Main Scientific Directions of our Laboratory
Laboratory of laser spectroscopy of solutions of supramolecular compounds and nanostructures is very young. We have grown up in the laboratory of laser spectroscopy of water media. Our history begins since September 2008. Scientific themes of the group include the following main directions.
Study of solutions of supramolecular compounds
Creation of new well-ordered supramolecular materials with given structure and properties plays an important role in processes of creation of new nanocomposites, films, membranes, in nanobiotechnologies and nanomedicine. Because amphiphilic compounds (containing hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups) are the base of supramolecular compounds, it is very important to study processes of formation of clathrates, self-organization, creation of micellar systems in water-ethanol solutions, surface active compounds, polymers etc. One of our new problems is from the domain of energetics of biologic membranes: study of solvate and energetic properties of lipophylic cations, which can selectively penetrate membranes and deliver antioxidants into mitochondria of cells. Study of molecular interactions of such ions in water and bioobjects open fundamentally new opportunities of creating drug products and solving gerontology problems at the cell level. In our group, these studies are carried out using methods of vibrational spectroscopy (spectroscopy of infrared (IR) absorption and Raman spectroscopy) combined with correlation spectroscopy (Chair of Physics of Polymers and Crystals, Physcial Department of Moscow State University), potentiometry (Department of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics, A.N.Belozersky Research Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Moscow State University), methods of molecular dynamics (A.N.Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry).
Study of properties of nanoparticles and nanocomposites in liquid media
Objects of our investigations belong to a principally new class of composite materials that have emerged due to latest achievements in synthesis, bioadaptation and bioconjugation of nanoparticles. These are colloidal solutions of fluorescing nanoparticles (nanodiamonds (ND), carbon quantum dots (CQD)). These objects are of interest both from fundamental and practical points of view. Unique fluorescent properties of carbon quantum dots and nanodiamonds, their safety and non-toxicity allow their active use as optical biosensors. Due to developed multifunctional surface of ND and possibility of its modification this material has a very promising perspective for wide application in biology and medicine for adsorption and targeted drug delivery as well.
Methods of artificial intelligence in optical spectroscopy
For precision analysis of vibrational spectra of studied solutions and to solve multi-parametrical inverse problems of vibrational spectroscopy we use artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms. Use of such powerful modern tools of solution of inverse problems and problems of optimization provides successful solution of a wide range of applied problems of diagnostics and analysis of water media.
Fundamental problems
Important information about intra- and intermolecular interactions in water can be obtained from spectroscopic characteristics of water, in particular, from the spectra of water Raman scattering. Until now, the structure of liquid water is not clear, and no complete model of vibrational processes in liquid water, which could adequately explain mechanisms of formation of water Raman spectral bands, has been established. Besides that, there are serious contradictions in conceptions about resonance interactions of vibrations in water molecules. The problem of contribution of Fermi resonance (resonance between overtone of bending vibrations and symmetric valence vibrations) to formation of valence band of water Raman spectrum still remains topical. Water Raman spectrum is rather complicated, and it consists of a number of bands with different intensities, widths, and shapes.