Sunset Dance of Push-Pull Stilbene on Amorphous Silica Surface

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Title of the project: Adsorption and Absorption of 4-(N,N-Dimethylamino)-4’-Nitrostilbene on an Amorphous Silica Glass Surface
Name of the VDSP student(s) & image credits: Dóra Vörös
Project supervised by: Leticia González and Sebastian Mai

 

About me/us: My research is affiliated with the Doctoral College Advanced Functional Materials at the VDSP. This interdisciplinary project collaborates with research groups spanning not just the physics department but also chemistry. I'm pursuing my Ph.D. in Chemistry at the Theoretical Chemistry Institute in the research group of Leticia González. My specialization lies in computationally investigating light-induced reactions. Outside of academia, I enjoy painting and exploring various dances, such as aerial silk. In this picture, I aimed to merge my passion for research with my hobbies.

Image: In this research snapshot, observe 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)-4'-nitrostilbene, also known as DANS, as it engages with a glass surface, adopting different orientations while interacting with the surface akin to a dancer's choreography. The sunset in the background gives an additional information about this molecule. As the last sun rays touch the molecule, we can observe a transformation from trans to cis conformers, highlighting the photo-switching property of the molecule. These two elements, sun and glass, sum up my research goal. I'm exploring how the molecule's photochemical and photophysical behaviour changes when it's in contact with an amorphous glass surface.