Tag: Tomsk Polytechnic University

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 has been awarded jointly to Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan for their development of a new tool for molecular construction — the development of asymmetric organocatalysis. The Norwegian Nobel Committee 2021 reported about it on October 6. Pavel Postnikov, Associate Professor of the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, explained the significance of the 2021 chemistry laureates’ research work and why it is a decent and well-deserved prize.

Benjamin List is a director of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research (Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany), while David W.C. MacMillan conducts research at Princeton University (Princeton, the USA).“For a long time, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to organic chemists. During the last years, the Prize was often awarded for research breakthroughs in medicine and biomedicine. Therefore, the chemical community is excited over such a result,” Pavel Postnikov noted.

According to Pavel, asymmetric organocatalysis has made the synthesis of organic compounds considerably more environmentally friendly.

“Previously, metal complexes and enzymes were used as catalysts in asymmetric catalysis. Heavy metals always contaminate organic chemicals and sometimes it is challenging to remove them after. In this case, the Prize was awarded for organocatalysis. It means that a catalyst contains only organic compounds and only light elements, as we call them. It is an incomparably more environmentally friendly method. Moreover, hypervalent iodine chemistry actively developed at TPU is one of the types of organocatalysis,” the scientist explained.

Furthermore, the scientist noted that the method developed by the Nobel Prize laureates allows synthesizing chiral molecules, which can be often seen in medication — bioactive compounds.

“This method gave chemists a clear tool for the synthesis of such molecules. General principles haven’t existed before,” Pavel Postnikov added. “Therefore, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 for the chemical community is decent and well-deserved.”

An online presentation of Tomsk Polytechnic University has been held at the venue of the Russian House (an official representative office of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation) in Santiago, the capital of Chili. Chilean enrollees, who are intending to study in Russia, joined the meeting.

“Students of Chilean universities and schools joined the meeting. They are participating in the selection for quotas to study in Russia. None of them had known anything about Tomsk or our university.

They asked questions about fields of study at TPU, pre-university courses, the university campus. Of course, there were a lot of questions about our city, climate patterns. We realize that many enrollees from Latin America are afraid of our winters, but in these cases, I usually say that cold winters are unnoticed due to warmth and amiability of Tomsk citizens,” says Evgeniya Sherina, Head of the Division for the Russian Language of the TPU School of Core Engineering Education, who met with the Chilean enrollees online.

They asked questions about fields of study at TPU, pre-university courses, the university campus. Of course, there were a lot of questions about our city, climate patterns. We realize that many enrollees from Latin America are afraid of our winters, but in these cases, I usually say that cold winters are unnoticed due to warmth and amiability of Tomsk citizens,” says Evgeniya Sherina, Head of the Division for the Russian Language of the TPU School of Core Engineering Education, who met with the Chilean enrollees online.

The TPU master’s degree student Tomas De La Fuente Marques also joined the meeting. He told in Spanish, a mother tongue for the enrollees from Latin America about his life in Tomsk and gave the participants advice and recommendations for admission.

“We see a growing interest of Latin American students to TPU in this year. At the moment, students from Ecuador, Peru, Columbia and Venezuela are studying in the pre-university courses. They are preparing for both enrollment in bachelor’s degree programs and master’s degree, PhD programs of our university,” Evgeniya Sherina adds.

It must be noted that teachers of the TPU Division for Russian Language regularly give online classes in Russian for international students, interested in Russian culture and willing to study in Russia. The next series of Russian online classes will be held in December.

Two research teams of Tomsk Polytechnic University have won in the joint grant competition of the Russian Science Foundation and the German Research Foundation (DFG). With the support of two foundations, the university scientists will conduct experiments to confirm or confound the existence of hypothetical particles of dibaryons, as well as will develop new titanium-based alloys for bone implants. Both TPU projects were granted for three years, the amount of the grants was 6 million rubles per year.

Alexander Fix, Professor of the TPU Research School of High-Energy Physics leads the project to search for dibaryon particles.

