Advanced Awards 2017
The Advanced Awards of 2017 in chronological order:
American Physical Society Conference – APS March 2017 | New Orleans, LA, USA | 13-17 March 2017
1st European Conference on Chemistry of Two-Dimensional Materials – Chem2Dmat 2017 | Strasbourg, France | 22-26 August 2017
International Conference on Molecular Systems Engineering – ICMSE 2017 | Basel, Switzerland | 27-29 August 2017
EUROMAT2017 | Thessaloniki, Greece | 17-22 September 2017
Gettering and Defect Engineering in Semiconductor Technology – GADEST 2017 | Telavi, Georgia | 1-6 October 2017
Metabolic Engineering Summit 2017 | Beijing, China | 22-24 October 2017
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Cameron Shelton and Ryan Hayward, Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.
The Journal of Polymer Science poster prizes for the Division of Polymer Physics (DPOLY) at the APS March meeting were awarded to three outstanding polymer scientists.
Cameron Shelton from the University of Delaware won first place for his poster entitled Quantifying lithium salt distributions in nanostructured ion-conducting polymer domains: a neutron reflectivity study. Cameron and his colleagues focused on quantifying the distributions of three common lithium salts within the ion-conducting poly(oligo(oxyethylene)methacrylate) (POEM) block of a lamella-forming polystyrene-POEM (PS-POEM) thin film. In order to establish this, they utilized the polymer-polymer and polymer-salt contrast gained from nondestructive neutron reflectivity (NR).
Emily Davidson and Ryan Hayward.
Emily Davidson from the University of California Santa Barbara won second place for her poster entitled Impact of Helical Polypeptoid Polymer Chain Shape on Block Copolymer Self-Assembly.
Tetsu Ouchi and David Simmons, Assistant Professor at University of Akron, USA.
Emily and colleagues demonstrated that increases in a polypeptoid chain's degree of helicity increases chain stiffness, and this stiffness increase for chemically identical materials on the monomer level drives increases in the diblock domain.
Tetsu Ouchi secured third place in the poster presentation for his poster entitled Surface instabilities of elastic bilayers with patterned stiff films. Tetsu and his colleague fabricated laterally patterned films of stiff material laminated on an elastomer substrate and analysed the effects of the pattern geometries on surface instability modes. The work highlights the interplay between wrinkles and creases in polymer films.
Mary-Ambre Carvalho from the University of Strasbourg, France.
The journal Advanced Materials Interfaces sponsored a prize for the best poster presentation. The prize was awarded to Ms. Mary-Ambre Carvalho from the Department of Controlled Ligand Architectures in Coordination Chemistry from the University of Strasbourg, France.
Porphyrin Assemblies on HOPG
M.-A. Carvalho, H. Dekkiche, F. Sanchez, L. Allouche, R. Ruppert, Kanesato, Y. Kikkawa
UMR 7177, CNRS-Institut de Chimie, Université de Strasbourg, Rue Blaise Pascal, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8562, Japan
Many different porphyrins, which are of interest for their electronic and optical properties, have been deposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). In our group, porphyrins bearing external coordination sites were linked by metal ions to form dimers or oligomers. In solution, strong electronic interactions were found between the individual chromophore and very fast energy transfers were measured in dyads built from these porphyrins. Adding alkyls or alkoxy chains to these porphyrins allowed their assembly in an ordered manner at the solid/liquid interface on HOPG.
Xiaoyan Zhang from the University of Strasbourg, France.
The journal Advanced Energy Materials also sponsored a prize for the best poster presentation. The prize was awarded to Dr. Xiaoyan Zhang from the Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS) from the University of Strasbourg, France.
Modular Preparation of Novel Graphene-based Functional Architectures for Energy Applications
Xiaoyan Zhang, Lili Hou, Fanny Richard, Paolo Samorì
UMR 7006, CNRS-Institut de Chimie (ISIS), Université de Strasbourg, 8 Allée Gaspard Monge, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
Presented is the generation of novel graphene-based functional architectures by reacting functionalised graphene derivatives with certain photo-/redox active functional molecules. The versatile modular synthetic approach allows the generation of various graphene-based hybrid nanomaterials, which were characterised fully by various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. These materials are potentially very useful for energy-related applications.
The journal Advanced Science sponsored a prize for the best poster presentation. The prize was awarded to Dr. Miguel Angel Fernandez Rodriguez from the IBM Research and ETH in Zürich, Switzerland.
Miguel Angel Fernandez Rodriguez and the winning poster on hybrid colloid microswimmers (click image to enlarge).
