Author Archives: Sami Vuori

Anssi and Sami go to the University of Jyväskylä to fetch a single-crystal XRD

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Anssi (left) and Sami on Tuesday morning before leaving to Jyväskylä. Photo by Ari Lehtonen.

Anssi and Sami visited the University of Jyväskylä on Tuesday and Wednesday to get a single-crystal X-ray diffractometer, which we don’t have at our chemistry department. After arriving in Jyväskylä on Tuesday afternoon, all the peripherals were removed from the device and it was strapped, and on Wednesday morning Martela’s movers came to move it with a safe dolly to the van.

Anssi working on detaching the peripherals.
The device safely in the van.

In Turku, Muuttohaukat’s men wheeled the device into our X-ray lab. Everything went successfully and according to plans, and right at the beginning of the year we will get it up and running.

The instrument in its place in Aurum, but not yet running.

With the device, it is possible to acquire information about substances made into crystalline form in such a way that their three-dimensional structure can be resolved with the help of the diffraction pattern of the sample. The method is especially used to determine the structures of IMC’s organometallic compounds, but the new device is expected to be used by synthetic chemists in the entire Department of Chemistry, as well as more widely by researchers at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University. Special thanks to JYU’s Kari Rissanen, Heikki Tuononen, Manu Lahtinen, and Samu Forsblom!

Anssi and Ari get article accepted in Angewandte Chemie International Edition

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Adjunct Professors Anssi Peuronen (left) and Ari Lehtonen.

Yesterday was a glorious day for IMC, because Anssi and Ari’s article “Charge-assisted halogen bonding in an ionic cavity of a coordination cage based on a copper(I) iodide cluster” was just accepted in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, which has a staggering impact factor of 16.823, topping the current highest one (Materials Horizons, 15.717) in IMC’s history. Anssi celebrated this by offering cake and cognac. Congratulations!

Lab excercises for the new course started

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Laboratory exercises for the Materials Chemistry and Sustainability course are currently going. In the first work, metals were separated by dissolving metal-containing samples in nitric acid and precipitating the metals in different groups, taking advantage of the different solubilities of the salts they form. In the second project, the students prepare hackmanites, which are known as sensor materials, and study their properties.

Hackmanites & gamma radiation article makes the back cover of Materials Horizons

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Our article “Reusable radiochromic hackmanite with gamma exposure memory” published in the Materials Horizons journal got a place in the journal’s back cover. Based on Mika’s idea, Sami took a picture of a pile of hackmanite on top of a glass plate, which he partially colored with UV light to achieve a difference between the non-colored and colored. Big thanks also go to Kari Loikas, whose sturdy construction light he borrowed helped create a dramatic contrast in the picture.

The back cover is downloadable here: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2022/mh/d2mh90072f

Hackmanite research in the Aurora magazine (Mika on the cover!)

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Professor Mika Lastusaari as the cover face of the latest issue of Aurora.

Mika, Sami, Hannah and Isabella are in the latest issue of Aurora magazine, where they were interviewed about their research. The article deals with the history of hackmanite research, which became a scientific phenomenon in the IMC group. Read the article in the physical magazine that is distributed on campus or electronically at https://www.utu.fi/fi/ajankohtaista/aurora/ihmeen-tekijat

Meet Sinna Lampinen

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Introducing our MSc student Sinna Lampinen who is currently working with the synthesis of sodalites. The laboratory’s X-Ray diffractometer has been in heavy use during the fall. At home keeping her busy is a small sheep farm focusing on traditional landscape management in cooperation with the local nature conservation assosiation. Some hobbies include birdwatching, music, gym and yoga – whenever she finds time for them!