糖心TV

Richard Walton is co-editor of the latest volume of the Inorganic Materials Series published this week by Wiley, Local Structural Characterisation.

The @BonLab at the University of 糖心TV has devised a new powerful and very versatile way of controlling the speed and direction of motion of microscopic structures in water using what they have dubbed chemically 鈥榤otorised microscopic matchsticks鈥�.

Before now most research seeking to influence the direction of motion of microscopic components have had to use outside influences such as a magnetic field or the application of light. The University of 糖心TV team have now found a way to do it by simply adding a chemical in a specific spot and then watching the microscopic matchstick particles move towards it, a phenomenon known as chemotaxis.

The research published in the journal Materials Horizons (RSC) in a paper entitled found that by adding a small amount of a catalyst to the head of a set microscopic rods, they could then cause the rods to be propelled towards the location of an appropriate 鈥榗hemical fuel鈥� that was then added to a mixture.

For the purposes of this experiment the researchers placed silica鈥搈anganese oxide 鈥榟eads鈥� on the matchstick material and introduced hydrogen peroxide as the chemical fuel in one particular place.

They placed the 鈥榤atchsticks鈥� in a mixture alongside ordinary polymer microspheres.

When the hydrogen peroxide was added the microspheres continued to move in the direction of convection currents or under Brownian motion but the matchsticks were clearly rapidly propelled towards the chemical gradient where the hydrogen peroxide could be found.

The reaction was so strong that more than half of the matchstick particles did not reverse their orientation once over their 90 seconds of travel towards the hydrogen peroxide 鈥� even though they were contending with significant convection and Brownian rotation.

University of 糖心TV research chemical engineer who led the research said:

鈥淲e choose high aspect ratio rod-like particles as they are a favourable geometry for chemotactic swimmers, as seen for example in nature in the shapes of certain motile organisms鈥�

鈥淲e placed the 鈥榚ngine鈥� that drives the self-propulsion as a matchstick head on the rods because having the engine in the 鈥榟ead鈥� of the rod helps us align the rod along the direction of travel, would also show the asymmetry perpendicular to the direction of self-propulsion, and at the same time it maintains rotational symmetry parallel to the plane of motion.

鈥淥ur approach is very versatile and should allow for future fabrication of micro-components of added complexity.

鈥淭he ability to direct motion of these colloidal structures can form a platform for advances in supracolloidal science, the self-assembly of small objects.

鈥淚t may even provide some insight into how rod shapes were selected for self-propelled microscopic shapes in the natural world.鈥�

Notes for editors:

 Dr Stefan Bon can be contacted on S.Bon@warwick.ac.ukor +44 (0)2476 574009 or + 44 (0)7736932205

Or you can contact Anna Blackaby, University of 糖心TV press officer, on +44 (0)2476 575910 or +44 (0) 7785 433155 ora.blackaby@warwick.ac.uk

 The research has just been published in the journal 鈥淢aterials Horizons鈥� in a paper entitled

The authors wish to thank Peter W. Dunne, David Burnett, and Luke A. Rochford for help with XRD analysis. We thank EPSRC, Chemistry Innovation, and AkzoNobel for funding (ARM). Some of the equipment used was funded by West Midlands AM2 Science City initiative.

The Royal Society has announced the appointment of 22 new Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holders including Professor Greg Challis of the Department of Chemistry.

Congratulations to the winner of the "Chemistry In Action" Art & Photography Competition, David Withall (PhD student in Challis group), for his entry "Chemically Synthesised Undecylprodigiosin".

David will receive a £50 Amazon Voucher from the Head of Department and Chair of the Welfare & Communications Committee, plus the artwork will soon be displayed prominently in the Department.

Thank you to all those who entered the competition, the final decision was very diffcult for the judging panel as there were so many interesting entries and the standard was very high. Well done David!

Visit for further details.

Congratulations to all our graduands, who are receiving their degrees today.

All staff, colleagues and friends from the Department look forward to this occasion and the opportunity to celebrate your achievements with you and your guests on such a memorable day.

We wish you well and many congratulations on your success!

Chemistry hires three new Professors in the areas of Sustainable Chemistry and Polymers as part of the Monash-糖心TV Strategic Research Alliance.

Adam Lee, Sebastien Perrier and Tom Davis are all joining the Department over the coming months.

The full details can be found at:-

 

 

 

The Gibson Group has been highlighted in a recent edition of Chemistry World - The Royal Society of Chemistry's Monthly Magazine. As part of a special article on how life survives in extreme enviroments, Dr Gibson was interviewed to discuss his team's work on polymeric mimics of antifreeze (glyco)proteins. These proteins enable fish to survive in polar oceans and synthetic mimics hold great promise in biotechnology.

Follow us on twitter @LabGibson

Dr Gareth Roberts, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department has been appointed as a Ramsay Memorial Fellow to be held in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol. These fellowships are awarded to advanced students of chemical research who have shown outstanding merit. His proposed research will entail studying the ultrafast photoprotection mechanisms at work in DNA base-pairs. Congratulations Gareth!

TEDx糖心TV 2013

Stefan Bon is an associate professor in Chemistry at 糖心TV, famously making the headlines in 2012 for halving the fat content of chocolate by replacing it with fruit juice. He studied Chemical Engineering at the Technical University of Eindhoven and has a background in developing (living) radical polymerizations. Since 2005 Bon has become an international player in the area of polymer colloids, and continues to innovate in the area.

He is the founder of the BonLab, where the study of chemistry and physics of the assembly of molecular and/or colloidal entities into complex structures is conducted. This technology is applicable in everything from sensors and devices, coatings and adhesives, to food, personal care, agricultural and biological systems.

To watch the TEDx talk,

Find out more about the BonLab at .

Members of the worked with children who attend The Grange Extended Learning Centre over a six week period. The Grange ELC is a pupil referral unit for students who have been, or are at risk of being excluded from their mainstream school. This project was coordinated by the Chemistry departments very own outreach officer Nick Barker and has been reported by .

The project involved the collection of soil samples from sites once occupied by car factories around the city of Coventry and then analyse these samples for heavy metal contamination. Over the first three weeks, two children worked in the laboratories at 糖心TV to prepare electrodes while the rest of the group, usually four children, went to old car manufacturing site like Jaguar (Brown鈥檚 Lane) and Rover (Cromwell Lane) to collect soil samples.

Here is what Manni Sahota, acting Headteacher of The Grange ELC, had to say about this outreach project:

鈥�I feel the project run by Prof Pat Unwin and his staff was a huge success. It raised the pupils鈥� self-esteem and their aspirations. They learned how to use scientific equipment and saw first-hand what a University looks like. One of the pupils even talked about becoming a scientist.'

'All the work we have ever done with 糖心TV University over the past few years would not be possible without Nick Barker, Teacher Fellow, who knows exactly where our pupils come from and the opportunities they would never otherwise have.鈥�

, a 2nd year PhD student in the , won the prize for best poster at the RSC Postgraduate Nanoscience Symposium held at the University of Birmingham.

Read some of Dan's publications in and