St Georges retain TOTB trophy again

Despite the continuing challenges and restrictions due to COVID, RSC Belgium successfully organised and ran its annual 'international eliminator' for the Royal Society of Chemistry's Top of the Bench (TOTB) competition in late 2021. And this year more teams than ever were involved with 13 teams from seven international and European schools taking part. The results are now in and the winning team, who will now represent Belgium in the TOTB grand final in Spring 2022, is Team Titanium (pictured below) from St. Georges International School in Luxembourg. The school therefore retains the Keith Price Cup and makes it three years in a row as RSC Belgium TOTB champs!

Once again, the competition had to be run remotely during late November and early December with the results evaluated over the Christmas holiday period by our TOTB team: Rita Woodward and Susan Schamp.

Our 2021 TOTB eliminator again retained the usual elements of the competition: a written test component for individual team members and a practical group exercise.

This year the written element was a 30-minute online Chemistry Quiz with questions tailored to the three age groups in each team and the practical element requiring input from all four team members based around a simple 'Everyday Chemistry Around You' scenario that could be carried out at school or at home depending on COVID restrictions in place at the time.

TOTB teams are composed of four students with two students from Year 9 (UK equivalent to 3rd year or Grade 8), one student from Year 10 UK (4th year or Grade 9) and one student from Year 11 (5th year or Grade 10).

Online quiz

The online quiz was worked up by Susan. “The quiz worked very well considering it was our first try with this format allowing us to set a wider range of questions than would have been possible with just a pen and paper,” says Susan. “For example, there was a video round where students watched a short video clip showing a chemical transformation or technique, which they then answered questions on.”

The quizzes consisted of 40 questions and students had 30 minutes to complete as many questions as they could before the quiz automatically submitted. “One school did have some technical problems which we will need to solve before running our next TOTB event,” notes Susan.

Practical element

Rita oversaw the practical element that also included a taster video introduction to get the teams thinking about de-gassing fizzy drinks – the subject of the experiment. “The practical task looked to be simple but deceptively proved to be more challenging than for previous years,” says Rita. “Excellent time management, organisation and thinking outside the box were required. This year’s practical was certainly tricky, but many students thoroughly enjoyed the task!”

Alejandro Perez, the coordinating chemistry teacher at St. Georges International School for their teams commented: “We do not appreciate how much more challenging it is to plan a full investigation than to follow instructions in a practical activity, and the event has given our students the opportunity experience the scientific method put into practice.”

Challenging event

In 2021 only four teams from two schools were able to complete and return results in our first attempt at a COVID-proof event, but this year 13 teams from seven schools were involved – returning participation to pre-COVID levels. Teams were entered by Antwerp International School (AIS), the British School of Brussels (BSB), European Schools I and II in Luxembourg, the International School of Flanders (ISF) in Waterloo, St. John’s International School in Waterloo and St. George's International School in Luxembourg.

As ever the competition was very close with some notable individual performances and excellent teamwork, but the overall winner was the Titanium team from St Georges thanks to ranking first in the written part and a top three placement in the practical. Runners up were Team Chromium from BSB with top marks in the practical test and a top three placement in the written section.

Our congratulations to Team Titanium who will go forward to represent RSC Belgium at the RSC’s TOTB final in 2022. And our thanks to everyone who took part in the TOTB eliminator this year. RSC Belgium goodies are on the way to the winning team and all participating team members will receive certificates.

Many thanks to St. George's for providing photos of the winning Titanium team.

Beyond Li-ion: challenges and opportunities for future battery technology

On the evening of 25 November 2021 RSC Belgium hosted the last of its webinars for the year with a talk from Prof Jean-François Gohy from the Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences at the Université catholique de Louvain. Prof Gohy had previously presented to the section on advances in energy storage and this new talk focused on recent advances and opportunities for future battery technologies. 

The improvement in performance and cost of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) over the past few years have made them the technology of choice for electrical energy storage. While established battery chemistries and cell architectures for LIBs achieve good power and energy density, Jean-Francois indicated that LIBs are unlikely to meet all the performance, cost, and scaling targets required for future energy storage, in particular, in large-scale applications such as electrified transportation and grids. 

