Announcements

MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising junior researchers, acknowledge their contributions, and enhance communication among scientists. We are proud to present the winners for the year 2021 in the “Chemistry & Materials Sciences” category. The winners were selected by the journals’ editors.

We warmly congratulate the awarded Young Investigators for their outstanding contributions.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Coatings:

• Marta Mohedano, Complutense University of Madrid-UCM, Spain

Materials:

• Edoardo Baldini, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Magnetochemistry:

• Mauro Perfetti, University of Florence, Italy

Membranes:

• Xu Hou, Xiamen University, China

Molecules:

• Biplab Maji, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, India

Nanomaterials:

• Andres Castellanos-Gomez, Instituto de Ciencia de los Materiales de Madrid, Spain
• Takuya Isono, Hokkaido University, Japan
• Panbo Liu, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China

In order to acknowledge our reviewers, who so generously dedicate their time to reviewing papers and demonstrate diligence, professionalism, and timeliness when reviewing manuscripts, MDPI journals regularly offer outstanding reviewer awards to scholars who participate in the peer-review process.

We are proud to recognize the winners for the year 2021 in the “Chemistry & Materials Sciences” category for their outstanding contributions among extensive competition by presenting them with the Outstanding Reviewer Award.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners on their achievement.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Catalysts:

• Rahat Javaid, Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute, Japan
• Georgios Bampos, University of Patras, Greece
• Esmail Doustkhah, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan
• Pawan Kumar, University of Alberta, Canada

Magnetochemistry:

• Lorenzo Sorace, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy

Materials:

• Khaled Giasin, University of Portsmouth, UK
• Oldrich Sucharda, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
• Danil Pimenov, South Ural State University, Russia
• Marián Palcut, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia

Metals:

• Khaled Giasin, University of Portsmouth, UK
• Catalin Pruncu, University of Strathclyde, UK
• Jacek Tomków, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland
• Alexander Yu Churyumov, National University of Science and Technology (MISiS), Russia
• Hesam Pouraliakbar, Chungnam National University, South Korea

Nanomaterials:

• George Kenanakis, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Greece
• Goshtasp Cheraghian, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany
• Oana Cadar, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, Romania

Polymers:

• Sawsan A. Zaitone, Suez Canal University, Saudi Arabia
• Lucia Baldino, University of Salerno Via Giovanni Paolo II, Fisciano (SA) Italy
• Gyorgy Szekely, University of Manchester, UK
• Bin Jiang, Northeast Agricultural University, China
• Haibao Lu, Harbin Institute of Technology, China

The purpose of our Best Paper Awards is to promote and recognize the most impactful contributions published within MDPI journals.

The editors of each journal carefully selected reviews and research papers through a rigorous judging process based on criteria such as the scientific merit, overall impact, and the quality of presentation of the papers published in the journal last year.

We are honored to present the winners in the “Chemistry & Materials Sciences” category, who were selected amongst the extensive competition, and congratulate the authors for their outstanding scientific publications.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

C — Journal of Carbon Research：

• “Activated Carbons Derived from High-Temperature Pyrolysis of Lignocellulosic Biomass”
  by Cristian I. Contescu, Shiba P. Adhikari, Nidia C. Gallego, Neal D. Evans and Bryan E. Biss
  C 2018, 4(3), 51; doi:10.3390/c4030051

Catalysts:

• “Hydrogen Oxidation on Ni-Based Electrocatalysts: The Effect of Metal Doping”
  by Elena S. Davydova, Jérémie Zaffran, Kapil Dhaka, Maytal Caspary Toroker and Dario R. Dekel
  Catalysts 2018, 8(10), 454; doi:10.3390/catal8100454
• “Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production: Role of Sacrificial Reagents on the Activity of Oxide, Carbon, and Sulfide Catalysts”
  by Vignesh Kumaravel, Muhammad Danyal Imam, Ahmed Badreldin, Rama Krishna Chava, Jeong Yeon Do, Misook Kang and Ahmed Abdel-Wahab
  Catalysts 2019, 9(3), 276; doi:10.3390/catal9030276
• “A General Overview of Support Materials for Enzyme Immobilization: Characteristics, Properties, Practical Utility”
  by Jakub Zdarta, Anne S. Meyer, Teofil Jesionowski and Manuel Pinelo
  Catalysts 2018, 8(2), 92; doi:10.3390/catal8020092
• “Mechanistic Insights into Photodegradation of Organic Dyes Using Heterostructure Photocatalysts”
  by Yi-Hsuan Chiu, Tso-Fu Mark Chang, Chun-Yi Chen, Masato Sone and Yung-Jung Hsu
  Catalysts 2019, 9(5), 430; doi:10.3390/catal9050430

