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Alex Ganin

@bandgapwagon

AG and 🦎GECOS🦎 group hop on the bandgap wagon mostly between hydrogen, batteries, and low-power electronics in Glasgow Chemistry. https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/chemistry/staff/alexeyganin/ All views and opinions are my own, not the UoG's.

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30.01.2026
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Latest posts by Alex Ganin @bandgapwagon

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Lithiation‐Driven LiCrSe2 Shell Growth on Metallic CrSe2 Core Governs the Plateau–Slope Behavior Layered CrSe2 is investigated as a lithium-ion battery cathode combining fast Li+ diffusion and structural reversibility. Calculations and experiments reveal a single topotactic intercalation process...

This paper came out of probably the largest team I’ve ever worked with and some serious data analysis. Huge credit to a fantastic collaborators (pity none of the team except @profdraper.bsky.social here) for making the experiments possible. advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

05.03.2026 20:15 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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High hopes Last year, an MIT report that 95% of businesses got zero returns from AI made headlines.

klementoninvesting.substack.com/p/high-hopes Zero returns. Can you believe that? I don’t.

26.02.2026 19:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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#ICIQJobs

πŸ“£ ICIQ 2026 #PhDFellowship Programme for graduates students is OPEN. Join our experimental and computational research groups, like:

➑️ Prof. Julio Lloret-Fillol: AI-driven robotics for catalyst development

πŸ”— careers.iciq.org/jobs/7131517...

@cerca.cat @bist.eu @sommalliance.bsky.social

25.02.2026 11:55 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The only way to catch up with esteemed colleagues (like @vihar.bsky.social) is to catch them at an event. Thank you SPEERI

24.02.2026 20:56 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Two things come to mind after reading the article. Phil Tetlock's research where well-over than "four dozen specialists” quoted in article were out-predicted by dart-throwing primates. And this amazing substack β€œBag of words have mercy on us" www.experimental-history.com/p/bag-of-wor...

22.02.2026 20:35 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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When I talk to fresh PIs, I say an hour in the lab costs an hour of esteem. Of course I ignore my own advice. I’m unpacking that stubborn belief in my new substack, The Work Nobody Sees. But De Niro was probably onto something at the wheel of his taxi. groundinghour.substack.com/p/the-work-n...

22.02.2026 15:59 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Grey He lecture bottle connected to a gas regulator

Grey He lecture bottle connected to a gas regulator

Like @martinlewis.moneysavingexpert.com I remain haunted by standing charges. Large He cylinders sit quietly like Preta, aka hungry ghosts, consuming budget relentlessly. For equipment rarely used, lecture bottles is a way stop feeding the cylinder charges ghosts.

20.02.2026 20:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A graph showing consumers sentiments

A graph showing consumers sentiments

After seeing that beautiful infographics @nature.com piece β€œCan the clean-energy revolution save us from climate catastrophe?” www.nature.com/immersive/d4..., I could not stop myself from revamping my Valentine’s graph. It used to be effectively invisible on a small screen.

19.02.2026 20:59 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Patenting AI & Materials: IP Webinars – aichemy KEY DETAILS

πŸ“’ Webinar Series – Patenting AI & Materials: IP Essentials for Innovators

Are you working at the intersection of AI and materials science? This webinar series from Keltie LLP is what you need…

πŸ“… 11 Mar & 15 Apr 2026 | 14:00–15:00
πŸ”— Find out more ⬇️

19.02.2026 07:30 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Recency bias is wild. Yesterday’s FT: β€œBritish scientist raising $1bn for new AI lab.” First thought @leecronin.bsky.social or @aicooper.bsky.social Meanwhile, back on Earth: the partnership between batteries & hydrogen is what will actually keep those servers running without blackouts.

18.02.2026 20:26 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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PhD in Chemistry - Development of Organic Synthetic Methods for the Discovery of Novel Fluorescent- Amino Acid and Peptide-Based Imaging Agents at University of Glasgow on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - PhD in Chemistry - Development of Organic Synthetic Methods for the Discovery of Novel Fluorescent- Amino Acid and Peptide-Based Imaging Agents at University of Glasgow, listed on FindAP...

A PhD is available in the Sutherland group to develop synthetic methods to access novel amino acid and peptide-based probes to start in October 2026. Deadlines for applications is 31st March. See link for details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

18.02.2026 11:39 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A glassed door with a picture of a lunar calendar for the year of a horse.

