CEEX OBJECTIVES
 

· The major objective is to fabricate and physical and chemical characterize planar supramolecular structures formed by molecular and colloidal self-assembly of noble metallic nanoparticles and various organic compounds.

 

· Also, the important goal is to design and fabricate novel multifunctional materials in a controlled manner of size and shape of metallic nanoparticles to modify their arrangements in organic materials in order to optimize the sensing properties and the molecular recognition capability.

 

· The central objectiv is focused on the integration of metallic nanoparticles and organic molecules within biocomposites, in order to develop new materials for electronics and optics and for applications in biomedical and bioanalytical areas, such as controlled drug delivery, medical diagnosis devices and biosensors.

 

· The aim of this investigation is to gain insights into the self-assembly formation of gold nanoparticles and interparticle interactions in the presence of different organic molecules, such as amino acids, proteins, organosulfur compounds, which could have potential application for the analytical detection of such organic molecules found in various media.

 

· Thus, we have developed different strategies for the research and development of nanostructured multifunctional materials and biocomposites as follows: 

 

· Synthesis, characterization and properties of gold nanoparticles in colloidal aqueous solutions in the absence and in the presence of organic molecules, like amino acids, globular proteins, organosulfur compounds, etc.

 

· Nanofabrication and characterization of gold thin films and organic material films

· Characterization of auto-assembled gold particles functionalized with organic molecules both in colloidal solutions and in ordered thin films on solid surfaces

· nanoparticles of gold, nanoparticles of gold covered by large diversity of biomolecules, such as aminoacids, proteins and polysaccharides

· nanoparticles of gold functionalized with protein embedded into chitosan lattice

· development of controlled nano-architectures for sensing devices

 

· Characterization of auto-assemblies built by molecular recognition and mediated fabrication of patterned protein nanostructures include:

· investigations of secondary structure of proteins

· novel approaches to study the conformations of polypeptides

· this work contributes to the understanding of protein-folding processes and of N-amino terminal conformations for our globular protein, extracted from aleurone cells of barley

·corroboration of interplanar distances with data from X-ray studies and theoretical calculations are in progress.

 

·  Structural characterization of nanostructured materials built by colloidal and molecular assembly by AFM, STM, SEM, TEM, advanced spectroscopy, DSC,  X-ray diffraction and light scattering, and LBT.

 

·  Structural characterization of supported metal nanoclusters by X-ray diffraction analysis  ( e.g.  nano-structural investigations by X-ray profile Fourier analysis)  

 

·  Quantitative structure determination of multifunctional materials, by combining the advanced FT IR, FT-Raman, NMR, UV-Vis spectroscopy, surface microscopy: AFM, STM, and SEM.

 

·  Micro- and nano-structural characterization of biomaterials by FT IR, UV-Vis spectroscopy and SAXS (Small Angle X-Ray Scattering) technique.

 

·  Global and local structure determination of the gold nanoclusters by using X-ray diffraction and AFM observations.

 

·  Characterization of multifunctional biomaterials revealing special physico-chemical properties by STM-spectroscopy, electrochemical methods, and advanced spectroscopy techniques.

  

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