Director

Professor Dr. Maria Tomoaia-Cotisel,

Principal Scientific Researcher grade I

In our Research Center, a variety of physical chemistry, surface and colloidal chemistry, and biophysical methods are used to address important thermodynamic and structural details of a large diversity of biomolecules, such as fatty acids, lipids, lecithins, amino acids, proteins, polysaccharides, cyclodextrines, pigments and drugs. Also, their supramolecular associations and nanostructures both in bulk and in self assemblies at interfaces are investigated in interaction with metal nanoparticles or metal nanostructured films supported by various surfaces.

Primary tools are self-assemblies, Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett (LBT) techniques and scanning probe microscopy (e.g., atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Within our consortium, these are combined with electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), advanced UV-Viz, FT IR, Raman spectroscopy, computer modeling,  X-ray diffraction and scattering techniques, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Also, molecular biology tools are used to confirm the biomolecule structure and function.

The main systems of interest at present are the nanostructures of gold particles in the absence and the presence of biomolecules, supramolecular compounds of cyclodextrins and drugs, gold nanoparticles and phospholipid structures at fluid interfaces and solid surfaces. The molecular conformations of different biocompounds are modeled and correlated with their surface characteristics and properties. Flexible and semi-rigid drugs provide a good probe and test for our models. Drug design to target certain types of cells is planned.

We endeavor to engage each student in the preparation of colloidal solutions, self-assembled and Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers and thin films, and in physical and chemical characterization, as well as in the thermodynamic and kinetic description of biocompounds adsorption behavior at interfaces, data collection and refinement, and computer image analysis and computer modeling.