewis, Benjamin Noble, Philip A. Gale, Megan L. O’Mara, Charles Cranfield and Michael Murray
Chem. Sci., 2020, Advance Article
DOI: D0SC02777D, Edge Article

Synthetically controlling dendrimer flexibility improves delivery of large plasmid DNA
Jessica A. Kretzmann, Diwei Ho, Cameron W. Evans, Janice H. C. Plani-Lam, Benjamin Garcia-Bloj, A. Elaaf Mohamed, Megan L. O’Mara, Ethan Ford, Dennis E. K. Tan, Ryan Lister, Pilar Blancafort, Marck Norret and K. Swaminathan Iyer
Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 2923-2930
DOI: C7SC00097A, Edge Article
RSC Advances Royal Society of Chemistry

Submit your research or reviews to Camilla and Megan today, they will be delighted to receive them! See 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 HOT articles, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Introducing our new Associate Editor: Maya Davidovich-Pinhas

We are very pleased to welcome Dr Maya Davidovich-Pinhas to the RSC Advances team as an Associate Editor today.

Maya Davidovich-Pinhas

 

Dr. Maya Davidovich-Pinhas gained her BSc in Biochemical Engineering and both her MSc and PhD in the Chemical Engineering department at the Technion, Israel. During her graduate studies, she focused on the development of hydrogel systems for mucoadhesion aiming for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Her post-doctoral fellowship at University of Guelph concentrated on oil-based gels, termed oleogels, where she worked on the formation and characterization of oleogels for various applications.

Since 2015, she has been the head of the lipid and soft matter laboratory in the faculty of Biotechnology and Food engineering, Technion, Israel. The research done in her lab combines material science and engineering concepts toward the development of new soft matter systems for biotechnology and food applications. More specifically, her research focuses on structure-property-function relation of soft matter biomaterials using x-ray diffraction techniques, microscopy, thermal analysis, rheology and texture analysis.

 

 

 

Browse articles published by Maya in RSC journals:

Tuning the mechanical properties of alginate–peptide hydrogels
Guy Ochbaum, Maya Davidovich-Pinhas and Ronit Bitton
Soft Matter, 2018, 14, 4364-4373
DOI: C8SM00059J, Paper

Ethylcellulose oleogels for lipophilic bioactive delivery – effect of oleogelation on in vitro bioaccessibility and stability of beta-carotene
Chloe M. O′Sullivan, Maya Davidovich-Pinhas, Amanda J. Wright, Shai Barbut and Alejandro G. Marangoni
Food Funct., 2017, 8, 1438-1451
DOI: C6FO01805J, Paper

 

RSC Advances Royal Society of Chemistry

Submit your research or reviews to Maya now, they will be delighted to receive them! See 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 HOT articles, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

Introducing our new Associate Editor: Parastoo Hashemi

We are very pleased to welcome Professor Parastoo Hashemi to the RSC Advances team as an Associate Editor today.

 

Parastoo (Parry) Hashemi RSC AdvancesParastoo (Parry) Hashemi received her MSci degree in Chemistry from King’s College, London. She performed her PhD with Martyn Boutelle in the Department of Bioengineering in Imperial College, London where she developed online biosensing technology to measure brain metabolites from human traumatic brain injury patients. She performed her post doctoral with Mark Wightman at UNC Chapel Hill. Here she developed fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) at carbon-fiber microelectrodes (CFMs) to measure serotonin in vivo using FSCV. She currently runs two research labs in the Department of Chemistry at the University of South Carolina and in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College, London. The focus of her research is to develop diagnostic tools and novel treatments for mental illnesses.

Parry has also recently guest-edited a themed collection on analytical science in neurochemistry for Analyst with Jean-Francois Masson and Martyn G. Boutelle. You can browse the full collection here.
 

