Melari Davies

German

Title: "Single molecule investigations of large oriented silica nanoporous channel systems"

Nanoporous materials have a large variety of applications in everyday life (e.g. ion exchange with Zeolites in detergents), in chemical industry (e.g. catalysis and molecular sieving) and high-tech devices (e.g. drug-delivery and biosensors). In all these applications highly ordered and large domains of channels as well as a high mobility of molecules in these channels is of paramount importance.

In my PhD I will investigate the formation of large ordered silica nanochannels in combination with UV Lithography and PDMS stamping techniques. The orientation of the channels will be indicated by the pathways of single fluorescent dye molecules in such structures and the resulting trajectories. In addition these experiments will reveal the dynamic properties of single molecules in such guest-host systems. Whereas Terrylene derivatives (TDI) will be used as highly fluorescent dye molecules for the characterization of the structures, DNA, RNA and other biomolecules will be investigated in the following work. In these experiments it is intended to apply electric fields in order to control the movement of the molecules and eventually allow a separation according to charge and size. Such new applications will be the focus of the future work during my PhD.

B. Ruehle, M. Davies, T. Lebold, C. Bräuchle, and T. Bein:
"Highly Oriented Mesoporous Silica Channels Synthesized in Microgrooves and Visualized with Single Molecule Diffusion"
ACS Nano; Publication Date (Web): January 23, 2012
DOI: 10.1021/nn2042835

G. Battagliarin, M. Davies, S. Mackowiak, C. Li, and K. Müllen:
"Ortho-Functionalized Perylenediimides for Highly Fluorescent Water-Soluble Dyes"
ChemPhysChem; Article first published online: 13 JAN 2012
DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201100833

M. Davies, C.  Jung, P. Wallis, T. Schnitzler, C. Li, K. Müllen and C. Bräuchle*:
"Photophysics of New Photostable Rylene Derivatives: Applications in Single Molecule Studies and Membrane Labelling"
ChemPhysChem, Special Issue: Jacobus van't Hoff, Volume 12, Issue 8, pages 1588–1595 (2011)

M. Davies, S. Goette, P. Klüfers* and T. Schwarz:
"Methyl 4,6-O-benzylidene-2,3-dideoxy-3-hydroxyimino-a-D-erythro-pyranoside methanol solvate"
Acta Crystallographica E63, o4765 (2007)