Thank you to everyone who nominated a candidate for the Soft Matter 2014 Lectureship. The response has been fantastic and we now have an extensive list of excellent nominees for our Editorial Board to consider. We will be announcing the winner next month-do keep an eye on the blog for further news!
The secret to soft skin is not necessarily increasing its water content but retaining molecular fluidity © Shutterstock
Scientists in Sweden have probed the outermost layer of skin to gain molecular insights into how naturally occurring molecules in this layer protect it from drying out.
Healthy skin with a normal degree of hydration is soft and pliable. This is not the case for dry skin, which is brittle and easily cracks. To treat dry skin it is common to apply a cosmetic containing a humectant ̶ a type of “moisturiser” – like glycerol or urea. These substances are also components of natural moisturising factor (NMF), a group of molecules naturally present in the skin barrier. The beneficial function of these compounds if often claimed to be their capacity for increasing skin hydration, although the underlying mechanisms are generally described with a rather weak molecular basis.
Interested to know more? Read the full news article by Jennifer Newton in Chemistry World here…
Read the paper by Sebastian Björklund et. al for free until 23 May 2014:
Stratum corneum molecular mobility in the presence of natural moisturizers
Sebastian Björklund, Jenny Marie Andersson, Agnieszka Ewa Nowacka, Quoc Dat Pham, Daniel Topgaard and Emma Sparr
Soft Matter, 2014, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C4SM00137K, Paper
Tunable interactions between paramagnetic colloidal particles driven in a modulated ratchet potential
Arthur V. Straube and Pietro Tierno
Phase behavior of Janus colloids determined by sedimentation equilibrium
Daniel J. Beltran-Villegas, Benjamin A. Schultz, Nguyen H. P. Nguyen, Sharon C. Glotzer and Ronald G. Larson
These papers are free to access until 23rd May 2014
The effect of drop volume and micropillar shape on the apparent contact angle of ordered microstructured surfaces
Luciano Afferrante and Giuseppe Carbone
Applications for the Rideal Travel Bursaries of up to £500 are now open to Society of Chemical Industry* (SCI) and Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) members. Submit your application and reference letters by 15 April 2014.
These bursaries provide funds to promising PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in the general field of colloid and surface science to attend conferences and/or visit relevant research institutions. We are currently inviting applications for travel between 1 July and 31 December 2014.
The bursaries are offered by the Sir Eric Rideal Trust (managed jointly by the RSC and SCI). They are awarded twice a year on a competitive basis.
If you are applying for a bursary to attend a conference between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2015, applications will re-open in the autumn, with a deadline of 15 October 2014.
See what previous recipients have achieved:
Patricia Esteban Perez, reports on her attendance at Bacteriophage in Medicine, Food and Biotechnology
Alexander Rosu-Finsen, reports on his attendance at 9th International Vacuum Conference in Paris
*This only applies to standard or student members; travel bursaries are not open to e-members.
Find out more:
