Welcome the Newest Associate Editors of ACS Publications Journals – Q3 2016

***

Thomas Riedl, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

Stress Management in Thin-Film Gas-Permeation Barriers
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2016, 8 (6), pp 4056–4061
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b11499

Polyanionic, Alkylthiosulfate-Based Thiol Precursors for Conjugated Polymer Self-Assembly onto Gold and Silver
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2014, 6 (14), pp 11758–11765
DOI: 10.1021/am5025148</strong>

***

Cristina Nevado, ACS Central Science

My passion and enthusiasm for chemistry as a central, enabling discipline capable of impacting many other areas of research.

Describe your current research.

Our group, rooted in organic chemistry, focuses on a multidisciplinary research program supported on three pillars:

• First, the development of new catalytic processes for the construction of C-C and C-X bonds together with fundamental mechanistic understanding of these transformations to foster novel reaction designs.
• Second, the implementation of such methods to streamline the synthesis of complex natural products to interrogate complex biological systems connected to cell motility.
• A third focus is the study at a molecular level, both computational and experimentally, of protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions relevant to cancer progression and metastasis.

***

Ulrike Eggert, Biochemistry

Describe your current research.

My group studies how cells regulate and execute cytokinesis, the final step of cell division. Cytokinesis requires the coordinated action of the cytoskeleton, the cell cycle, and membrane machineries. We use chemical biology and cell biology approaches to study cytokinesis at the process, pathway, protein and metabolite levels.

***

Jeffrey Elam, Chemistry of Materials

I bring knowledge of thin films and surface chemistry. In particular atomic layer deposition.

My research aims to advance the science and technology of atomic layer processing. On the fundamental side, we explore the surface chemistry of ALD in great detail to gain insight into why some ALD processes succeed while others fail. On the applied side, we are performing the science and engineering required to put ALD films to practical use in areas such as batteries and solar power.

Selective deposition is a key challenge facing the atomic layer deposition community – the ability to grow materials with atomic level precision on select areas of a surface while leaving the rest of the surface untouched. This capability would enable highly selective catalysts, high performance A diverse range of strategies are under investigation but all of them rely on the judicious selection of chemicals and conditions to favor a particular surface chemical reaction.
***

Julien Nicolas, Chemistry of Materials

I hope I could bring my expertise in macromolecular synthesis and drug delivery to promote cutting edge research related to soft materials and to make sure that Chemistry of Materials remains one of the very best journals in the field.

Describe your current research.

My coworkers and I work on advanced macromolecular synthesis and the design of innovative polymer-based nanomedicines and biomaterials. In particular, beyond fundamental aspects of macromolecular synthesis, we are focused on polymer prodrug nanoparticles, degradable vinyl materials and new approaches to perform efficient drug delivery.

One of the main challenges in the field of drug delivery is to efficiently and safely delivery drugs to specific areas in the body by using innocuous drug delivery systems. There is still a lot to do to meet these requirements.

Simple Synthesis of Cladribine-Based Anticancer Polymer Prodrug Nanoparticles with Tuneable Drug Delivery Properties
Chem. Mater. 2016, 28, 2268
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b02502

Degradable and Comb-Like PEG-Based Copolymers by Nitroxide-Mediated Radical Ring-Opening Polymerization
Biomacromolecules, 2013, 14 (10), pp 3769–3779
DOI: 10.1021/bm401157g
***

M. Rosa Palacin, Chemistry of Materials

Enthusiasm and experience in battery research. I’m glad to be part of the team and to be able to contribute to promote materials chemistry.

Describe your current research.

I’m involved in battery materials research, mostly targeting non-lithium based technologies. Focus is both on developing new electrodes and on improving performance through electrolyte optimization.
What are the major challenges facing your field today? The quest for low cost sustainable and affordable energy storage devices for crucial applications involving not only electronics but also transportation and electric grid. I feel fortunate to live this era in which materials development has such an impact in applications.

Recent Achievements on Inorganic Electrode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2015, 137 (9), pp 3140–3156
DOI: 10.1021/ja507828x
***

Thomas Hofstetter, Environmental Science & Technology

My enthusiasm for excellent and insightful papers in environmental chemistry! I hope to support ES&T in finding and publishing the best manuscripts that deal with transformations of organic pollutants.

Describe your current research.

In my research group, we are active in two different fields. First, we work on stable isotope based tools, with which we study the mechanisms of enzymatic and abiotic degradation of organic pollutants in soil and water. Based on the understanding of isotope effects of (bio)chemical reactions, we can use the changes of stable isotope ratios in the organic pollutant as proxies for reactive processes. The second field deals with the biogeochemistry of iron in oxides and phyllosilicates, and how to quantify their redox properties. We want to understand how redox reactions of iron affect the availability, mobility, persistence, and toxicity of pollutants in the subsurface.

We have several opportunities to contribute to environmental sciences and environmental technologies. In principle, environmental chemists should provide precise scientific information on the current and future dynamics of pollutants in the environment and in engineered systems, account for a large and increasing number of chemicals, and contribute to solving the most pressing problems. It is a challenge to do the “right thing”.

Substrate and Enzyme Specificity of the Kinetic Isotope Effects Associated with the Dioxygenation of Nitroaromatic Contaminants
Environ. Sci. Technol., 2016, 50 (13), pp 6708–6716
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b05084

Thermodynamic Characterization of Iron Oxide–Aqueous Fe2+ Redox Couples
Environ. Sci. Technol., 2016, 50 (16), pp 8538–8547
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b02661

***

Daniel Schlenk, Environmental Science & Technology

I hope to bring my expertise in mechanistic toxicology to better link molecular effects which can be used in high throughput scenarios with apical whole animal and population endpoints to predict adverse outcomes and reduce uncertainty in risk assessments.

Describe your current research.

My laboratory explores mechanistic linkages between molecular effects of legacy and emerging environmental contaminants with whole animal endpoints of reproduction and development.

I think one of the major challenges in Environmental Toxicology is predicting risk to humans and wildlife based on (1) laboratory tests which are often of short duration and high dose, or (2) monitoring data which demonstrate molecular changes without linkage to population.

Time- and Oil-Dependent Transcriptomic and Physiological Responses to Deepwater Horizon Oil in Mahi-Mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) Embryos and Larvae
Environ. Sci. Technol., 2016, 50 (14), pp 7842–7851
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b02205

***

Bernard Binks, Langmuir

Evaporation of Particle-Stabilized Emulsion Sunscreen Films
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2016, 8 (33), pp 21201–21213
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b06310
***

Han Zuilhof, Langmuir

(bio)-Organic Surface Chemistry: sticking molecules fast, mild and efficiently in an ordered manner to whatever surface is relevant, ranging from inorganic Crystals via plastics to cell walls.

Two things coming together: One the one hand, a greater needed for increased definition of surfaces: with the ongoing miniaturization surface defects become more and more important. We should thus further improve surface functionalization to get them defect-free. On the other hand, we need more sensitive and structurally more informative surface analysis tools: the fact that we can make great cartoons of modified surfaces does not tell us how the surfaces really look like.

I run the Editorship from both Tianjin University (China) and Wageningen University (Netherlands) – working in two different research environments is stimulating to me, and hopefully also to those environments. Outside of science I love watching dark night skies with my telescope.

To be able to functionalize antifouling brushes in a easy manner independent of the thickness of the brush is a big step forward in the field. It took us quite some time to make this step, but this is really cool!
***