“Alternatively to already known to us nucleons, consisting of trivalent quarks, dibaryons are six-quark objects. Despite the fact that contemporary particle physics does not prohibit their existence, however, there are no clear indications that such particles form. An exception is only the 2014 experiment whereas it is considered a 2380 MeV dibaryon was detected at the AVR reactor in Jülich Research Center (Germany).

Our project supposes conducting an experiment using a high-intensity polarized photon flux at the AVR reactor. We hope that the experiment either will confirm or confound the 2014 experiment results or will add a substantial degree of scepticism about the existence of dibaryons if nothing is found,” Alexander Fix explains.

It is planned that the experiment will be conducted at the accelerator of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) in 2022-2023.

The research team under the supervision of Maria Surmeneva, Leading Research Fellow of the TPU Research Center for Physical Materials Science and Composite Materials, jointly with their colleagues from Germany will solve the problem of metal implant loosening. Partners of the TPU scientists in this project are researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany).

“Loosening of bone metal implants based on titanium and its alloys lead to ablation of healthy bone tissue. It occurs due to the substantial difference of the Young’s modulus and bone tissue stiffness and an implanted device. We aim at developing new titanium-based alloys with the adjustable Young’s modulus. The German research team headed by Matthias Epple, who is a globally famous expert in medical materials science and chemistry, will be in charge of the biological part of the project and researching alloy biocompatibility,” Maria Surmeneva says.

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with their colleagues from the universities of Great Britain and Taiwan have proposed a new method how to obtain a photonic hook, a new type of artificially curved light beam. They were able to generate the photonic hook using two small bars from a dielectric material.

The proposed method turned out to be simpler than the previous one. The new method was described in the article released in Scientific Reports published by the Nature Portfolio publishing house (IF: 5,133; Q1).

The photonic hook is a type of artificially curved light beam. Previously, Airy beams, the only one type of curved light beams, were known to science. The research group from TPU jointly with their colleagues from Bangor University (Great Britain) and a number of Russian universities theoretically substantiated and then experimentally confirmed the existence of the photonic hook. Such a hook can be used, for instance, in microscopy for super-resolution imaging and for manipulating nanoparticles.

“Our first and by the last moment, the only one method of generating the photonic hook, although was incomparably simpler than methods of obtaining Airy beams, however, required the application of a special-shaped particle or a special-shaped irradiating beam. For instance, there was required a cube-shaped microparticle with a prism attached to it. Percolating this particle, photon beam radiation twisted and took a shape of a hook,” Igor Minin, Professor of the Division for Electronic Engineering of the TPU School of Non-Destructive Testing, a project supervisor, says.

“The new method allowed obtaining a hook using two parallel rectangular microbars. The bars can be easily made of a wide range of dielectric materials, such as glass or polytetrafluoroethylene. Furthermore, everything can be done on the plane, what is convenient.”

“The new method allowed obtaining a hook using two parallel rectangular microbars. The bars can be easily made of a wide range of dielectric materials, such as glass or polytetrafluoroethylene. Furthermore, everything can be done on the plane, what is convenient,” Igor Minin says.

The photonic hook is generated by the new method in the following way: an electromagnetic wave fractionizes into two parts, the first part percolates the bars, while the second part percolates between them. At the output, the waves merge and finally, the hook becomes twisted.

“In this article, we described the physics of obtaining the hook by the new method. It provided one more tool for generation of the curved photonic beam required in research works,” the scientist explains.

By changing the distance between two bars and their refractive indexes, it is possible to control the hook shape and its curvature.

“Further, we intend to research the situations where the distance between the bars is filled not only by air. It is possible to obtain the hook in gas or liquid mediums. It also can affect the characteristics of the obtained hook,” Igor Minin says.

Among the article authors, there were the scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University, Newcastle University (Great Britain) and National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan). The research work was supported by a grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the TPU Competitiveness Enhancement Program.