A glassed door with a picture of a lunar calendar for the year of a horse.

A lunar calendar page has turned on the window to the GECOS research office. In true academic style, it still bears a few traces of previous years. Happy New Year of the Horse!

17.02.2026 20:18 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Research Associate Job PurposeΒ To make a leading contribution to the β€˜Design of Organic Electronic Materials using Predictive Modelling’ working with Professor Draper in the research discipline design and synthesis o...

I have a 2 year PDRA position available in my group focusing on synthetic organic chemistry for supramolecular materials. Please apply using the link below if you’d be a good fit for the role in Glasgow @uofgchem.bsky.social

www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research...

17.02.2026 12:20 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Photo of a benchtop XRF spectrometer with a sample changer for 10 samples.

Photo of a benchtop XRF spectrometer with a sample changer for 10 samples.

Why XRF is so underused in materials chemistry? It’s puzzling why we gravitate towards labor-intensive SEM/EDX when even benchtop XRF gives composition in minutes. If the group is arguing about mystery white powder on balances, no gold sputtering is required as XRF is indifferent to surface charge.

16.02.2026 20:19 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
The image consist of bar chart with blue bars representing Valentines day consumer preference.

The image consist of bar chart with blue bars representing Valentines day consumer preference.

Stephen Hawking once joked that every equation halves book sales. So today’s graph for my Substack post "Five Minutes at the Kitchen Table" goes here. 86 % claim to value small gestures, yet most people still default to predictable choices. substack.com/home/post/p-...

15.02.2026 14:40 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
CVD reactor with GECOS group logo

CVD reactor with GECOS group logo

klementoninvesting.substack.com/p/fortune-tellers notes how superstition is woven into East Asian investing as a way of living with uncertainty. In the same spirit, hoping the CNYwill bring uniform deposition and monolayer growth. Time to add a lucky charm to our CVD reactors for the year of 🐎!

13.02.2026 20:27 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Nothing beats that early hit of a data screenshot. For a moment, your mind fits it to everything, even exponential decay, before the completed experiment comes crashing in. But that moment stretches out for days, and your mind keeps drafting phantom openings, β€œIn this work, we …”

12.02.2026 20:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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When your turbo pump goes Zzzeee, overheats, and flashes red, the initial reaction is like, β€œOh no, the turbo ist kaputt.”
A seasoned PI, β€œRight, need a new turbo.”
A budget-conscious, β€œNope, a new diaphragm pump.”
You may discover Vacuubrand and Edwards differ mostly in colour. Turbo ist intakt.

11.02.2026 20:24 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Time to replace Exp. 5 in Inorg 3? We are still doing that edible MOF.

11.02.2026 19:47 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The daily grind at GECOS by Weihao Li. Replacing a thermocouple in an ageing furnace, a practical skill rarely covered in textbooks but frequently required in real laboratories.

10.02.2026 20:34 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Antiperovskite Nitrides as Efficient and Durable Electrocatalysts for Industrially Relevant Hydrogen Evolution Phase-pure antiperovskite nitrides (A3XN; A = Co, Ni; X = Zn, In, Sn) synthesized via a melamine method were evaluated as cost-effective, high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts. Initial tests in 1 M NaOH electrolyte revealed limited activity, significantly enhanced by reductive electrochemical cycling, attributed to the in situ formation of catalytically active zero-valent Co0 and Ni0 surface species. Comparative studies of isostructural Fe-based nitrides confirmed that these metallic A-site species constitute the active sites. Accelerated stability tests (95 Β°C, 10 M NaOH) identified Co3ZnN and Ni3ZnN as particularly robust, maintaining intact antiperovskite structures and high catalytic activity (>70 mA cm–2 after 210 h). Partial substitution (Zn for In) further improved stability, notably for Ni3Zn0.25In0.75N. This study highlights the crucial role of compositional tuning and surface activation in optimizing HER performance, emphasizing that systematic stability assessments under industrially relevant conditions (high temperature, concentrated electrolyte) are essential. Antiperovskite nitrides thus offer promising avenues for scalable, green hydrogen production technologies.

No better way to start on Bluesky! Delighted&proud to see this in ACS Catalysis! My former PhD student ran the show while I mentored from the sidelines. 10M NaOH at 95Β°C is a "trial by fire" for most HER catalysts, but these antiperovskites didn't flinch. pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1...

09.02.2026 19:34 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0