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Open Research Biopharmaceutical Internships Support (ORBIS) is an international, Horizon 2020 project funded by Maria Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) programme. Six academic institutions and four pharmaceutical companies from seven countries cooperate with the aim to improve the preclinical pathway of medicine development through increased Research and Development (R&D) productivity, especially focusing on processes and technologies which address the challenge of poor drug bioavailability. The RISE scheme supports secondments, meaning that early stage and experienced researchers are sent to consortium partner institutions to advance studies on pharmaceutical preformulation, dosage forms and drug delivery systems and methods of biopharmaceutical evaluation. The ORBIS project enables secondees to gain news skills and develop their competences in an international and intersectoral environment, strengthening the human capital and knowledge synergy in the European pharmaceutical R&D sector.

The aim of the paper was to investigate the ability of an eco-friendly luminescent xerogel prepared by chitosan crosslinking with a phenothiazine luminogen to detect and remove heavy metals. Its ability to give a divergent morphological and optical response towards fifteen environmental relevant metals was investigated by naked eye and UV lamp, fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. A distinct response was noted for mercury, consisting in the transformation of the xerogel into a rubber-like material accompanied by the red shifting of the color of emitted light from yellow-green to greenish-yellow domain. The particularities of the metals anchoring into the xerogel were analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The morphological changes and the metal uptake were analyzed by SEM-EDAX, swelling and gravimetric methods. It was concluded that mercury has a superior affinity towards this heteroatoms rich system, leading to a secondary crosslinking. This directed a great absorption capacity of 1673 mg/g and a specific morphological response for mercury ion concentrations up to 0.001 ppm. • A luminescent organic xerogel was investigated for heavy metal detection and removal. • The xerogel showed a distinct morphological behavior towards mercury ions. • This was sensible and selective over a large series of environment relevant metals. • This was attributed to a secondary morphology due to a supplementary crosslinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Devices that can capture and convert sunlight into stored chemical energy are attractive candidates for future energy technologies. A general challenge is to combine efficient solar energy capture with high energy densities and energy storage time into a processable composite for device application. Here, norbornadiene (NBD)–quadricyclane (QC) molecular photoswitches are embedded into polymer matrices, with possible applications in energy storing coatings. The NBD–QC photoswitches that are capable of absorbing sunlight with estimated solar energy storage efficiencies of up to 3.8% combined with attractive energy storage densities of up to 0.48 MJ kg−1. The combination of donor and acceptor units leads to an improved solar spectrum match with an onset of absorption of up to 529 nm and a lifetime (t1/2) of up to 10 months. The NBD–QC systems with properties matched to a daily energy storage cycle are further investigated in the solid state by embedding the molecules into a series of polymer matrices revealing that polystyrene is the preferred choice of matrix. These polymer devices, which can absorb sunlight and over a daily cycle release the energy as heat, are investigated for their cyclability, showing multicycle reusability with limited degradation that might allow them to be applied as window laminates.

Devices that can capture and convert sunlight into stored chemical energy are attractive candidates for future energy technologies. A general challenge is to combine efficient solar energy capture with high energy densities and energy storage time into a processable composite for device application. Here, norbornadiene (NBD)–quadricyclane (QC) molecular photoswitches are embedded into polymer matrices, with possible applications in energy storing coatings. The NBD–QC photoswitches that are capable of absorbing sunlight with estimated solar energy storage efficiencies of up to 3.8% combined with attractive energy storage densities of up to 0.48 MJ kg−1. The combination of donor and acceptor units leads to an improved solar spectrum match with an onset of absorption of up to 529 nm and a lifetime (t1/2) of up to 10 months. The NBD–QC systems with properties matched to a daily energy storage cycle are further investigated in the solid state by embedding the molecules into a series of polymer matrices revealing that polystyrene is the preferred choice of matrix. These polymer devices, which can absorb sunlight and over a daily cycle release the energy as heat, are investigated for their cyclability, showing multicycle reusability with limited degradation that might allow them to be applied as window laminates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy measures low energy fluctuations in materials. • XPCS using area detectors provides length-scale sensitivity to fluctuations. • XPCS has provided insight into continuous, evolving and abrupt dynamics in materials. • Emerging x-ray sources will measure far faster fluctuations and enable in situ work. Abstract Insight into the spatial ordering and dynamics of structural heterogeneity in materials is at the heart of understanding their structure and function. X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) measures