The demand to further reduce cost and/or increase energy density, as well as the growing concerns related to natural resource needs for Li-ion technologies have accelerated the investigation of so-called “beyond Li-ion” technologies. In his talk Prof Gohy discussed recent achievements, challenges, and opportunities for some of these “beyond Li-ion” technologies. While it is unlikely that any given new technology will fully replace Li-ion in the near future, “beyond Li-ion” technologies should be thought of as opportunities for energy storage to grow into mid/large-scale applications.

Range of options

Prof Gohy took the audience through a range of options for promising battery technologies that could provide the required energy density safely and at reasonable cost. Costs for LIBs had dramatically dropped from over $1000 per KWh to less that $150 and this trend was continuing thanks to massive investment LIBs by the car industry.

But next generation technologies were required. Lithium metal batteries are part of the family of All Solid State Batteries (ASSB) and previous significant safety concerns had now been partially solved. Other potential technologies included Li-S, Li-air, Sodium and Potassium ion batteries.

Li-metal based ASSBs could provide a path to achieve high volumetric energy density using established Li-ion cathode technology.

Sodium (NIB) and Potassium (KIB) batteries that rely on naturally abundant sodium and potassium resources are likely to provide a significant advantage in terms of cost for larger stationary applications such as storage for power grid management. 

Magnesium-metal batteries are a wild card technology that could potentially provide a unique combination of high energy density and low cost as a "beyond Li-ion" battery technology. Mg metal as an anode is less prone to failure due to dendritic growth, but the most significant technical barrier to this technology is the achievement of high energy density Mg cathodes.

RSC video at COP26

During the COP26 meeting in Glasgow the RSC held a panel discussion on this topic that debated the cutting edge chemistry underlying next generation battery innovations, their potential, their limitations and their pathways to mass adoption.

The video was part of an initiative demonstrating chemistry’s role in understanding and tackling climate change covering next-generation batteries, hydrogen, agriculture, carbon dioxide utilisation, and more.

Seventh Norman Lloyd Scholar report is in!

Cara Watkins (pictured below), the seventh recipient of a Dr Norman C. Lloyd Scholarship at Cardiff University has completed her first year of her MCheM degree in Chemistry at the university and she has submitted an end of year report. The Norman Lloyd Scholarship is given to a new student in the Cardiff School of Chemistry who is of high academic standing and resident in Wales. The eighth recipient of the Scholarship at Cardiff has also just been announced.

What degree are you undertaking and why did you choose the course here?

I am currently studying Chemistry and I am enjoying the course Cardiff University provides. I chose Cardiff University for a number of reasons, the biggest reason was due to its position as a Russell Group University, this prestige assured me that the course and experience I would be partaking in, would be satisfying. As well as this, the city of Cardiff played a big role in my decision, I was already familiar with the city of Cardiff so I knew that living there would be exciting and as it was close to home, I would still feel comfortable staying there.

What’s the best thing about studying at Cardiff?

The best thing about studying at Cardiff is the city, there is plenty of fun things to do in and around the city centre which makes for a great student life. The are many places to eat and meet with friends on Cardiff Queen Street which is a good way to de-stress and chill after a long day at university. The city of Cardiff is a great place to live and study and makes my university experience incredibly enjoyable.

Do you have a particular career in mind after you graduate?

I have always wanted to be a Forensic Scientist on the front lines of a crime scene, I would love to use my knowledge in science to solve crimes and investigate the hidden clues left behind using various chemical processes. I believe a degree in chemistry from Cardiff University will bring me a step closer to achieving this and help me reach my goal.

Do you have any hobbies outside of studying?

Apart from Chemistry, I have a love for languages, I am currently learning Korean which is influenced by my interest in Asian countries and their cultures. I would love to travel around Asia in the future to experience the culture for myself. I am also a fan of Marvel movies and I often find myself re-watching my favourite movies with my friends and family.

What difference has this scholarship made to you?

