Artificial Neural Network Modeling of Glass Transition Temperatures for Some Homopolymers with Saturated Carbon Chain Backbone.

The glass transition temperature (Tg) is an important decision parameter when synthesizing polymeric compounds or when selecting their applicability domain. In this work, the glass transition temperature of more than 100 homopolymers with saturated backbones was predicted using a neuro-evolutive technique combining Artificial Neural Networks with a modified Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm. In most cases, the selected polymers have a vinyl-type backbone substituted with various groups.

Novel organic semiconductors based on 2-amino-anthracene: Synthesis, charge transport and photo-conductive properties.

Anthracene is considered to be a popular choice as a building block for organic semiconductors. The present work is dedicated to the synthesis and characterization of a novel semiconductor (10-OPIA) possessing mesogenic properties, which allows better control over charge transport in the bulk of a material. A novel anthracene-based molecule is characterized for its potential applications: frontier molecular energy levels are studied by optical spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry and compared to values obtained via ab initio calculations.

Folding time dependence of the motions of a molecular motor in an amorphous medium.

We investigate the dependence of the displacements of a molecular motor embedded inside a glassy material on its folding characteristic time τ_{f}. We observe two different time regimes. For slow foldings (regime I) the diffusion evolves very slowly with τ_{f}, while for rapid foldings (regime II) the diffusion increases strongly with τ_{f}(D≈τ_{f}^{-2}), suggesting two different physical mechanisms.

Motion of Adsorbed Nano-Particles on Azobenzene Containing Polymer Films.

We demonstrate in situ recorded motion of nano-objects adsorbed on a photosensitive polymer film. The motion is induced by a mass transport of the underlying photoresponsive polymer material occurring during irradiation with interference pattern. The polymer film contains azobenzene molecules that undergo reversible photoisomerization reaction from - to -conformation.

How does the motion of the surrounding molecules depend on the shape of a folding molecular motor?

Azobenzene based molecules have the property of isomerizing when illuminated. In relation with that photoisomerization property, azobenzene containing materials are the subject of unexplained massive mass transport. In this work we use an idealised rectangular chromophore model to study the dependence of the isomerization induced transport on the chromophore's dimensions.