Achievements

Scientists from our Faculty have developed new solvent-less one-pot method of drug encapsulation in MOF-class materials (Metal-Organic Framework). Method is based on mechanochemical process which makes manufacturing of MOF-encapsulated drugs faster as well as cheaper, yielding drug@MOF composite. The advantage of such drug transport form over conventional forms is possibility of performing targeted therapy as well longer drug release (in weeks). Method has been developed by team of Prof. Janusz Lewiński: Daniel Prochowicz, PhD, Eng. and Jan Nawrocki, MSc, Eng. along with their colleagues from Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Science. The team have published paper in European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry in which they presented results of using Ibuprofen@MOF (obtained with new method) as a proof of concept which was released over the course of 14 days in the conditions simulating human organism. Article is highlighted an on the cover of an issue.

Link to the issue cover
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Mechanochemistry - the field of research focusing on chemical processes induced by the mechanical forces experiences a renaissance with the significant role of Faculty of Chemistry researchers. One of the examples of such role is the newest publication of Prof. Lewiński's group entitled "Mechanoperovskites for Photovoltaic Applications: Preparation, Characterization, and Device Fabrication”, which has been published in Accounts of Chemical Research (IF = 21.7). It is the first publication from our faculty in this prestigeous journal with over 50 years of tradition, in which articles are usually reviews published on the invitation only policy and focuse on the recent achievements of authors – leaders in their respective fields.
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Paweł Borowiecki, PhD, Eng. from the Chair of Drug and Cosmetics Biotechnology (Faculty of Chemistry, WUT) along with Prof. Wolfgang Kroutil of Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz (Austria), Prof. Johann Heider of Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany) and Prof. Maciej Szaleniec of Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry of Polish Academy of Sciences (Cracow, Poland) just published in Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis (IF=5.451) journal the article about chemoenzymatic synthesis of the optically active γ-aryl-γ-butyrolactones using microorganism cells and recombinant alcohol dehydrogenases. Developed method has an enormous industrial significance, as optically active compounds obtained through this method are very important building blocks used in drugs manufacturing.

We invite you to read the paper on the publishers website: ^©2020 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adsc.201901483.

Faculty of Chemistry, WUT just became founding member of the consortium (led by French CNRS), which will hold international PhD studies in the field of emerginc battery technologies. Faculty of Chemistry along with over a dozen other Eruopean universities as well as research institutes and companies will educate 50 doctors over a 5 years span. Project DESTINY (no. 945357) just received funding from the European Union (under Horizon 2020 programme). It is the first cofinanced by EU project of co-held international PhD studies at Warsaw University of Technology.

In the newest paper published in Angewandte Chemie entitledDisclosing Interfaces of ZnO Nanocrystals Using Dynamic Nuclear Polarization: Sol‐Gel versus Organometallic Approach, Małgorzata Wolska-Pietkiewicz, PhD, Eng. and Prof. Janusz Lewiński, along with colleagues from Grenoble, achieved another milestone in the obtaining unique ZnO quantum dots for high technologies and nanomedicine applications. Using highly advanced DNP-NMR technique it has been unambiguously proven that QDs obtained with the Faculty of Chemistry WUT proprietary organometallic method OSSOM declasses QDs obtained with other, traditional sol-gel method, both in terms of stability, surface character and degree of ordering of the organic layer passivating inorganic ZnO core.

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The best (sorted by Impact Factor) articles authored by our Faculty employees in the present year (last update: 01-10-2018):

1. H. Zhang, C. Li, M. Piszcz, E. Coya, T. Rojo, L.M. Rodriguez-Martinez, M. Armand, Z. Zhou, Single lithium-ion conducting solid polymer electrolytes: Advances and perspectives, CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS, 2018, 46, 797-815. IF: 38,618
2. D. Kubicki, D. Prochowicz, A. Hofstetter, M. Saski, P. Yadav, D. Bi, N. Pellet, J. Lewinski, S.M. Zakeeruddin, M. Grätzel, L. Emsley, Formation of stable mixed guanidinium-methylammonium phases with exceptionally long carrier lifetimes for high efficiency lead iodide-based perovskite photovoltaics, JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 2018, 140, 3345-3351. IF: 13,858
3. J. Szlachetko, A. Kubas, A.M. Cieślak, K. Sokołowski, Ł. Mąkolski, J. Czapla-Masztafiak, J. Sá, J. Lewiński, Hidden gapless states during thermal transformations of preorganized zinc alkoxides to zinc oxide nanocrystals, MATERIALS HORIZONS, 2018, 5, 905-911. IF: 13,183

Manufacturing method of the natural rose aroma (2-phenylethanol) with use of yeast developed by Jolanta Mierzejewska PhD and Karolina Chreptowicz PhD, Eng from the Chair of Drug and Cosmetics Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University of Technology, has been awarded with Silver Medal at the International Warsaw Inventions Show - IWIS 2018. Participation in the Show has been financed by „KEPP - Commercialization – effective, friendly and professional” project conducted under „Innovations Incubator +” programme as a non-call Ministry of Science and Higher Education project co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund under Smart Growth Operational Programme. Show has taken place on October 15-17, 2018. Invention has been presented by the employees of the Commercialisation and Technology Transfer Department of the Centre for Innovation and Technology Transfer Management of Warsaw University of Technology.

Prototype of the vibroisolator based on the shear thickening fluids for buildings protection against seismic shocks application developed by the team of employees and PhD students of the Faculty of Chemistry and of the Faculty of Materials Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology working under supervision of Prof. Mikołaj Szafran, PhD DSc Eng, Prof. Gabriel Rokicki, PhD DSc Eng and Prof. Marcin Leonowicz PhD, DSc, Eng has been awarded with Gold Medal at the International Fair Taiwan Innotech Expo, held on August 27-29, 2018 in Taipei, Taiwan. Inventors' team has been represented by Łukasz Wierzbicki, PhD Eng and Małgorzata Głuszek, MSc Eng.

Perspektywy educational monthly has published annual Engineering University Courses Ranking 2018. Our Biotechnology and Chemical Technology courses have been ranked as the best engineering university courses in their respective categories. Biotechnology course hold the title as the best Biotechnology course in Poland for the second year in the row, while Chemical Technology Course holds the title as the best Chemical Technology course for the sixth time in the row, keeping the title since the establishing of the ranking (since individual engineering courses are ranked).

Perspektywy educational monthly published annual Engineering University Courses Ranking 2017. Our Biotechnology and Chemical Technology courses have been ranked as the best engineering university courses in their respective categories. Chemical Technology course holds the title of the best chemical technology course in Poland for the fifth time in the row!