Ceramics:

• “Chemical Preparation Routes and Lowering the Sintering Temperature of Ceramics”
  by Philippe Colomban
  Ceramics 2020, 3(3), 312–339; doi:10.3390/ceramics3030029

Coatings:

• “State of the Art in Directed Energy Deposition: From Additive Manufacturing to Materials Design”
  by Adrita Dass and Atieh Moridi
  Coatings 2019, 9(7), 418; doi:10.3390/coatings9070418
• “Encapsulation of Organic and Perovskite Solar Cells: A Review”
  by Ashraf Uddin, Mushfika Baishakhi Upama, Haimang Yi and Leiping Duan
  Coatings 2019, 9(2), 65; doi:10.3390/coatings9020065
• “Poly (Lactic Acid)/Thermoplastic Starch Films: Effect of Cardoon Seed Epoxidized Oil on Their Chemicophysical, Mechanical, and Barrier Properties”
  by Rosa Turco, Rodrigo Ortega-Toro, Riccardo Tesser, Salvatore Mallardo, Sofia Collazo-Bigliardi, Amparo Chiralt Boix, Mario Malinconico, Massimo Rippa, Martino Di Serio and Gabriella Santagata
  Coatings 2019, 9(9), 574; doi:10.3390/coatings9090574
• “Physical and Morphological Characterization of Chitosan/Montmorillonite Films Incorporated with Ginger Essential Oil”
  by Victor Gomes Lauriano Souza, João Ricardo Afonso Pires, Carolina Rodrigues, Patricia Freitas Rodrigues, Andréia Lopes, Rui Jorge Silva, Jorge Caldeira, Maria Paula Duarte, Francisco Braz Fernandes, Isabel Maria Coelhoso and Ana Luisa Fernando
  Coatings 2019, 9(11), 700; doi:10.3390/coatings9110700
• “Application and Evaluation of a Pectin-Based Edible Coating Process for Quality Change Kinetics and Shelf-Life Extension of Lime Fruit (Citrus aurantifolium)”
  by Neda Maftoonazad and Hosahalli S. Ramaswamy
  Coatings 2019, 9(5), 285; doi:10.3390/coatings9050285

Crystals:

• “Crystal and Magnetic Structures in Layered, Transition Metal Dihalides and Trihalides”
  by Michael A. McGuire
  Crystals 2017, 7(5), 121; doi:10.3390/cryst7050121
• “σ-Hole Interactions: Perspectives and Misconceptions”
  by Peter Politzer and Jane S. Murray
  Crystals 2017, 7(7), 212; doi:10.3390/cryst7070212
• “σ-Hole Interactions of Covalently-Bonded Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Arsenic: A Survey of Crystal Structures”
  by Peter Politzer, Jane S. Murray, Goran V. Janjić and Snežana D. Zarić 
  Crystals 2014, 4(1), 12-31; doi:10.3390/cryst4010012
• “Epitaxial Graphene on SiC: A Review of Growth and Characterization”
  by Gholam Reza Yazdi, Tihomir Iakimov and Rositsa Yakimova
  Crystals 2016, 6(5), 53; doi:10.3390/cryst6050053

Magnetochemistry:

• “A Clock Transition in the Cr₇Mn Molecular Nanomagnet”
  by Charles A. Collett, Kai-Isaak Ellers, Nicholas Russo, Kevin R. Kittilstved, Grigore A. Timco, Richard E. P. Winpenny and Jonathan R. Friedman
  Magnetochemistry 2019, 5(1), 4; doi:10.3390/magnetochemistry5010004
• “A Series of Field-Induced Single-Ion Magnets Based on the Seven-Coordinate Co(II) Complexes with the Pentadentate (N₃O₂) H₂dapsc Ligand”
  by Vyacheslav A. Kopotkov, Denis V. Korchagin, Valentina D. Sasnovskaya, Ildar F. Gilmutdinov and Eduard B. Yagubskii
  Magnetochemistry 2019, 5(4), 58; doi:10.3390/magnetochemistry5040058
• “Magnetic Janus Particles for Static and Dynamic (Bio)Sensing”
  by Susana Campuzano, Maria Gamella, Verónica Serafín, María Pedrero, Paloma Yáñez-Sedeño and José Manuel Pingarrón
  Magnetochemistry 2019, 5(3), 47; doi:10.3390/magnetochemistry5030047

Membranes:

• “Composite Membranes for High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells and Electrolysers: A Critical Review”
  by Xinwei Sun, Stian Christopher Simonsen, Truls Norby and Athanasios Chatzitakis
  Membranes 2019, 9(7), 83; doi:10.3390/membranes9070083

• “Transport Characteristics of Fujifilm Ion-Exchange Membranes as Compared to Homogeneous Membranes AMX and CMX and to Heterogeneous Membranes MK-40 and MA-41”
  by Veronika Sarapulova, Inna Shkorkina, Semyon Mareev, Natalia Pismenskaya, Natalia Kononenko, Christian Larchet, Lasaad Dammak and Victor Nikonenko
  Membranes 2019, 9(7), 84; doi:10.3390/membranes9070084

Nanomaterials:

• “Nanomaterials for the Removal of Heavy Metals from Wastewater”
  by Jinyue Yang, Baohong Hou, Jingkang Wang, Beiqian Tian, Jingtao Bi, Na Wang, Xin Li and Xin Huang
  Nanomaterials 2019, 9(3), 424; doi:10.3390/nano9030424
• “Injectable Alginate-Peptide Composite Hydrogel as a Scaffold for Bone Tissue Regeneration”
  Moumita Ghosh, Michal Halperin-Sternfeld, Itzhak Grinberg and Lihi Adler-Abramovich
  Nanomaterials 2019, 9(4), 497; doi:10.3390/nano9040497
• “Carbon Dots and Graphene Quantum Dots in Electrochemical Biosensing”
  by Susana Campuzano, Paloma Yáñez-Sedeño and José M. Pingarrón
  Nanomaterials 2019, 9(4), 634; doi:10.3390/nano9040634
• “A Smart Nanovector for Cancer Targeted Drug Delivery Based on Graphene Quantum Dots”
  by Daniela Iannazzo, Alessandro Pistone, Consuelo Celesti, Claudia Triolo, Salvatore Patané, Salvatore V. Giofré, Roberto Romeo, Ida Ziccarelli, Raffaella Mancuso, Bartolo Gabriele, Giuseppa Visalli, Alessio Facciolà and Angela Di Pietro
  Nanomaterials 2019, 9(2), 282; doi:10.3390/nano9020282
• “Evolution of Wearable Devices with Real-Time Disease Monitoring for Personalized Healthcare”
  by Kyeonghye Guk, Gaon Han, Jaewoo Lim, Keunwon Jeong, Taejoon Kang, Eun-Kyung Lim and Juyeon Jung
  Nanomaterials 2019, 9(6), 813; doi:10.3390/nano9060813
• “An Ultra-High-Energy Density Supercapacitor; Fabrication Based on Thiolfunctionalized Graphene”
  by Janardhanan. R. Rani, Ranjith Thangavel, Se-I Oh, Yun Sung Lee and Jae-Hyung Jang
  Nanomaterials 2019, 9(2), 148; doi:10.3390/nano9020148

Polymers:

• “The Relationships between the Working Fluids, Process Characteristics and Products from the Modified Coaxial Electrospinning of Zein”
  by Menglong Wang, Tao Hai, Zhangbin Feng, Deng-Guang Yu, Yaoyao Yang and SW Annie Bligh 
  Polymers 2019, 11(8), 1287; doi:10.3390/polym11081287
• “Design of Controlled Release System for Paracetamol Based on Modified Lignin”
  by Mahboubeh Pishnamazi, Hamid Hafizi, Saeed Shirazian, Mario Culebras, Gavin M. Walker and Maurice N. Collins 
  Polymers 2019, 11(6), 1059; doi:10.3390/polym11061059
• “Additive Manufacturing of PLA-Based Composites Using Fused Filament Fabrication: Effect of Graphene Nanoplatelet Reinforcement on Mechanical Properties, Dimensional Accuracy and Texture”
  by Miguel Ángel Caminero, Jesús Miguel Chacón, Eustaquio García-Plaza, Pedro José Núñez, José María Reverte and Jean Paul Becar
  Polymers 2019, 11(5), 799; doi:10.3390/polym11050799
• “Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites: Manufacturing, Properties, and Applications”
  by Miguel Ángel Caminero, Jesús Miguel Chacón, ,Eustaquio García-Plaza, Pedro José Núñez, José María Reverte and Jean Paul Becar
  Polymers 2019, 11(10), 1667; doi:10.3390/polym11101667 

We are proud to recognize the winners of MDPI’s 2021 Travel Awards in the “Chemistry & Materials Sciences” category for their outstanding presentations.