This scholarship has made a great difference to me as it eliminated any money worries, I might have had, which allowed me to focus on studying. It was thanks to the scholarship that I was able to buy a laptop for myself which was essential to my studies. Before this I had been sharing a laptop with my two siblings and I cannot imagine what I would’ve done without being able to buy one for myself. 

If you could say something to the donor who gave you this gift, what would it be?

I would like to give my greatest thanks to the donor who gave me this gift, it has had a great impact on me, and my studies and I believe I would not have had a such a great 1st year without it. It has been very advantageous to me and my studies and helped me get the most out of my university experience - That has been the greatest gift I could have so I would like the donor to know it was greatly appreciated.

The scholarship

The Norman Lloyd scholarship was set up by RSC Belgium in collaboration with Norman’s family and Cardiff University in memory of our old friend and supporter Norman Lloyd. Norman was himself a student at an institution that is now part of the university. The funds raised provide an annual scholarship of £1,000 for an undergraduate student, usually in their first year of study, at the Cardiff School of Chemistry.

The Beauty of Chemistry

On the evening of Thursday 21 October RSC Belgium members and friends were treated to a highly informative and inspiring webinar talk from regular Chemistry World columnist and author Dr Philip Ball on The Beauty of Chemistry.

Scientists often talk informally of “beauty” in ideas, experiments and theories - but what do they mean by it? Philip Ball’s recent book with Chinese science photographers Yan Liang and Wenting Zhu offers one answer. Entitled The Beauty of Chemistry, and published by MIT Press, it presents astonishing photos of chemical processes, many based on the videos Yan and Wenting made for their online Envisioning Chemistry project and exhibition in collaboration with the Chinese Chemical Society, which has received international acclaim.

The book has also received numerous plaudits. Alán Aspuru-Guzik, Professor of Chemistry and Computer Science at the University of Toronto said: “This book combines rich descriptions of chemical phenomena with stunning photography of them as they happen. As a child, I was drawn to chemistry by the wonders of precipitating powders, fizzy water, and other ever-present phenomena. The Beauty of Chemistry took me back to those times.” 

In the book and webinar talk Philip argued that chemistry excels in its sensual allure: its colours, textures, patterns, even smells, speak immediately to the senses and are often what draw chemists to study their subject. All the same, he argued, scientific notions of beauty are complicated and not always compatible with the way the word is used in art and aesthetics.

Chemistry is not just about microscopic atoms doing inscrutable things; it is the process that makes flowers and galaxies. We rely on it for bread-baking, vegetable-growing, and producing the materials of daily life. In stunning images and illuminating text, “The Beauty of Chemistry” captures chemistry as it unfolds. Using such techniques as microphotography, time-lapse photography, and infrared thermal imaging, The Beauty of Chemistry shows us how chemistry underpins the formation of snowflakes, the science of champagne, the colours of flowers, and other wonders of nature and technology. We see the marvellous configurations of chemical gardens; the amazing transformations of evaporation, distillation, and precipitation; heat made visible; and more.

Relive the beauty!

Phil's excellent talk was recorded and you can relive the lecture either below or via the new RSC Belgium YouTube channel.  Enjoy!

About the speaker

Philip Ball is a freelance science writer and author. He worked previously at Nature for over 20 years, first as an editor for physical sciences (for which his brief extended from biochemistry to quantum physics and materials science) and then as a Consultant Editor. His writings on science for the popular press have covered topical issues ranging from cosmology to the future of molecular biology.

Philip continues to write regularly for Nature. He has contributed to publications ranging from New Scientist to the New York Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times and New Statesman. He is a contributing editor of Prospect magazine (for which he writes a science blog), and also a columnist for Chemistry World, Nature Materials, and the Italian science magazine Sapere. He is a frequent TV and radio broadcaster, and is a presenter of "Science Stories" on BBC Radio 4. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, sits on the editorial board of Chemistry World and Interdiscipinary Science Reviews, and is a board member of the RESOLV network on solvation science at the Ruhr University of Bochum.