the dynamic structure factor S (Q , t) providing information on the spontaneous low-energy dynamics intrinsic to many materials. Combined with in situ and in operando capabilities, XPCS provides unique insight into a variety of scientific areas, including phase separation in binary alloys, aging in metallic glasses, surface dynamics during growth, domain wall dynamics in ferroic complex oxides and charge and spin density wave motion in quantum materials. This review summarizes some recent XPCS work in these areas and discusses scientific opportunities that will be made possible with the many-fold increase in coherent flux provided by the world-wide construction and commissioning of X-ray sources based on multi-bend achromat (MBA) storage ring (SR) lattices and high repetition rate free electron lasers (FELs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a method for the simulation of large ionic systems with long-range forces using the Monte Carlo method. This method employs a domain decomposition strategy for subdividing the simulation cell and parallelisation of these subdomains using a thread based strategy. This is thus ideally suited to modern day multi-core architectures. Evaluation of the long range interactions that is incompatible with a domain decomposition strategy has been replaced by the direct calculation of the Coulomb sum (Fennell and Gezelter, 2006). We compare this approach with that of “standard” Monte Carlo simulations that employ the Ewald technique. A relatively large two-body cutoff is required to reproduce the Ewald results accurately. Finally, as a pilot application, we demonstrate that our novel approach can be applied to very large simulation cells (>1 million atoms); results for enthalpies, are presented for a typical non-ideal oxide solid solution (MnO–MgO) as a function of composition and highlight the formation of nano-sized domains in the very large simulation cells. Well defined structures such as exsolution lamellae are not observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid heterojunction and solid-state photoelectrochemical solar cell based on graphene woven fabrics (GWFs) and silicon is designed and fabricated. The GWFs are transferred onto n-Si to form a Schottky junction with an embedded polyvinyl alcohol based solid electrolyte. In the hybrid solar cell, solid electrolyte serves three purposes simutaneously; it is an anti-reflection layer, a chemical modification carrier, and a photoelectrochemical channel. The open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, and fill factor are all significantly improved, achieving an impressive power conversion efficiency of 11%. Solar cell models are constructed to confirm the hybrid working mechanism, with the heterojunction junction and photoelectrochemical effect functioning synergistically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review highlights the recent research progress on inorganic solid state energy materials in China, from synthesis and fundamental properties to their applications. It describes the significant contributions of Chinese scholars in the field of inorganic solid state chemistry and energy materials including green catalysts, fuel cells, lithium batteries, solar cells, hydrogen storage materials, thermoelectric materials, luminescent materials and superconductors, and then outlines the ongoing rapid progress of novel inorganic solid state materials and the development of reliable and reproducible preparation methods for inorganic solid state materials in China. Finally, we conclude the paper by considering future developments of inorganic solid state chemistry and energy materials in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we report a theoretical investigation of the electronic and magnetic properties of two oxohalide compounds, namely Cu 3 (SeO 3 ) 2 Cl 2 and Cu 3 (TeO 3 ) 2 Br 2 , using density functional theory (DFT). These layered systems are characterized by two inequivalent Cu sites, with CuO 4 and CuO 4 X ( X = Cl, Br) environments, respectively. A new magnetic model is proposed through the calculation of the magnetic exchange couplings. Our study discloses the participation of the Se and Te lone-pairs to the long-range magnetic order, providing potential key informations for future chemical design of original magnetic systems., (© 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Reported is the high-pressure structural and optical characterization of a chloroindium(III) hybrid perovskite consisting of isolated anionic [In 2 Cl 10 ]4- dimers charge balanced by 4-iodopyridinium cations. No phase transitions were observed upon compression between 0 and 1.51 ​GPa. The metal-halide bond lengths of the dimers decrease slightly, resulting in reduced octahedral distortion of the InCl 6 building blocks. The main mechanism of compression is between the anions and cations. Computational density functional theory (DFT) based natural bonding orbital (NBO) and density of state (DOS) methods were utilized to (i) map the band structure, (ii) quantify and categorize noncovalent interaction strength and type, and (iii) deconstruct metal-halide bonding orbitals. Findings reveal the appearance of a pressure induced hybridized molecular orbital containing both In3+ and Cl p -states, and slight enhancement of bridging In–Cl bonding as indicated by increased In3+ orbital character. [Display omitted] • Reduced octahedral distortion about the In center arises from shortening of bridging Cl bonds. • Optical property measurements demonstrate resistance to changes under pressure. • Orbital hybridization (Cl and In p -states) is observed at high pressure. • Compression increases overall metal contribution about the bridging halide bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]