MDPI journals regularly offer travel awards to encourage talented junior scientists to present their latest research at academic conferences in specific fields, which helps to increase their influence.

The winners mentioned below were carefully selected by the journal editors based on an outline of their research and the work to be presented at an academic conference.

We would like to warmly congratulate the winners of Travel Awards for the year 2021 and wish them the greatest success with their future research endeavors.

MDPI will continue to enhance communication among scientists.

Crystals:

• Gaojun Mao, Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
• Lidia Bofill Herrera, University of Barcelona, Spain

Gels:

• Demetra Giuri, University of Bologna, Italy
• Martina Genta, Imperial College London, UK

Journal of Functional Biomaterials:

• Anushree Seth, Washington University, USA

Magnetochemistry:

• Fabio Ferreira, University of Coimbra, Portugal
• Giulia Serrano, University of Florence, Italy

Materials：

• Giulia Fredi, University of Trento, Italy
• Mattia Biesuz, Czech Academy of Science, Czech Republic

Metals:

• Adriana Eres-Castellanos, Spanish National Center for Metallurgical Research, Spain
• Pavel Shurkin, National University of Science and Technology, Russia

Nanomaterials:

• Aleksandrs Leitis, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, France
• Ekaterina Kolesova, ITMO, Russia

Separations:

• Christoph Gstoettner, Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands

The 2021 citation metrics have been officially released in Scopus!

We are pleased to announce that 182 MDPI journals are included, of which:

● 21 journals received their first CiteScore.
● 85% of journals increased their CiteScore from 2020.
● 155 journals (85%) ranked above average, in at least one category.

The following 65 MDPI journals (36%) ranked among the top 25% of journals, in at least one category:

Source: 2021 CiteScores™ (Elsevier)

We are pleased to announce a new development project of Metals (ISSN: 2075-4701)—Special Issue Mentor Program.

We seek cooperating opportunities with early career scientists to help them to develop Special Issues, experience the role of an academic editor, and establish more academic interactions under the mentorship of mature or renowned scientists.

We will provide the following services for this new development project:

• A Special Issue in your field of expertise in Metals and a Guest Editor certificate;
• Guidance from experienced scientists from Metals;
• More editorial experience in an SCIE journal to enrich your research career;
• A platform to collect papers on the topic of your interest;
• A platform for in-depth exchange and interaction between young scientists and their global peers;
• Promotional opportunities to expand your academic influence via webinars to publicize your latest scientific research activities and achievements;
• Opportunities for excellent young scientists to join our Topical Advisory Panel Board and Editorial Board and grow together with Metals.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Metals Editorial Office (metals@mdpi.com) or submit the proposal at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journalproposal/sendproposalspecialissue/metals. We will then discuss our potential collaboration and how the process works in detail.

In addition, Metals continues to welcome Special Issue proposals based on hot and advanced research topics.

The “Transition Metals and Rare Metals” Section of Metals (ISSN: 2075-4701) is recruiting Editorial Board Members. You can check the existing Editorial Board Members by visiting the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/metals/sectioneditors/transition_metals_rare_metals.

The main responsibilities of the Section Editorial Board Members are as follows:

• Providing scientific supervision for the Section;
• Inviting distinguished scientists to join the Editorial Board;
• Suggesting hot topics for Special Issues;
• Making decisions about the suitability of a paper to enter the peer-review process and about its acceptance at the end of the process;
• Promoting the Section, recommending international conference cooperation, and assisting this Section in holding physical/electronic conferences;
• Providing feedback and suggesting improvements to the journal.

This Section of Metals covers the field of transition and rare metal extraction, purification, deformation, physical and mechanical behaviors, characterization, shaping, modeling, materials design, and medium and high entropy alloys. The “Transition Metals and Rare Metals” Section of Metals aims to foster a better understanding of microstructural design and control, including the opportunities that the nanoscale field offers, allowing competition with other forming technologies in the development of high-performance materials for applications where extreme conditions are expected. High-entropy or strong-entropy materials containing transition metals and rare metals are considered, as well as metal matrix composites, hard metals, and tailored microstructural materials. Full-density metals, porous metals, foams, powders (0-D), fibers (1-D), films and coatings (2-D), and bulk (3-D) metal-containing materials are also considered.

The Section will cover any technology that can produce and tailor metallic alloys (including atomizing, mechanical alloying, granulation or agglomeration techniques, chemical processes, etc.), conventional powder metallurgy technologies, such as press and sintering, special methods of assisted sintering (liquid phase sintering, microwave sintering, field assisted sintering), metal injection molding, and technologies that provide full-density materials (hot pressing, hot isostatic pressing, powder extrusion, sinter forging, etc.). Technologies related to 0-D, 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D metals and alloys and metal-containing materials will also be covered in the Section.

