Author Archives: Sami Vuori

Meet Teemu Taam, our newest member

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Meet our newest member, MSc student Teemu Taam from Oulu. We interviewed him with three questions.

1. Why did you choose intelligent materials chemistry?
The world is constantly changing and the circular economy emphasizes low waste. For me, making the most of any potential side streams is extremely important. The chemistry of intelligent materials could be just that. Thus, I am challenging myself by becoming familiar with intelligent materials from a circular economy perspective and meeting the demands of modern society. That’s why I set out to head to the line of organometallic materials, get answers, and maybe bring something new.

2. What interests you particularly in chemistry?
– I am a friend of classical chemistry. Traditional analytical methods of inorganic and organic chemistry as well as demanding syntheses keep the motivation high. Versatile analytical techniques are also inspiring, as the analysis of each synthesis product is like the final culmination of a suspenseful story, which either brings great satisfation or complete disappointment.

3. What do you do in your free time?
– Literature is very important to me. Relaxing reading as well as producing written outputs help maintain a diverse vocabulary. Outdoor activities and nature are my second place to relax. In nature, hiking and berry picking during late summer and fall keeps the mind fresh.

Welcome to the group, Teemu!

Sami & Mika make the back cover of Advanced Optical Materials

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Our back cover picture has been published in the Advanced Optical Materials journal! The image depicts hackmanite crystal’s coloration mechanism upon X-ray exposure where electron and hole cascades create a color center. The original idea and graphics, which was accepted by the journal, was made by Adj. Prof. Mika Lastusaari:

PhD student Sami Vuori then refined it a bit with Gimp by creating the final version. The picture is related to our article Detection of X-Ray Doses with Color-Changing Hackmanites: Mechanism and Application, which was published in this journal: https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202100762

New photoluminescence spectrometer – meet Skye

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This is our newest instrument, the Edinburgh Instruments FLS 1000 photoluminescence spectrometer. We are very excited for this because it has a wide detection range deep into the infrared range, ability to measure fluorescence lifetimes, quantum yield, time-resolved emission and excitation scans and many other gorgeous features. Edinburgh Instruments’ product engineer Peter Linton was instructing us for three days about how to operate the machine. We also had to give it a traditional Scottish name: it became Skye (thanks to Peter for the name suggestion).

For this great instrument, we thank Prof. Kati Miettunen, Prof. Jarno Salonen, Dr. Taina Laiho, Dr. Heikki Palonen and the whole Finnish Research Infrastructure for Characterization and Aging of Surfaces and Materials for the Local Businesses and Environmental Economy (Casual Bee) team in Turku. See https://sites.utu.fi/casualbee/en/

Some additional photos:

Zamaneh’s last day, Sami sees his teacher after 14 years

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Every year we have one or two interns from Turku Vocational Institute (Turun ammatti-instituutti). Teacher Jouni Jantunen and doctoral candidates Sami and Hannah held a skills demonstration review for our intern Zamaneh Baradari who spent her last day here at IMC. The joy of reunion was immense because Jouni was Sami’s physical chemistry and chemistry calculations teacher in the vocational institute in 2004–2007, and they hadn’t seen each other after 2007 before this day.

Jouni (left) and Sami.

Let’s meet next year again, Jouni!

IMC is now Intelligent

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During the move to Aurum we reinvented ourselves by making something drastic: we changed our name! Inorganic is now history and Intelligent future. This is because our IMC council thought that our chemistry repertoire spans wider than just inorganic, and our common interest is making intelligent materals. We are henceforth Intelligent Materials Chemistry Group, but we still maintain that old, familiar IMC. Here you can watch our move-themed video.

Neon ray and gold dust videos:
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Free Motion Graphics
Videos used:
https://youtu.be/m1YUmZRfgqU
https://youtu.be/lRTtMcx6rSM

YouTube Channel:
https://youtube.com/MG1010
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Molten gold video:
MOODY RAW SCREENS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htXe0ybca1U

Sami’s interview in a local newspaper Kunnallislehti

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Kunnallislehti is a local newpaper in the region consisting of Paimio, Sauvo and Kaarina municipalities. Sami was interviewed as a chemist living in Paimio’s Kevola village because of the newly-published X-ray tenebrescence article. Sami tells about the background of the invention, experiences about living in Paimio and also dispels worries that people may have about particle accelerators.

Article by reporter Perttu Hemminki.

Sami’s article receives attention in newspapers and magazines

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IMC group and our whole chemistry department has received attention from various newspapers and magazines with PhD student Sami Vuori‘s article (corresponding author Adjunct Professor Mika Lastusaari) that was recently published in Advanced Optical Materials: “Detection of X-Ray Doses with Color-Changing Hackmanites: Mechanism and Application“. In addition to showing a practical application, the article also reveals the mechanism of hackmanite’s coloration upon X-ray exposure, which has never been researched thoroughly before.

Image by Sami Vuori.

In the article, Sami imaged a dead body of an ant using a film with hackmanite powder on it. When the X-rays hit the film, the hackmanite colors from natural white to pink, and since the ant’s body attenuates X-rays, some photons are absorbed in it and won’t color the film. This is a simple method, which does not require any expensive analyzers since one can see the result directly.

Image by Sami Vuori.
Image by Sami Vuori.

The article was an international joint effort consisting of researchers from the University of Turku (PhD student Sami Vuori, Adjunct Professor Mika Lastusaari, Dr. Isabella Norrbo, Professor Petriina Paturi, Professor Timo Saarinen and University Teacher Heikki Palonen), University of São Paulo in Brazil (Dr. Lucas C. V. Rodrigues), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Dr. Jörg Göttlicher and Dr. Ralph Steininger) and University of Lyon (PhD student Pauline Colinet, Assistant Professor Tangui Le Bahers).