Crystal engineering networks

The RSC has launched a new website for crystal engineers that will provide a central base for researchers worldwide and give them access to an array of services. The new site, CrystEngCommunity, provides an online community setting and plans to bring together researchers from all walks of chemistry, offering research groups the chance to get involved directly. 

The website, launched in September 2004, will run alongside the already popular electronic-only journal CrystEngComm published by the RSC. Aimed at all scientists with an interest in crystal engineering the site will bring together people from the many different disciplines - materials scientists and theoreticians alike - and provide them with valuable information and resources to facilitate their understanding of the subject. 

Researchers are also being asked to become actively involved in the community. Already, links to the websites of over 80 established research groups are listed and those groups not listed are invited to join by contacting the development team. 

'CrystEngCommunity will help people keep up with current research and give them an opportunity to publicise their own work' said Dr Kirsty Anderson, crystallographic data editor at the RSC and one of the developers of the new service. 

The site also highlights current hot work in the field and features regularly updated profiles of some of the leading scientists in the area. Published work from the extensive RSC archive may also be accessed with common searches set up for those wanting to browse.   

The development team are already looking to extend the community and plan to launch a discussion forum in the near future where opinions on topical subjects - such as crystal nomenclature - can be posted and discussed online . 

In the shade?

Research by scientists at University College, London, into a new intelligent coating for windows has been the focus of recent media attention. The coating, discovered by Professor Ivan Parkin and Dr Troy Manning, blocks out heat when temperatures rise above 29°C. It presents a wealth of exciting opportunities for the future of glass technology and as senior author of the paper and member of the Journal of Materials Chemistry international advisory editorial board, Professor Ivan Parkin, comments 'media interest has been intense'. The research has been covered in over 100 newspapers and science magazines (including The Telegraph, Nature, and Scientific American) and several radio and TV interviews 

Commercial interest has also been strong, with the authors receiving enquiries from greenhouse manufacturers and space agencies. 'What we have shown is that we can make thermochromic films by a process that is compatible with commercial glass manufacture' says Parkin. And for the future, 'key issues to be addressed are the colour of the films, and development to an industrial scale.' 

Crystal engineering networks

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