Browse a selection of work published by Parry in RSC journals:

Frontiers in electrochemical sensors for neurotransmitter detection: towards measuring neurotransmitters as chemical diagnostics for brain disorders
Yangguang Ou, Anna Marie Buchanan, Colby E. Witt and Parastoo Hashemi
Anal. Methods, 2019, 11, 2738-2755
DOI: 10.1039/C9AY00055K, Critical Review

Fast voltammetry of metals at carbon-fiber microelectrodes: towards an online speciation sensor
Pavithra Pathirathna, Thushani Siriwardhane, Shawn P. McElmurry, Stephen L. Morgan and Parastoo Hashemi
Analyst, 2016, 141, 6432-6437
DOI: 10.1039/C6AN01807F, Paper

The coaction of tonic and phasic dopamine dynamics
Christopher W. Atcherley, Kevin M. Wood, Kate L. Parent, Parastoo Hashemi and Michael L. Heien
Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 2235-2238
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC06165A, Communication

 

RSC Advances Royal Society of Chemistry

Submit your research or reviews to Sonia & Ahjeong now, they will be delighted to receive them! See 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 HOT articles, Reviews, Collections & more by following us on Twitter. You can also keep informed by signing up to our E-Alerts.

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)

“Witnessing wonderful, innovative and exciting science”: an associate editor’s insight

Dr Donna Arnold, Associate Editor of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s RSC Advances, believes it’s vital that scientists contribute to their community by getting involved in the process of publishing high quality research.

Dr Donna Arnold is Senior Lecturer in Chemistry and Forensic Science at the University of Kent. Her PhD, undertaken at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, focussed on the structure and electronic properties of porous manganese oxides. She has since worked at the Foundation for Research and Technology in Crete and undertaken postdoctoral research at the University of St Andrews. Her research on functional nanomaterials at University College Cork earned her national recognition for her role in the design of the first patterned substrates manufactured by Intel to meet key research needs.

Q. What is your personal research focus, and what aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

I focus on new multifunctional materials for next-generation devices. In particular, my team are interested in synthesising materials with both magnetic and ferroelectric properties. Realising commercially useful materials of this kind would allow us to build memory devices which offer faster read/write capabilities while simultaneously requiring less energy to operate.

Q. What do you find most challenging about your research?

Research should be challenging. Without challenge there is no reward. That said, often the trickiest part is knowing when to share it with the scientific community. Do you wait until you have a complete picture, or do you share your findings as they come? There are pros and cons to both approaches and these vary depending on the project.

Q. Why did you decide to become an Associate Editor for RSC Advances?

I wanted to understand more about the publishing process, contribute to my community, improve my own submissions, and share knowledge and best practice. I applied to RSC Advances because it has a truly global readership across all areas of chemistry.

My role as Associate Editor gives me an opportunity to see the extensive, excellent work being performed in my area of expertise and to play a part in sharing this work with the wider research community.

Q. What is your favourite thing about the Associate Editor role?

It’s got to be witnessing the wonderful, innovative and exciting science being done worldwide. As researchers, our focus often becomes very narrow and we end up only reading within our direct area of interest. Being an Associate Editor means that I read a broad range of science. I’m constantly amazed by the innovative experiments that scientists perform!

Q. How does your role contribute to the journal and to the scientific community?

We all strive to publish our work and rely on these mechanisms to share knowledge and communicate our ideas – something that’s only achievable through the sensitive handling of papers by editorial staff and peer reviewers.

I hope that my contribution to the publishing of excellent science in RSC Advances inspires researchers and continues to drive science to new and exciting heights.

Q. If you had one piece of advice for authors submitting to RSC Advances, what would it be?

Include a cover letter with your submission which allows us to see where you think your work falls in the field and gives us a sense of the paper before we read it. Tell us why your work is cutting-edge and how it extends the current state of the art. What are the highlights? Why is it exciting? How does it fit within the scope of the journal?

Q. Who were your role models as a child, and did you always want to be a scientist?

I always wanted to be a scientist, although initially I wanted to be a pathologist (inspired by the TV show Quincy)! I later realised my true passion was for materials chemistry and that I really wanted to be an academic. I’ve been fortunate to have had some wonderful teachers and an incredibly supportive family, without whom this path would have been impossible.

Q. Which profession would you choose if you weren’t a researcher?

I’d like to think that I would have become a rock star or racing-car driver – although I lack the talent for both!

More realistically, I would have become a primary school teacher so that I could have inspired the next generation of researchers and scientists.

 

RSC Advances Royal Society of Chemistry

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.

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)