Chemists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with their colleagues from the Czech Republic have developed a new method for the MXene surface modification and solved the problem of their instability.

MXenes are a new family of nanomaterials. The scientists were able to graft hydrophobic organic molecules on the nanomaterial surface using iodonium salts under surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Such grafting allowed enhancing MXene stability by four-folds. Moreover, the method was quite simple. Alternatively to other methods, it did not require great energy input or complicated equipment. The research data has been published in the 2D Materials academic journal (IF: 7,103; Q1).

MXenes were discovered around 10 years ago. It is a class of two-dimensional materials consisting of carbon atoms and transition metals, for instance, titanium. They are very thin. Their thickness is equal to only a few atoms. MXenes possess unique properties and are considered promising materials in various areas, such as nanoelectronics, water splitting for hydrogen production.

“In the MXene application, there are two problems. They are sensitive in the air and their meaningful technological properties greatly depend on surface condition, i.e. the properties determinate chemical groups, which are located on the surface.  The already known methods for surface modification reduce to reactions proceeding under high energies and temperatures.

“In the MXene application, there are two problems. They are sensitive in the air and their meaningful technological properties greatly depend on surface condition, i.e. the properties determinate chemical groups, which are located on the surface.  The already known methods for surface modification reduce to reactions proceeding under high energies and temperatures.

It is always complicated and expensive. Therefore, we saw the solution to these problems in the MXene surface modification using iodonium salts. At the same time, there was an obvious problem for the chemists: in conventional conditions, iodonium salts do not react with surfaces,” Pavel Postnikov, Associate Professor of the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, one of the article authors, says.

In order to make iodonium salts undergo required reactions onto the MXene surface, the researchers used SPR. The resonance occurred onto the metal surface under light illumination, i.e. plasmonic quasiparticles emerged onto the surface.

“First, we produced iodonium salts with groups possessing hydrophobic properties, i.e. water-repellent properties. Then, the MXene suspension was added and a laser ray was directed to the solution. It caused SPR required for radical formation from iodonium salts, which in return bound to the surface. The reaction proceeded under room temperature,” the scientist explains.

In order to prove the stability of the modified MXenes, the researchers kept them in the air in a humid environment for one week.

“In comparison with an initial MXene, our material turned out to be more stable by four-folds. At the same time, it was hydrophobic,” Pavel Postnikov says. “The research work was fundamental. We demonstrated the principle that our method worked and brought very good results. Further, we intend to develop the method and search for ways of giving MXenes specific properties.”

The article authors were also researchers from the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Charles University in Prague. The research work was conducted with the support of the Russian Science Foundation.

It must be mentioned that previously, the scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with their colleagues from China had conducted an extensive analysis of the latest data in the processing of MXenes, new two-dimensional inorganic materials. The research findings were published in the article of the Chemical Engineering Journal.

Tomsk Polytechnic University has passed the additional selection for receiving a special grant within the Priority 2030 program. The selection results were officially announced on October 5. In accordance with the results, TPU entered the first group of universities in the Research Leadership track.

Priority 2030 is the largest national program to support the development of universities in post-Soviet Russia. It started for the first time in 2021. To take part in the Program, Russian universities had to present complex development programs for the next 10 years. The selection was made in two stages. The first selection was made for the basic grant that is equal to up to 100 million rubles per year, then, the second selection was made for special grants in various tracks. The amount of the special grants is set by the Competition Committee, the maximum amount of this grant is 1 billion rubles.

As a result, the Expert Committee selected 106 universities for the basic part of the program and 46 universities for the special one. For the special grant, the universities were divided into three groups. The winners of the first group will receive 994 million rubles, while the winners of the second group will receive 426 million rubles and the winners of the third one will receive 142 million rubles until the end of 2022.

The university team headed by Acting Rector Dmitry Sednev defended the TPU program in two selection stages.