He has written many popular books on science and its intersections with the wider culture, including works on the nature of water, pattern formation in the natural world, colour in art, the science of social and political philosophy, the cognition of music, and physics in Nazi Germany.

His titles include The Self-Made Tapestry, Critical Mass, Bright Earth and Invisible. His latest book is The Modern Myths.

Philip has a BA in Chemistry from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Physics from the University of Bristol.

Chemistry Challenge 2021 results announced

The results of the RSC Belgium Chemistry Challenge 2021 were announced at our webinar event with John O'Donoghue on 'Chemistry in the Movies' on the evening of 23 September 2021. As for last year, due to COVID19 rules, this year's Chemistry Challenge was also a virtual event that was undertaken remotely by students at their schools.

For the 2021 Challenge, we received entries from the majority of our group of international and European schools in the Brussels area and beyond and, as ever, the Challenge was designed to test the student's chemical knowledge and initiative.

The RSC Belgium Chemical Challenge has three sections:

• A chemistry multiple choice paper (Section A)
• A structured questions on chemistry (Section B), and
• A 'Thinking Matters' paper that is not chemistry based (Section C)

The top results were as follows:

Section A - Multiple choice

First prize for this section was shared by Marcus Waterson from the European School in Mol (ESMol) and Ito Yurie from the British School of Brussels in Tervuren (BSB) who each receive a €50 award. 

There were three winners of €25 second prizes: Matilde Malagodi of St John’s International School in Waterloo (St John's), and Julie Petermans and Hannah Haris of BSB.

Third prizes of €10 went to Vladislav Morozov and Mels Leurs of BSB and Maria Shopova from European School Brussels IV in Laeken (EEB4).

Section B - Structured questions

In this section the first prize of €50 was awarded to Vladislav Morozov of BSB with Marcus Waterson of ESMol and Ito Yurie of BSB picking up second prizes worth €25. A third prize of €10 was awarded to Sungbin Yun from BSB.

Section C - Thinking Matters

For this section the top prize of €50 went to Lilia Kautz of EEB4, with BSB's Rosanne Roberts picking up a second prize of €25, and three third places worth €10 awarded to Antoni Tokaj of St. George’s International School in Luxembourg (St George's), Maria Shopova from EEB4 and Ito Yurie of BSB.

The Keith Price Prize

With excellent performances in both chemistry sections, this year's Keith Price Prize was jointly claimed by Marcus Waterson of ESMol (pictured below) and Ito Yurie of BSB (pictured above), who both received an additional €100. 

Well done to everyone who took part in this year's Chemistry Challenge! Every student that entered the competition receives a certificate of participation. And, of course, we will be running the Challenge again in 2022 and look forward to further widening participation!

Chemistry in the Movies

On the evening of Thursday 23 September 2021 RSC Belgium members and friends were treated to an entertaining and informative talk from Dr. John O'Donoghue of Trinity College Dublin on 'Chemistry in the Movies'. The webinar was also the occasion for the announcement of the prize-winners in our 2021 Chemistry Challenge.

John's snappy talk took a scientific and filmographic look at how chemistry and chemists have been portrayed in the movies - the good, the bad and the ugly - using short clips and simplified graphics to talk about the subject in an engaging and light-hearted format. The movies chosen were based around a number of themes; problem solving, plot devices, chemical companies and people. 

John noted that the 2021 Ig Noble Prize for Chemistry had just been awarded on 9 September to a group of scientists who had analysed the air inside movie theatres to test whether the odours produced by an audience reliably indicate the levels of violence, sex, antisocial behaviour, drug use, and bad language in the movie the audience was watching. Remarkably they did manage to correlate a number of chemicals with different scene types!

Breaking Bad effect

One interesting issue that John explored was whether the TV series Breaking Bad (2008 - 2013) [Netflix, Prime] had an effect on how chemistry is on portrayed on screen? He concluded that it did have a positive effect in terms of showing more chemistry on screen and improving the quality of scientific explanation generally, but it may have also contributed to a new cliché for how chemical scientists are depicted on screen.

