Malvern Panalytical Scientific Award 2022: And the winner is…
Having your name up in lights looks better in the dark – and we suspect that’s why the short days of winter mean it’s award season in Hollywood. Naturally, at Malvern Panalytical, we’re following suit: it’s also time to announce our top 10 shortlist and the overall winner of the Malvern Panalytical Scientific Award 2022!
Thank you for entering
First of all, we’d like to thank all the authors who submitted their papers. Our team of scientists ended up with several hundred excellent proposals to review, making this award incredibly hard to judge. 2022 was also the first year we ran the competition, and we’ve been very impressed not only by the number of entries, but by their consistently high quality.
Our top 10 shortlist is also a great reflection of how many different countries and institutions were represented in our overall submissions pool – we received entries from around the world, which was exactly what we hoped for!
The top 10
So, who made the top 10 from those hundreds of entries? Our shortlisted candidates are below, with their institution and an abstract of their work. (The order is random – it has nothing to do with any scoring or results.) Curious about the winner? They’re at the end…
Jian Peng, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China, and University of Wollongong, North Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Jian Peng’s paper, ‘Defect-free-induced Na+ disordering in electrode materials’, explores high-performance electrode materials, specifically investigating a very simple and universally applicable self-healing method to prepare defect-free Prussian blue analogs (PBAs) that reach their theoretical capacity as cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs).
Tereza Košutova, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Tereza Košutova’s study, ‘Thermally-driven morphogenesis of niobium nanoparticles as witnessed by in-situ x-ray scattering’, prepared highly porous structures consisting of niobium nanoparticles (Nb NPs) using magnetron sputtering and inert gas aggregation. Alongside the thermally-driven evolution of nanoparticle morphology, the microstructural genesis was probed in-situ by X-ray diffraction for the temperature range up to 800 °C.
Grace A. Pan, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Grace A. Pan’s paper, ‘Superconductivity in a quintuple-layer square-planar nickelate’, identifies the square-planar nickelates as a new family of superconductors that can be tuned via both doping and dimensionality by reporting the synthesis of the quintuple-layer (n = 5) Nd6Ni5O12, in which optimal cuprate-like electron filling (d8.8) is achieved without chemical doping.
Lu Hou, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, P. R. China
Lu Hou’s paper, ‘Selective Synthesis of Carbon Nanorings via Asymmetric Intramicellar Phase-Transition-Induced Tip-to-Tip Assembly’, reports a precise synthesis of carbon nanorings with a well-defined morphology and tunable thickness, based on asymmetric intramicellar phase-transition-induced tip-to-tip assembly via mixing hydrophobic long-chain octadecanol and block copolymer F127. This orientational self-assembly depends on the hydrophobicity difference of the intermediate’s surface, which triggers directional interactions that surpass the entropy cost of undesired connections and help assemble intermediates into defined ringlike structures.
Prince K. Verma, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, United States
Prince K. Verma’s study, ‘Controlling Polymorphism and Orientation of NU-901/NU-1000 Metal−Organic Framework Thin Films’, utilized self-assembled monolayers and crystal engineering to control the polymorphism and orientation of NU-901/NU-1000 thin films. The fabrication of thin films of NU-901 and NU-1000 is carried out via a solvothermal method by functionalizing the substrate with carboxyl (−COOH) tail groups.
Nazeer Hasan, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Delhi 110054, and School of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, New Delhi 110062, and School of Pharmaceutical sciences, Delhi Pharmaceutical Science and Research University, Delhi 110017, India
Nazeer Hasan’s study, ‘Intranasal delivery of Naloxone-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles as a promising simple and non-invasive approach for the management of opioid overdose’, overcomes the limitations of naloxone when administered orally for opioid overdose. The team developed intranasal solid-lipid nanoparticles which were found to result in higher drug release and superior drug uptake by the nasal membrane throughout in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo experiments.
Giuseppe Battaglia, Università degli studi di Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Giuseppe Battaglia’s paper, ‘Analysis of particles size distributions in Mg(OH)2 precipitation from highly concentrated MgCl2 solutions’, aims to shed light on the characteristics of produced Mg(OH)2 particles recovered via precipitation, and on their dependence upon the reacting conditions. Particles were analyzed by laser static light scattering, with and without an anti-agglomerant treatment based on ultrasounds and the addition of a dispersant.
Ramón Andrés Pineda-Álvarez, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Cuautitlán-Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Carretera Cuautitlán-Teoloyucan, 54714 Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico
Ramón Andrés Pineda-Álvarez’s paper, ‘Development and Characterization of Starch/Gelatin Microneedle Arrays Loaded with Lecithin–Gelatin Nanoparticles of Losartan for Transdermal Delivery’, aimed to develop and characterize biodegradeable polymeric microneedle arrays loaded with (i) losartan potassium powder and (ii) nanoparticles loaded with losartan potassium dispersed in polymeric matrix (starch/gelatin) as innovative pharmaceutical forms to be used for blood pressure control.
Dan Trunov, University of Chemistry and Technology, 166 28 Prague Czech Republic
Dan Trunov’s paper, ‘Ambient-temperature porogen-free method for preparation of silica-based macroporous materials’, focuses on the synthesis of silica-based microporous aggregates composed of silica nanoparticles using a template-free method. The results confirm the possibility of tailoring the pore size distribution simply by using primary particles of various sizes. The application of prepared aggregates was demonstrated by the immobilization of urease from Canavalia ensiformis, resulting in high enzyme activity compared with free enzymes.
Nitish Kumar, IIT Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, 181221, India
Nitish Kumar’s study, ‘Block copolymer-assisted synthesis of VO2 (B) microflowers for supercapacitor applications’, explores nanoporous metal oxides in energy storage applications. The study synthesized VO2 (B) microflowers with a stable phase and tailored porous structures, utilizing block copolymers to achieve excellent supercapacitor performance.
And the winner is…
Grace A. Pan! Many congratulations to Grace and all our shortlisted candidates – your work really stood out as being innovative, future-driven, and inspiring. We’ll be following your future research with interest!
And that’s not all!
Our winner, Grace A. Pan, will be awarded the prize of €5,000.
But all our top 10 authors, including Grace, will be invited to share their projects in a live webinar with us – so stay tuned and don’t miss the chance to hear them talk about their work!
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