Department of Chemistry’s Smart Polymers highlighted on ScienceFeatured

The research conducted by Nicola’ Agius and Prof. David Magri of the Department of Chemistry, and Catherine Ashton and Dr. Helen Willcock of Loughborough University have been highlighted by ScienceFeatured.

ScienceFeatured is a Canadian non-profit entity based in Toronto under the auspices of Science Bridges. The mission of the organisation is to freely disseminate scientific knowledge to the public.

The research was first published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal RSC Advances and demonstrated how fluorescent molecules inspired by nature can be redesigned into intelligent materials capable of detecting minerals essential to human health.

Agius, Nicola’; Ashton, Catherine J.; Willcock, Helen; and Magri, David C. “Cinchona alkaloid copolymers as fluorimetric INHIBIT and colorimetric AND logic gates for detection of iodide.” RSC Advances, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ra01281c

The research was supported by the FUSION R&I: Research Excellence Programme, grant agreement number REP-2023-023 administered by Xjenza Malta.