Themed collection RSC Advances Outstanding Student Paper Awards 2023

We are delighted to announce the winners of the RSC Advances Outstanding Student Paper Awards 2023. These awards recognise outstanding work published in the journal, in which a substantial component of the research was conducted by a student.

The synthesis of mono- and bis-methylated pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalines using unstable methyl radicals added to aryl isocyanides is reported, depending on reaction conditions. This approach is used to synthesise marinoquinoline A.

Nanocubes (Pd–Pt alloy, Pd@Pt core–shell, Pd, and Pt) were employed as electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation reaction to explore the correlation between atomic distribution within electrocatalysts and their catalytic activity.

We investigate Raman spectra (100 cm⁻¹ to 3900 cm⁻¹) of magnesium oxide nanoparticles with nominal sizes of 10 nm, 20 nm, 40 nm, 50 nm, and 300 nm.

The solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on Li deposits determines the performance of anode-free lithium metal batteries. LiDFOB salt in a full-cell configuration promotes inorganic-rich SEI and dense Li plating, positively affecting Li reversibility.

Hydrogel biomaterials partially modified with GyrB can be stiffened/softened via small molecule pharmacological-mediated protein (de)dimerization.

The imidazolic tetradentate ligand bmimapy is used to prepare a new valence tautomeric coordination compound.

Synthesized nano-composites are green emissive phosphors that have high band gaps (∼5.5–5.8 eV) and are found to be suitable for photonic and latent finger printing (LFP) applications.

mRNA-based gene delivery is a powerful strategy for many therapeutic areas. In this work, we used CuAAC to synthesize next-generation triazole-bearing mRNA 5' cap analogs and evaluated them as reagents for modification of in vitro transcribed mRNA.

In this work, a CaYF₅:Ho³⁺/Yb³⁺ upconversion phosphor was synthesized and its structural, morphological, and optical properties were studied. Apart from these studies, latent fingerprint detection and security ink applications were also demonstrated using this phosphor.

Here we investigated the use of machine learning (ML) techniques to “derive” an implicit solvent model based on the average solvent environment configurations from explicit solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.

Hydrous ZrO₂ materials showed high potential for the selective adsorption of IO₃⁻ in the presence of competing anions. The main adsorption mechanism was found to be ion-exchange and efficient regeneration was demonstrated with dilute acid.