MJ wins with a delectable dessert prize
MJ won the best link to project award for her dessert in the NZIC decorate your dessert-ation event (May 18)
MJ wins at the University of Otago Chemistry Department Bootcamp 2023
Congratulations to MJ (Jervee Punzalan) who won the Most Engaging Speaker at the University of Otago Chemistry Department Bootcamp 2023 (April 14 2023)
Invited talk at the Asian Spectroscopy Conference
Keith was a keynote speaker at the 8th Asian Spectroscopy Conference (ASC2023) will be held in Tokamachi, Niigata, Japan from September 3 to 7, 2023 (http://www2.riken.jp/lab/spectroscopy/ASC2021/index.html). Keith’s talk “Using metal complexes to open the door to long-lived excited states” dealt with the use of intra-ligand charge-transfer states as long-lived transients.
Invited talk at SciX
Keith was an invited speaker to SciX (https://scixconference.org/) where he gave a talk entitled “A retrospect of spectroscopic studies on dipyridophenazine – from Queens University Belfast to Los Lamos to the University of Otago New Zealand” at the 140 Years of the Coblentz Society and the Infrared and Raman Discussion Group (IRDG) symposium. SciX (originally called FACSS) is an international meeting dedicated to analytical techniques, including spectroscopy. This year the meeting was held in Sparks Nevada and the Nuggets Casino.
Oral presentation at IUPAC meeting
Keith gave a talk on “Opening the door to long-lived excited states” at the Materials for Photovoltaics and Energy Harvesting symposium at the IUPAC 23 (https://iupac2023.org) meeting in The Hague (Netherlands). The meeting had more than 800 contributors and subjects ranged from new energy materials to health.
Invited speaker at the 9th International Discussion Meeting on Relaxations in Complex Systems (9 IDMRCS)
Keith was an invited speaker at the 9th International Discussion Meeting on Relaxations in Complex Systems (9 IDMRCS) held in Chiba, Japan. This meeting with over 800 participants covered an array of Materials Science including glasses, crystalline materials, battery technology, biomaterials and new techniques for analysis. Keith presented in the Amorphous Pharmaceuticals Symposium where he showcased the effectiveness of low frequency Raman spectroscopy in the analysis of dehydration, polymorph changes, and changes in the amorphous state with the detection of phase changes involving molecular mobility.
Seminar at NIMS Tsukuba, Japan
Keith was an invited speaker to the International Conference on Science and Technology of Pharmaceutical Glasses, held at NIMS in Tsukuba Japan. He presented the recently published findings (Analytical Chemistry 2022, 94 (23), 8241-8248, DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c00371) on using subtle spectral changes in low frequency Raman spectra to detect glass transitions.
New paper in the Journal of the Textile Institute
Congratulations to Samanali, Sara and Keith on their paper; Determining deposits on knit fabrics, yarns, and fibers, from sensor-related treatments. Journal of the Textile Institute 2023, Article. DOI: 10.1080/00405000.2023.2221427. The work was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the Materials Science and Technology group. Samanali was able to show how graphene adhered to fibers using Raman microscopy.
New paper in Molecules
Congratulations to Fatema, Keith Daniel Killeen (Plant and Food) and Sara on the publication of Detection and Quantification of Adulteration in Krill Oil with Raman and Infrared Spectroscopic Methods. Molecules 2023, 28 (9), 3695, Article. DOI: 10.3390/molecules28093695. This paper describes methods that allow us to detect adulteration of krill oil, a high value aquaculture product. By measuring Raman and infrared spectra and fusing these data it was possible to get excellent detection of adulterants (such as palm oil) at levels at which they are typically used. Another step forward in providing surety to industry around product validation.
New paper in Pharmaceutics
Congrats to Peter, Karlis, Sara and Keith on their publication in Pharmaceutics (Pharmaceutics 2023 , 15 , 1526. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15051526 ). The paper describes the dehydration process of carbamazepine at differing temperatures. This was a collaborative effort with Denmark and USA in which the density functional theory for all polymorphs of carbamazepine were calculated along with their Raman spectra. Using low frequency Raman spectroscopy, it is possible to get time-resolution below one second. These data were then analyzed with multivariate analysis and it was possible to detect high concentrations of the form IV polymorph as a transient species. The paper highlights the strength of low frequency Raman as an analytical technique to observe transient species during chemical processes.
