CU RESEARCHERS DEVELOP NEW MOLECULAR PHOTOSWITCHES
Bratislava, 29 February, 2024: A team of scientists from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Comenius University, in collaboration with the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica and other universities, designed a new type of photoswitch. It is a type of molecule that can be effectively and efficiently controlled by light. The paper made it to the front page of the journal Chemistry – A European Journal.
Photoswitches have significant applications in areas such as advanced materials and photopharmacology. The new photoswitch belongs to the group of arylhydrazones, known for their exceptional thermal stability and efficiency in photoisomerization.
However, the researchers faced the challenge that previously known switches of this type were not as efficient in the visible light spectrum, which limited their practical use in biological systems. The new design improves efficiency closer to the visible light spectrum above 365 nm, thus opening exciting possibilities for their future applications in light-sensitive technologies.
"We have been researching photochemistry but we are still surprised how different the behaviour of molecules in their excited state can be from their ground state," said project leader Marek Cigáň.
You can read more about the paper and its authors in the press release on the magazine's website.