Mike Thijs’ Post

Out latest paper published on RSC Journal of Materials Chemistry B, also selected as journal cover! Read here

Extracting #ions from water is crucial for several applications ranging all the way from #mining and #nuclear fuel cycling to #wastewater treatment and #environmentalremediation. Because much focus in the area has been typically set on developing selective #extractants for cations, the removal of anions from water tends to rely on their intrinsic properties (e.g., size and charge density). This limits the options for anyone interested in removing small and highly hydrated anions from aqueous systems. An important advancement in this regard is the recent development of novel rigid tweezer receptors with shapes complementary to target anions as described in the article by #SCGSR awardee Hazel Fargher in collaboration with Profs. Michael Haley and Darren Johnson of the University of Oregon, and Drs. Laetitia Delmau, Vyacheslav Bryantsev, and Bruce Moyer of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Read more about these novel extractants at https://lnkd.in/embSHAYM And remember: applications for the 2024 SCGSR awards are open! Submission deadline: May 1, 2024. If you are a #PhDstudent: apply now and contribute to pushing the boundaries of science. If you know a PhD student who may be interested in conducting part of their thesis research at a #DOE National Lab, please tell them to check out the SCGSR program at: https://lnkd.in/eKDGfTA

Two recent papers. The first one is an in-depth study of silanization that helps minimizing cation sorption on vials during tracer experiments. The second paper presents the new thermodynamic data associated with the complexation of Tc(IV) with chloride ions. https://lnkd.in/ggvcpk4F https://lnkd.in/gfswbcFY

Our paper on the chemical effects of mechanical milling has just been published in J. Phys. Chem. A. Among other findings, it confirms the formation of reactive free radicals in various solids as a result of mechanical processing. https://lnkd.in/ggBVcgmm

Excited to share our latest publication, on the electrochemical ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR) using NiOOH as a catalyst. In this study, we explored the complex dynamics of AOR on NiOOH using a variety of operando/in-situ characterization techniques, focusing on how the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and dissolved oxygen influence the process. Check out the full article! https://lnkd.in/dNf5p52N #Electrochemistry #Catalysis #EnergyConversion

Applications of #NMR #spectroscopy include determining the composition of organic compounds, elucidating the structures of complex molecules, studying protein-ligand interactions, and characterizing biomolecular dynamics. https://lnkd.in/gdDfj6qh

I'm thrilled to share my co-first-author paper with Advait Hasabnis in the Journal of the American Chemical Society where we introduce the notion of amplifying chemical shift sensitivity of fluorine #NMR protein tags by linking the #19F reporter to a dynamic tautomeric species! We were puzzled as to why the current paradigm in NMR tag design still relies solely on the intrinsic sensitivity of the nucleus while fluorescent probes for optical spectroscopy have undergone extensive rational design to modulate their photophysical properties and limit undesired energy transfer mechanisms. We envisaged it might be possible to amplify the chemical shift response to changes in protein conformation by embedding the 19F reporter within 2-pyridone, a tautomeric molecule which *itself* changes between lactam to lactim states in response to the polarity of its environment. We identified fluorinated pyridone tautomers that exhibited up to three-fold improvements in chemical shift sensitivity relative to our previous best-in-class protein NMR tag. In protein NMR applications, we found that labeling the alpha subunit of the stimulatory G protein as well as human serum albumin enabled us to delineate more functional states in the proteins' conformational ensembles that were unresolved by BTFMA! At its core, our paper is a manifesto on the concept of a molecular "amplifier" in the design of NMR tags. We believe that there are alternative tautomer-based chemical shift amplifiers that could be used for 19F NMR. The ideal tautomer must 1) have well-defined chemical shift signatures for each tautomeric state, and 2) should undergo fast tautomerism. In addition to prototropic tautomers such as 2-pyridone, valence tautomerization is another opportunity that could be explored. For example, benzene oxide and oxepin undergo rapid valence tautomerism where the benzene oxide component is favored in polar solvents. This was a long road filled with major challenges and hypothesis changes, and I'm so grateful for my talented colleagues in the Scott Prosser lab in organic chemistry, molecular biology, NMR spectroscopy, and computational chemistry as well as support from my co-supervisor Patrick Gunning and our collaborators Oleksandr Voznyy and Ernani Basso. This work would bever have been possible without their effort! https://lnkd.in/gbTCsTZz

Molten salt students, industry, and colleagues... Please do not miss out on an excellent conference, The 2025 International Conference on Methods and Applications of Radioanalytical Chemistry (MARC). There are many sessions applicable to molten salt technologies (i.e. molten salt reactors, pyroprocessing, etc.). Check out session 5B (Radiochemistry of Molten Salt Reactors: Recent Progress, Methods and Applications) Organized by Derek Haas, Shayan Shahbazi, and myself! Abstract Deadline is December 1st #moltensalt #actinides #pyroprocessing

🔬 New Research Update: I have been working on publishing some work from my PhD research conducted at The University of British Columbia in collaboration with the University of Saskatchewan using Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) funding! Our recent paper explores advancements in dispersion-type #nuclear fuel for research and test reactors. Dispersion fuels like Al-U3O8 offer superior thermal conductivity and burn-up capabilities compared to conventional fuels. However, traditional fabrication methods have posed challenges, particularly in managing porosity in cold-pressed fuel meats. To address this, we employed spark plasma sintering (SPS) in fabricating Al-15, 20, and 30 vol% U3O8, as well as 8 and 12 vol% Mo-U3O8 fuel meats. This innovative approach allowed us to achieve exceptional densities critical for enhancing fuel performance. Our study also involved constructing and validating Master Sintering Curves (MSCs), providing precise insights into the sintering process. Characterization using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed significant chemical and physical transformations, including the reduction of U3O8 to UO2. This research represents a significant step forward in understanding and optimizing dispersion fuel technologies, with implications for safer and more efficient reactor operations. Read more about our findings https://lnkd.in/gmt-ipbz. It is open access as well, thanks to my affiliation with UBC. Jerzy Szpunar Lukas Bichler Linu Malakkal, PhD Charles L. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories #Research #PhDResearch #NuclearEnergy #MaterialScience #FuelTechnology #SPS #Collaboration #UBC #UniversityOfSaskatchewan

Attention battery researchers!🔋Did you know that our Avance 400 #NMR solution for electrolytes is a powerful technique that can provide a comprehensive picture of the range of components in pristine, aged, or recycled electrolytes of lithium-ion batteries? With the ability to identify and quantify components within mixtures while covering a wide concentration range, you can gain a better understanding of the electrochemistry of your #batteries. This understanding is a prerequisite for developing novel battery materials to improve the cost-reduction, supply chain safety, #battery lifetime, performance, sustainability, and operational safety of rechargeable batteries. Learn more about our innovative solution for lithium-ion battery electrolytes in our application note titled "High-Resolution Multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy for better lithium-ion battery electrolytes": https://lnkd.in/erb6nwQW #BatteryResearch #Batteries #BatteryProduction