“The program presented to the Expert Committee and received high appraisals is the result of serious work of the large TPU team during the last year. It describes the current situation in all key areas of the university work: from research and education to management of our campus, the youth policy and financial model, and the most essential part of the program is goals and specific steps to develop these areas during the next decade. The TPU program was formed taking into account already existing groundwork, the best experience of TPU members, but the program is focused on the future. At the moment, there is a strategy and firm plan of action. I am grateful to every TPU member, whose work allowed creating this program and helping to implement it,” Dmitry Sednev says.

The TPU development program consists of three strategic projects. These are Energy of Future, Healthcare Engineering and New Engineering Education. The goal of the first project is to provide technological and staff groundwork for the transition of the Russian Federation to environmentally friendly resource-saving energy, decarbonization of the industry, improvement of recovery efficiency and deep conversion of hydrocarbon raw materials, new technology development of nuclear power, formation of new sources, methods of transportation and storage of energy.

The second project entitled New Engineering Education will allow forming a system, environment for the creation and verification of new models of engineering education and technological entrepreneurship in Russia.

The Healthcare Engineering project aims at creating a federal reference center for experimental medical technology to accelerate the transition from ideas and concepts to clinically approved products.

Dmitry Sednev noted that three more Tomsk universities: Tomsk State University, Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics, and Siberian State Medical University became receivers of the special grant of Priority 2030. He also emphasized that such an appraisal demonstrates the high potential of the research and education complex of Tomsk Oblast, as well as confirms that joining efforts within the Big University project gave the synergetic effect for each its member and the entire region.

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with their colleagues from China have conducted an extensive analysis of the latest data in processing MXenes, new two-dimensional inorganic materials. The research findings are published in the article of Chemical Engineering Journal.

MXenes, a new family of nanomaterials, were discovered around 10 years ago. These are two-dimensional materials consisting of transition metals, carbon and/or nitrogen. MXene thickness is only a few atoms, due to which these materials become the best option to be used as efficient accelerators, chemical sensors.

Although, at the moment, the new material process is imperfect — impurities and defects can be contained in a processed MXene. It leads to the fact that the properties of experimentally processed materials are seriously distinguished from theoretically predicted ones. Moreover, these materials are distinguished by low chemical stability in the air, their mechanical properties also require improvement. At the moment, various strategies, for instance, post-processing by alloying, functional group modification, composite formation are used for the improvement of MXene properties.

“Our research team studied strategies, which will help better adjust the properties of these new materials and summarized the most highly promising. There is one specific strategy, which, in our opinion, is the most essential. It is the formation of composite structures. When forming composites based on MXenes and polymers, chemical and mechanical stability improve, however, electrical conductance declines,” Evgeniya Sheremet, Professor of the TPU Research School of High-Energy Physics, one of the article authors, says.

Raul David Rodriguez Contreras, Professor of the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, a member of the international research team, adds that TPU was the first to develop a method that allows processing polymer composites with various nanomaterials as fillings.

“Such composites are distinguished by their electrical conductance, chemical stability and mechanical strength. In this case, laser irradiation is used for processing. It is a strategy, we are adjusting to MXenes,” he explains.

As the scientists specify post-processing allows combining MXenes with other 2D materials, forming composites using new processes (laser irradiation, 3D printing), as well as discovering new MXene structures. Furthermore, post-processing is also aimed at solving more practical-oriented tasks. For instance, developing more efficient methods of material synthesis, methods for controlling surface quality, as well as using MXene in flexible electronics and wearable devices such as sensors, optical lenses, membranes for filtration and water purification).

The research work was conducted jointly with the partners from the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The scientists intend to continue researching MXene properties.

“The next research stages are experiments to adjust electrical, mechanical, physical and chemical MXene properties and composites based on MXenes for using obtained materials in the energy industry, ecological applications, sensorics. The combination of MXenes with other two-dimensional materials for the formation of quantum heterostructures is a highly promising research area. For instance, MXenes can complement properties of other 2D materials modifying electrical conductance, plasmonic, electrochemical and catalytic properties,” the scientists say.