Molecular Self-Assemblies Aiming at a priori Design of Functional Materials for Molecular and Biological Recognition: Coordination Based Ion Sensors and "Smart Materials".

我的研究目的是开发在表面上控制功能分子单元自组装的方法，并了解单个分子的特征和表面诱导的特征如何影响组装的功能特性。为了实现这一目标，将制备一系列新的自组装有机和有机金属材料，并对其性能进行研究和微调，以开发高效的金属传感器、蛋白质受体和分子电子学材料。该研究项目将有两个主要平台：1)开发选择性单金属离子传感器和多分析物传感阵列，以及制备具有预先设计性能的材料，用于广泛的应用（即显示技术，电光调制器和太阳能电池）。2)制备由有机或有机金属连接的杂化金属-半导体纳米表面，以获得具有新性能的稳定材料。首先，我们的目标是开发快速、廉价和可靠的方法来同时检测环境、食品和生物系统中必需微量元素和重金属污染的缺乏或过量水平。特别是，将研究铁和锌的十亿分之一至百万分之一水平的检测，这表明各种疾病的早期阶段，包括各种形式的癌症、帕金森病和阿尔茨海默病，以便发展未来的早期诊断技术。所开发的方法将允许从环境和生物样品以及精细化学品中选择性地去除重金属，这些样品又将用于有效的废水分析和制定处理程序。将特定的金属部分结合到组装中，将允许在体内和体外研究生物流体中重要的金属-蛋白质相互作用。在这一阶段，预期的结果是开发和优化一系列高效的金属离子和生物分子传感器，以及开发将其集成到能够分析复杂生物流体的多目标传感阵列的方法。另一个研究方向将是开发用于分子电子学的新型电致变色材料和混合金属半导体组件。自暗镜、智能窗户、纳米级分子器件和抗菌材料只是未来应用的几个例子。推进本研究的学生将学习有机、无机、分析、物理和表面化学；将获得丰富的应用知识设计新材料的经验，从合成分子构建块开始，并使用各种结合基序进行组装。这种经验在加拿大就业市场的高技能专业，科学和技术服务部门是非常需要的。

The aim of my research is to develop methodologies for controlled self-assembly of functional molecular units on the surface and to understand how features of individual molecules and surface induced characteristics affect functional properties of the assemblies. To reach this goal, a series of new self-assembled organic and organometallic materials will be prepared and their properties will be investigated and fine-tuned in order to develop efficient metal sensors, protein receptors, and materials for molecular electronics.This research program will have two main platforms:1) development of selective single metal ion sensors and multianalyte sensing arrays, and preparation of materials with pre-designed properties for a wide range of applications (i.e. display technologies, electrooptic modulators and solar cells). 2) Preparation of hybrid metal-semiconductor nanosurfaces interconnected by organic or organometallic linkers to access stable materials with new properties. First our goal is to develop fast, inexpensive and reliable methods for simultaneous detection of deficient or excess levels of essential trace elements and heavy metal contaminations in environmental, food, and biological systems. In particular, detection of parts per billion to parts per million level of iron and zinc, which are indicative of the early stages of various diseases, including various forms of cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, will be investigated for the development of future early diagnosis techniques. The developed methods will permit selective removal of heavy metals from environmental and biological samples and fine chemicals, which in turn will be used for effective waste water analysis and development of treatment procedures. Incorporation of particular metal moieties into assembly will allow in vivo and in vitro studies of important metal-protein interactions in bio-fluids. The anticipated outcome at this stage is the development and optimization of a range of efficient sensors for metal ions and biomolecules as well as the development of methods for their integration into multi-target sensing arrays able to analyze complexed bio-fluids. Another research direction will be the development of novel electrochromic materials and hybrid metal semiconductor assemblies for molecular electronics. Self-darkening mirrors, smart windows, nanoscale molecular devices and antimicrobial materials are only a few examples of future applications.Students who advance this research will learn organic, inorganic, analytical, physical, and surface chemistry; will get strong experience in applying their knowledge to design new materials starting from synthesis of molecular building blocks and assembly them using various binding motifs. This experience is highly demanded in high-skilled professional, scientific and technical services sectors of the Canadian job market.