European Social Fund (ESF) Project “Formation Of Imterdisciplinary Scientific Research Group Working Out And Implementing New Fluorescent Materials And Methods”

PROJECT EXECUTOR:
     Daugavpils University (DU) in cooperation with The Institute of
Microbiology and Biotechnology of the University of Latvia (LU)

PROJECT EXECUTION PERIOD:
     01.12.2009. – 30.11.2012.
 

PROJECT TOTAL COSTS:
720 000 LVL
ESF financing 85%
State budget financing 15%
 

PROJECT GOAL:
    Facilitating additional human resources involvement in science by creating a new interdisciplinary group of scientists for the elaboration and implementation of new fluorescent materials and methods.
 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
    Fluorescent dyestuffs are nowadays growing in popularity in many branches of science and spheres of human life. They are applicable in medicine, analytical chemistry, biology, geology, cinema industry, decoration as well as everyday life, and are widely investigated. However, it is worth continuing their synthesizing as each sphere of their application needs particular unique qualities of these dyestuffs. At the moment, there is a demand for new stuffs with marked luminescent and special qualities (solubility, stability, toxicity etc.), hence, the project envisages synthesizing new fluorophores and investigating their features. The involvement of additional human resources in science has contributed to the formation of a new interdisciplinary group of 21 scientists who carry out extensive research in the spheres of chemistry (organic chemistry, chemical technologies), physics (physics of solid states, optics, microscopy), and biology (microbiology, biotechnology, molecular biology) creating knowledge that is impossible to acquire within a single branch of science.

PROJECT OUTCOME:
     The project is aimed at the elaboration of new methods and materials for the development of science and technology, therefore its implementation will facilitate innovative fluorescent technology development in several branches of science and industry in Latvia. New fluorescent methods and materials will be elaborated, practically approbated, and patented and they will be used as the base for working out and testing new methods of fluorescent research of biological systems.

     The range of existing fluorescent substances will be supplemented by a number of new fluorophores with advanced functional qualities – more intense luminescence, greater photo stability, lower cytotoxicity, etc. The comparison of spectral parameters of the acquired compounds with those of the existing fluorescent probes and selection of more perspective dyestuffs provides an opportunity to optimize the created methods of fluorescence. The acquired outcomes and research literature data will contribute to the investigation of fluorescence regularities by using quantum chemical calculations and mathematical modeling.

     The spectral investigations of biological objects dyed with fluorescent probes will facilitate the understanding of their structural peculiarities and changes under the impact of diverse external factors. The results will provide for working out different methods of fluorescence analysis for the evaluation of the cell functional state of plants, micro-organisms, and human organism. Application of efficient methods of fluorescent probes will facilitate the  research related to ecology and biotechnology problems. Doctoral dissertations and Master theses will be elaborated within the given research.

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     Since ancient times, people have been observing luminescent phenomena, e.g. aurora borealis, lightening, sea luminescence, gleam of glow-worms and some other insects as well as minerals in the dark, yet systematic research of luminescence started only in the 19th century. Over recent 50 years, the range of application of diverse luminescent appliances is growing, e.g. fluorescent lamps, television screens, etc.

     Luminescence is radiation the afterglow duration of which significantly exceeds the period of light fluctuation; it is the cold light as luminescent substances – luminophores – shine without heating. Optic radiation is caused by working on the substance by diverse factors: light (photoluminescence), electrons (cathode luminescence), γ-rays, protons, α and β-particles (radioluminescence), X-rays (X-ray luminescence), electric field (electric luminescence), as a result of chemical and biological processes (chemiluminescence and bioluminescence). By interrupting the process of excitation, luminescence continues for a while. According to the duration of afterglow, luminescence is divided into fluorescence and phosphorescence. Fluorescent substances stop emitting light very soon after interrupting excitation (approximately 10-9 – 10-6s). In the case of phosphorescence, it continues
for a longer while after interrupting excitation, it may continue for several minutes or even hours. Examples of phosphorescence are stickers and watch dials that glow in the dark. Fluorescent materials are used to produce diverse protecting elements, e.g. fluorescent print that is invisible in the ordinary light but fluoresces (i.e. becomes visible) in the ultraviolet light; diverse fluorescent protecting fibres that are mixed into the paper mass (their fluorescence may be multi-coloured). Fluorescence is used in traffic signs that begin emitting light under the visible light. A number of luminophores are used for acquiring colour effects.

     Luminescent analysis is used for investigating the composition and state of different objects in chemistry, ecology, archeology, biology, medicine, etc. as well as oil search. According to the quantity of oil products in the upper layer of the soil, the direction of boring is determined. This method is used in food industry to test the freshness of foodstuffs, e.g. luminescence of fresh lemons is in yellow colour, while that of a lemon affected by fungus disease is in dark blue colour in the damaged spot. If milk is kept in light, vitamin B disappears and milk luminescence colour changes from yellow to blue. In this way good quality milk may be told from poor quality milk. Meat, flour, eggs, fish and other products are also prone to luminescence.

    In forensics luminescent analysis is used to track forging of signature, text, securities, etc. due to the different luminescence of each brand of paper and ink. It is also possible to determine the exact age of antiquities or their forging; in medicine this method is used for diagnosing diseases. Already in 1941, fluorescently marked anti-bodies were used to locate antigens in cells; nowadays they are widely used in medical examinations.

Luminescence of newly acquired dyestuffs in solutions and crystals

 Work in microscopy laboratory. Samples of crystals