The Department of Macromolecular Physics was established as the Department of Polymers in 1974. At present, our department is conducting research in the fields of physics of nanomaterials, physics of polymers and macromolecular solids and theoretical physics.
From 2025, members of our department will participate in 3 new GAČR projects:
- The development and study of unconventional nanoparticle gas aggregation sources
- Plasma diagnostics for nanoparticle synthesis in novel gas aggregation cluster sources with cylindrical magnetrons
- Field-enhanced spectroscopy on photoactive hybrid metallic/semiconducting nanostructures
In the frame of a research grant GAČR 22-16667S and in cooperation with colleagues from the Institute of Physics of the MFF UK, we demonstrated the possibility of preparing highly SERS active platforms combining metal and metal oxide, which can be effectively recycled using UV radiation. The results of our study have just been published in the journal Surface and Coatings Technology in the article "Porous metal/metal-oxide nanostructured coatings produced using gas aggregation sources of nanoparticles as recyclable SERS active platforms".
Despite tremendous progress of magnetron-based gas aggregation sources of nanoparticles, several issues still limit their broader use on an industrial level. Often overlooked is the control of the movement of NPs from inside a gas aggregation source towards the substrate. This issue is addressed in our just-published study in the journal Vacuum „Investigation of the Influence of Orifice Length in a Magnetron-Based Gas Aggregation Source on Nanoparticle Flow – Experiment and Modelling“.
In a recently published study in the journal Synthetic Metals, we demonstrated that the direct current flowing through the MEH-PPV sample is modulated by low-frequency fluctuations. The mean value of the amplitude of these fluctuations increases linearly with the inverse of the frequency and has a slope that allows determining the product of the mobility and lifetime of the current carriers. As it was shown, with the known lifetime of the carriers, it is possible to determine their mobility in this way.
The group of prof. Shukurov participated in research on enhanced laser absorption and ion acceleration by boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) targets and high-energy PW laser pulses. We used a PW laser system operating at a pulse duration of 1.2 ps and an energy of 1.3 kJ to generate energetic ion streams from BNNT target. We detected a 1.5-fold increase in proton maximum energy and a 2.5-fold increase in the maximum energy of heavy ions (C and N) when comparing the BNNT to flat polystyrene. Moreover, the high-energy ion flux was orders of magnitude higher for the BNNT after cutting off low-energy ions with Al filters. The results were published in Physical Review Research.
Our new study investigates the responsive behavior of hydrogels containing a double polymer network using gravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), FTIR and NMR spectroscopy. Changes in hydration and mobility of polymer units during temperature-induced phase transition in hydrogels are studied in more detail. The results of the study are significant for the use of the investigated hydrogels in biomaterials and intelligent systems for the controlled release of drugs.
More details can be found in the just published article in Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry.
Doc. Kylián participated in a study aimed at determining the mechanism leading to surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) on platforms based on heterogeneous nanomaterials based on V2O5 and Au. The results of this study are summarized in the article "New Insights into SERS Mechanism of Semiconductor–Metal Heterostructure: A Case Study on Vanadium Pentoxide Nanoparticles Decorated with Gold", which was published in a special issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry C issued on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the surface of enhanced Raman scattering.
On July 8-11, 2024, the 24th IEEE International Conference on Nanotechnology was held in Gijón, Spain.
As part of this conference, doc. Hanuš presented an invited lecture with the title "Advances in Nonwettable Nanostructured Coatings: Harnessing Gas-Aggregated Nanoparticles for Enhanced Surface Functionality".
As part of the exhibition 'Czech Brains Heal the World' at the National Technical Museum in Prague, visitors can now experience firsthand the role of an experimenter controlling microscopic active particles that we work with. Their research may one day enable medical procedures similar to the one described in the film 'Fantastic Voyage,' where a blood clot in the brain is removed using a microscopic submarine injected into the body.
Systems controlled by delayed feedback, such as cruise control in cars, are all around us. Despite often operating in environments where ambient noise plays a significant role in their dynamics, there is a lack of numerical tools to study the impact of noise. In our article, we present a new method to obtain the probability densities for fluctuations in noisy feedback systems through direct numerical integration of a certain partial differential equation.
Members of our department participated in a study focused on the development and characterization of electrodes with increased photoactivity based on a combination of TiO2 nanotubes and MXenes. The results of this study, which are particularly interesting with regard to possible applications of these materials in photoelectrochemical and optoelectrochemical systems, are summarized in the article "Laser-Treated MXene as an Electrochemical Agent to Boost Properties of Semitransparent Photoelectrode Based on Titania Nanotubes" just published in the journal ACSNano.
In a paper published in the journal Advanced Optical Materials, a group led by A. Shukurov demonstrated that stoichiometric and crystalline HfN nanoparticles with tunable optical response can be produced in the gas phase using reactive magnetron sputtering – a technique with a small ecological footprint. In addition, it has been proven that the nanoparticles are highly stable even during UHV annealing up to 800 °C, which is attractive for their use, for example, in space missions.