Details about where and how to access the movies discussed was also be provided (Netflix, YouTube, Apple etc - see below) and John hoped his talk gave participants the inspiration to start their our own chemistry movie marathon! 

The talk certainly inspired a good discussion with plenty of additional movie suggestions and we hear that some teachers will be looking to incorporate 'chemical movies' in to their lessons.

Movie list

The movies discussed in John's talk in various categories were:

Fictional bad (evil) pharmaceutical and chemical companies 

• Better Living through Chemistry (2014) [Apple, YouTube]
• Formula51 (2001) [Apple, YouTube]
• Erin Brockovich (2000) [Prime, Netflix, YouTube]
• Dark Waters (2019) [Prime, Apple, YouTube]
• Duplicity  (2009) [Prime, Apple, YouTube]
• The Fugitive (1993) [Apple, YouTube]
• Love and Other Drugs (2010) [Prime, Apple, YouTube]
• Mission Impossible 2 (2000) [Apple, YouTube]

Good chemistry for problem solving

• Apollo 13 (1995) [Netflix, Apple, YouTube]
• The Martian (2015) [Disney, Apple, YouTube]

Good chemists, bad chemistry… and Sean Connery

• Medicine man (1992) [Disney, Apple, YouTube]
• The Rock (1996) [Apple, YouTube]

Science teachers inspiring for Good

• Evolution (2001) [Apple, YouTube]
• October Sky (1999) [Prime, Apple, YouTube]

Superhero movies

• Ironman (2008)/ Ironman 2 (2010) [Disney, Apple, YouTube]
• Antman (2015) [Disney, Apple, YouTube] 

Children’s movies

• Wall-E (2008) [Disney, Apple, YouTube]
• Zootropolis (2016) [Disney, YouTube]

For all the films listed above, the link takes you to the IMDB listing for the movie, the year of release is in the normal brackets, and streaming service(s) where you can access the film are listed in the square brackets. Enjoy!

About John

Dr John O’Donoghue is the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Education Coordinator for Ireland supports trainee and established science teachers through continuous professional development (CPD) and new resources. He is based at the School of Chemistry in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) where he teaches chemistry to non-science students and coordinates the unique chemistry education and public engagement (EPE) course for PhD students. He has over 15 years of experience in science communication and in recognition of his achievements, he was greeted by the President of Ireland at the 2017 St. Patricks Day Honours event and was awarded the 2018 Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) “Outstanding Contribution to STEM Communication” National Award. 

We hope to welcome John over to Belgium during 2022 for a schools tour of his Spectroscopy in a Suitcase workshops.

Sun shines on our 2021 Norman Lloyd Scholarship fundraiser

On the afternoon of Saturday 14 August the section held a very successful fundraising social event for our Norman Lloyd Scholarships at Cardiff University. The venue was Casa Setsuko Lloyd in Lasne, where we were hosted by Norman's wife Setsuko and the family. A very sunny afternoon was enjoyed by all and a total of €860 was raised for the fund.

The event had a Spanish theme, courtesy of chief chef Chalks Corriette, and further culinary delights included Timm's Pimms.

As well as delicious food and drink this was a first opportunity for many participants to catch up with friends and colleagues following the various Covid restrictions in Belgium - so there was much to talk about.

And of course a tombola was organised to boost funds.

All in all, a very fine time was had by everyone - and the money raised, when added to the existing fund, will guarantee the continuation of the scholarships for at least two further academic years.

About the Scholarships

The Dr Norman C Lloyd Scholarships were set up by the section and Norman's family and friends in cooperation with Cardiff University to provide an annual scholarship of £1 000 to an undergraduate student, usually in their first year of study and from a disadvantaged background, in the Cardiff School of Chemistry.

To date seven students have benefitted from the fund. 

If you would like to support the Norman Lloyd Scholarships, but were unable to attend the event, please do not hesitate to contact the section secretary directly or make a bank transfer to the RSC Belgium bank account (ING IBAN BE91 3630 8144 4876) with the message ‘Norman Lloyd Scholarship Fund’. Many thanks.