ACS Publications regularly produces Virtual Collections of the most important research topics in chemistry research, including Special Issues and ACS Selects from across the portfolio journals. These collections reflect topics of current scientific interest and are designed for experienced investigators and educators alike.
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Browse All Virtual Collections from Q4 of 2018.

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100th Anniversary of the Langmuir Isotherm: Celebrating ongoing Discoveries at Interfaces

This virtual issue celebrates the remarkable creativity of Irving Langmuir, along with important advancements to the continuously evolving field of interface science published in our journal of the same name. Irving Langmuir’s 1932 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for his discoveries and investigations in surface chemistry, however he is known for many fundamental and practical advances as developed during his 41 year research career at General Electric. Two of Irving Langmuir’s papers are included in this issue: a work on monolayers at the air/water interface, and the publication, 100 years ago, in which the isotherm is reported. The journal Langmuir, started in 1985, continues to promote fundamental advances in interface science. In the spirit of Langmuir, a few papers representing the breadth of ideas and discoveries at the interface from monolayers to colloids have been selected. Given the > 43,300 articles published in the journal to date, it is impossible for this selection to fully represent the insight, ingenuity and inspiration reported in Langmuir. It is simply hoped that the reader will appreciate the variety. ***

Emerging Investigators in Solid-State Inorganic Chemistry

This ACS Virtual Issue, “Emerging Investigators in Solid-State Inorganic Chemistry,” features recently published research papers from Inorganic Chemistry, Chemistry of Materials, and The Journal of the American Chemical Society to demonstrate the creativity, range, and areas of interest of selected up-and-coming researchers in this field who have started their independent laboratories in the past five to eight years.

The study of the synthesis, structure, and properties of solids has historically played a pivotal role in science and technology, spanning the disciplines of chemistry, physics, and engineering at universities, national laboratories, and in industry to help drive development of the electronic age and enable modern living. Seminal work in solid-state chemistry includes the synthesis of cuprate superconductors, the discovery of reversible intercalation chemistry of layered sulfides that led to rechargeable batteries, and the development of zeolite catalysts that enabled the growth of the petrochemical industry.

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Sustainable Nanotechnology

This Virtual Special Issue was organized to highlight all aspects of sustainable nanotechnology, combining nanotechnology research and sustainability issues, with the prospect that future nanotechnology studies will always consider sustainability. The contributions were drawn from the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization’s annual forum, where scientists and engineers exchange ideas to advance knowledge in all aspects of sustainable nanotechnology, including both applications and implications for the development and use of nanotechnology, leading to overall sustainability. The combination of nanotechnology research and sustainability issues is a distinguishing characteristic in each of these papers. ***

Tau Hypothesis in Alzheimer’s Disease

This Virtual Issue focuses on the tau hypothesis of Alzheimer’s Disease, featuring articles, reviews and viewpoints on the neuroscience, pharmacology and imaging (PET) of tau pathology (e.g. hyperphosphorylation, fibrils and tangles) as well as emerging therapeutic strategies. ***

2D Quantum Materials

2D Quantum materials (or quantum 2D materials), exemplified by graphene but now going far beyond pure carbon, are of enormous interest for their fundamental properties and potential applications. This Virtual Issue highlights recent papers in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C that span theory, fabrication, characterization, and device implementation of these fascinating materials. ***

Chemistry of Materials for Water Splitting Reactions

This virtual issue looks at very recent progress in the development of materials for the splitting of water (2H2O → 2H2 + O2) for generation of H2, as well as the product of the other half of the balanced reaction, O2. New materials also provide important fundamental insights into the mechanisms of the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, the nuance of charge separation and transfer, and other critical steps. Long-term operational stability is a critical issue, and thus materials that play a protective role or are themselves intrinsically stable under harsh conditions (acid, base, illumination, heat) are necessary. The preference is for materials that are earth-abundant to ensure the feasibility of mass manufacture at grid scale, but noble metal catalysts are useful if they are highly active, and thus necessitating only trace quantities; they also provide much-needed basic mechanistic data and leads. ***

Innovation at the Frontier of Chemistry and Life Science

Over the last few decades, scientists have increasingly developed synthetic tools and chemical approaches for observing and manipulating biological systems, leading to exciting and unprecedented discoveries in biology and medicine. This Special Collection includes selected publications from speakers at a 2018 event produced in partnership by ACS Publications, Tsinghua University, and Peking University.

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Drug Discovery & Development in China

The Virtual Issue “Drug Discovery & Development in China” highlights exciting research on biologically active molecules published by ACS authors based in China between 2016 and 2017.

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Multicomponent Systems: Absorption, Adsorption, and Diffusion

This virtual issue brings together papers from last two years that use a variety of techniques to meet the multicomponent systems’ challenge. The issue aims to stimulate the scientific and engineering communities to tackle absorption,adsorption, and diffusion in multicomponent systems and to develop novel measurement approaches that will make these investigations routine in the future.

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Physical Chemistry of Energy Materials

The physical chemistry of energy materials is a fascinating area of research that adapts the principles and tools of fundamental physics and chemistry for the best success in obtaining the useful modification of light and substances toward final practical applications. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters is highly focused on the scientific understanding of energy materials, the determination of how they can be made, and the knowledge of how they operate functionally. This Virtual Issue highlights recent publications of energy materials research in our journal, which can provide a broad view of where research in this important field is headed.