Programmable Assembly of Hybrid Colloidal Microswimmers
Songbo Ni,1,2 Miguel Angel Fernandez Rodriguez,1,2 Jessica Leemann,1,2 Emanuele Marini,1,2 Ivo Buttinoni,2 Lucio Isa,2 Heiko Wolf1
1 IBM Research – Zürich, Rüschlikon, Switzerland
2 Laboratory for Interfaces, Soft Matter and Assembly, Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Patchy colloids with directional interactions have attracted enormous interest for the formation of colloidal superstructures or as self-propelled objects. Such artificial microswimmers can convert external magnetic or electric fields into directed motion. These materials are currently explored as models for out-of-equilibrium systems and as nanoscale devices for health and environmental applications. Currently, their fabrication is limited in the choice of materials, geometries, and modes of motion. Here, we use sequential capillarity-assisted particle assembly to link microspheres of different materials into hybrid colloidal clusters of designed shapes that can actively translate, circulate, and rotate powered by asymmetric electro-hydrodynamic flows. We characterise the active motion of the clusters in a vertical AC electric field, and discuss how composition and shape can be used to tune their trajectories.
The journal Advanced Materials Interfaces sponsored the prize for the best poster presented in the session Functional Membranes, organised by Prof. Volker Abetz and Prof. Katja Loos. The prize was awarded to Dr. Johannes C. Jansen from the Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM-CNR) in Rende, Italy. His poster presented a well-balanced combination of theory as well experiments.
Johannes C. Jansen and the winning poster on gas diffusion in polymers.
Gas Diffusion In Polymer Of Intrinsic Microporosity: An Experimental And Computational Approach
Alessio Fuoco,1 Carmen Rizzuto,1 Elena Tocci,1 Mariolino Carta,2 Neil B McKeown,2 Johannes C. Jansen1
1 Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM -CNR), Rende, Italy
2 School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
An abstract has not yet been provided by the author.
Special Issue on GADEST2017. Click image to go directly to Physica Status Solidi C.
The journal Physica Status Solidi sponsored several prizes for the best poster presentation. Three prizes were awarded the following persons. Furthermore, the conference has a dedicated Special Issue in the journal Physica Status Solidi C.
Ms. Gabrielle Bourret-Sicotte from the Department of Materials at The University of Oxford, UK. In her PhD-study she uses the introduction of hydrogen into silicon as a method to achieve chemical passivation of surface and bulk defects in silicon. Hydrogen de-activation of boron followed by electrochemical CV profiling was used to demonstrate that substantial quantities of atomic hydrogen can permeate though palladium/silver alloy foils which are 10 µm thick. It is thought that such thickness will be sufficient to withstand pressures of up to 1 atmosphere allowing passivation in an in-line process. For further reading, please continue here at the website of Physica Status Solidi.
Ms. Eleanor C. Shaw from the Department of Materials at The University of Oxford, UK. Her PhD-study focusses on novel gettering and texturing techniques to improve solar cell efficiency. The current work expands on the study of saw damage gettering (SDG) to various types of industrially relevant multicrystalline silicon. Optimisation towards device efficiency as well as annealing temperature were studied. SDG is a potentially viable gettering method to work in conjunction with lightly doped emitters in removing the impurities of multicrystalline-silicon feedstock and thus, improving the efficiency of the cells made therefrom. For further reading, please continue here at the website of Physica Status Solidi.
Mr. Ronald Stübner from the Physics Department of the Technical University of Dresden and the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems in Dresden, Germany. In his PhD-study he concentrates on the electrical and structural properties of carbon–hydrogen (CH) complexes in pure Si. In particular there is a focus on carbon-hydrogen related defects in SiGe observed after a plasma treatment. For further reading, please continue here at the website of Physica Status Solidi.
All three award-winning authors have their contributions published as original research papers in the Physica Status Solidi A.
The Biotechnology Journal sponsored prizes for the best poster presentation at the Metabolic Engineering Summit 2017. Three prizes were awarded the following persons.
Chunhua Zhao from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Mr. Chunhua Zhao from the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, presented his study to glycolytic enzymes that are used in the catalysis of glycolysis, which is important for the ATP generation. It was discovered that one of the glycolytic enzymes, pyruvate kinase A, plays an important physiological role in regulating the intracellular ATP levels of Escherichia coli under anaerobic conditions. The authors concluded that pyruvate kinase A is more important a nd the regulation of glycolysis may be much more complicated than imagined before.
Muhammad Saad Ahmed from the Beijing Institute of Technology (click image to enlarge).
The research of Mr. Muhammad Saad Ahmed from the Beijing Institute of Technology, China, focuses on the β-amyrin production through the application of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering strategies. The β-amyrin production was optimised through tuning the expression of β-amyrin biosynthesis pathway in yeast.
Liping Wag from the Sichuan University (click image to enlarge).
Ms. Liping Wang from the Sichuan University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Biotherapy in Chengdu, China, showed her results on a method for in vitro DNA editing. Her study of a COPA (Cpf1-assisted One Pot Assembly) method facilitates gene editing in vitro both in "Plug and Play" and "Modular Cloning" manners, based on Cpf1 digestion and T4 DNA ligase-mediated ligation. In this method, a fluorescent protein mode was used to validate the COPA efficiency. It was found that the efficiency of one fragment insertion varied from 70% to 100% and the efficiency of three-fragments assembly can reach 50%.