For more information about this Section and publishing in Metals, please see the Section’s webpage: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/metals/sections/transition_metals_rare_metals.

To apply for this position, recommend potential candidates, or request further information, please contact the Metals Editorial Office (metals@mdpi.com).

The Section “Welding and Joining” of Metals (ISSN: 2075-4701) is recruiting Editorial Board Members. You can check out the existing Editorial Board Members by visiting the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/metals/sectioneditors/welding_joining.

The main responsibilities of Section Editorial Board Members are as follows:

• Pre-screening and making decisions on new submissions related to the journal Section;
• Helping to edit a Special Issue on a topic related to the Section (or supervising Special Issues related to your research field);
• Providing input or feedback regarding journal policies;
• Helping to promote the journal among peers or at conferences;
• Attending Board Meetings to suggest journal development strategies:
• Reviewing manuscripts.

For more information about this Section and publishing in Metals, please see the Section’s webpage: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/metals/sections/welding_joining.

To apply for this position, recommend potential candidates, or request further information, please contact Ms. Sunny He (sunny.he@mdpi.com) from the Metals Editorial Office.

MDPI would like to invite all recognized experts in their field to attend our Topic Workshop | Scientific Advances in STEM. The aim of this workshop is to provide a platform for scholars in disciplines related to science and engineering to discuss and contribute to the advancement of these fields.

Webinar: Topic Workshop | Scientific Advances in STEM
Date: 12/1/2022
Time: 9:30 a.m. (CET)
Register in advance for this webinar here.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the workshop. The number of participants in the live session is limited, but the recording will be made available shortly afterwards. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Workshop Chairperson:

• Ana María Beltrán Custodio, University of Seville (US)

Dr. Ana M. Beltrán has a Ph.D. in material science and is currently an Associate Professor of Material Science at the University of Seville (Spain). Her scientific interests include the characterization of different materials, both at a macroscale (concerning the mechanical properties of biomaterials) and at a nanoscale, through transmission electron microscopy (structural and compositional analysis of bio-nanostructures, semiconductor, and catalysts) to understand their behavior. She has been the Guest Editor of Special Issues for the journal Metals, and she also contributed to MDPI’s first multidisciplinary topic involving the journals Metals, Polymers, Foods, Sustainability, and Sensors, from which a book was published. She is currently involved in the running of a second multidisciplinary topic entitled “Scientific Advances in STEM: Synergies to Achieve Success”.

Workshop Speakers:

• Frank Jörg Clemens, Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Überlandstrasse

Dr. Frank Clemens is a Group Leader (Smart Ceramic Processing) at the Laboratory for High Performance Ceramics at Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Science and Technology, Switzerland. His scientific and applied research belongs to the thermoplastic processing of powder-based sensors, actuators, and structural materials. His group focuses on national and international projects in this field, and he works with physicists, chemists, material scientists, and engineers to investigate activation energies on different processing steps. In addition, he has also developed new strategies for the processing of functional ceramics and soft sensor materials and structures. Since 2003, he has been a lecturer at ETH Zurich (Switzerland), and between 2010 and 2021, he was a lecturer at ZHAW (Switzerland). He has more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and patents.

• Dr. Carlos Bengoechea, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Sevilla, Seville, Spain

Prof. Dr. Carlos Bengoechea is an Associate Professor at the University of Seville, Spain, where he teaches different courses, such as Chemical Engineering or Polymeric Materials. He has wide experience in the development of applications (e.g., plastics, emulsions) that add value to by-products of the industry (e.g., soy protein, porcine plasma). Currently, he is supervising an R&D project on green superabsorbent materials for personal care applications using different by-products.

We are pleased to provide this excellent opportunity to all the brilliant researchers to propose and develop new approaches, exchange perspectives, and encourage new lines of research.

To find out more about the speakers and the program, please visit https://sciforum.net/event/SASTEM. We hope you can join us for this event.

Shun Li
MDPI Guest Editor Club
Conference Secretariat

We would like to invite active scientific researchers to become involved in our journal Metals (ISSN: 2075-4701; IF: 2.351; ranking: 24/80 (Q2) in Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering) as an Editorial Board Member. Our Editor in Chief is Prof. Dr. Hugo F. Lopez, from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA. You can see the existing Editorial Board Members by visiting the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/metals/editors.

If you are interested, wish to recommend potential candidates, or wish to request further information, please contact our Editorial Office (metals@mdpi.com).