| Topic title |
Possible scientific supervisors |
Source of funding |
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Characterization of the phytochemical composition and functional properties of rosebay willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium) extracts
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doc. dr. Vaida Kitrytė-Syrpa |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Currently, phytopreparations for prophylaxis and targeted treatment are very popular among health-conscious consumers, as modern analytical methods allow to determine the phytochemical composition of various plant materials, scientifically substantiate in vitro and in vivo functional properties of bioactive constituents, and to develop efficient isolation and application technologies thereof. Rosebay willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium) is valued in non-traditional medicine because of its strong antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and hemostatic effects, and is used to provide supportive function to the cardiovascular, nervous and immune systems.
The aim of the research – isolation of valuable constituents from rosebay willowherb (Chamaenerion angustifolium) leaves applying environmentally and human-friendly multistep biorefining (valorisation) technologies, analysis of extract phytochemical composition and functional properties, and targeted applications towards the development of functional phytopreparations. Results obtained in this research will lead to at least 3 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals, will be presented in the national and international conferences. The assessment of FPE functional properties in selected biological matrices will be performed during the Erasmus internships collaborating with the scientists from the foreign higher education institutions. FPE and FPE-based functional product prototypes will be presented in the international exhibition of young creators TECHNORAMA, annually organized by KTU.
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Metal-Free Organic Emitters Exhibiting Long-Living Emission for Optical Oxygen Sensing Probes
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v.m.d. dr. Asta DABULIENĖ |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
The aim of this project is to develop organic semiconductors exhibiting room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) and/or thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) for oxygen sensing probes, which could be utilized as ratiometric oxygen sensing systems using suitable host-guest systems. Metal-free organic materials showing RTP or TADF are attractive alternatives to organic metal complexes because of their low cost, abundant and environmentally friendly properties, flexible synthesis, and high stability. The development of oxygen sensing system will be carried out in stages. First of all, new metal-free donor-acceptor (D-A) molecules will be designed and characterized theoretically by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Then the synthesis and its optimization will be performed. Thermal, photophysical, electrochemical properties will be investigated and oxygen sensors will be fabricated and characterized.
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Synthesis and properties of electroactive materials for organic light emitting diodes
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prof. dr. Saulius GRIGALEVIČIUS |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Recent advances in organic optoelectronics, particularly in efficient organic light-emitting devices (OLED), have called for new electro-active organic materials as well as for new device technologies. Small OLED-based displays already generate hundreds of millions of dollars. Larger OLED displays will penetrate the television market in the not-too-distant future. Nowadays white displays play important role in lightening. Further advances of these devices substantially rely on development and studying of high-performance organic charge-transport and host materials, theoretical understanding of charge and energy transport in the organic systems and their well-balanced application in phosphorescent and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) devices.
The aim of this project is to synthesize several groups of polymeric, dendrimeric or branched wide band gap derivatives, which would serve as thermally stable host materials or TADF emitters for organic light emitting diodes. In order to optimize efficiencies of the devices, several groups of new hole transporting materials, which are used as additional charge injecting/ transporting layers, will be also synthesized in the frame of this project.
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Evaluation of various microalgal strains as sources of edible protein and bioactive peptides
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doc. dr. Michail Syrpas |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Marine algae produce various bioactive molecules, which can be further developed as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals for human nutrition supplementation and disease therapy. Over the last years, various microalgae strains have attracted scientific attention as potential sources of edible proteins and bioactive peptides due to their high-protein content. However, various parameters must be evaluated and optimized before utilizing microalgae as sustainable sources of dietary proteins and bioactive peptides. Therefore, this project aims to evaluate the potential of various microalgal strains as sustainable protein and bioactive peptide sources. Towards this: (1) total protein content, amino acid profile, and protein digestibility of microalgal-derived proteins will be evaluated; (2) to assess the efficiency of various techniques (e.g. enzymatic hydrolysis, and microbial fermentation) to release bioactive peptides from microalgae (3) the obtained fractions will be screened for their functional properties (i.e., antioxidant, enzyme inhibiting activity) with various bioassays; (4) based on bioassay-guided fractionation, active extracts will be further fractionated, purified, and characterized by various techniques to identify and/ or synthesize target active peptide(s). Results from this research are expected to lead to at least three scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals, which will also be presented at national and international conferences. Moreover, it is highly anticipated that besides the scientific value and outputs of the planned project, successful implementation of this project's activities may lead to practical applications with commercialization potential. Overall, this research is expected to attract interest from various stakeholders and empower future collaborations with academic and industrial partners.
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Synthesis and investigation of hole transporting organic molecules for hybrid solar cells
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prof. dr. Vytautas GETAUTIS |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Past few years have witnessed rapid development in the hybrid solar cells. Record efficiencies of photovoltaic devices exceeding 25% have been reported and certified. In these cells, the hole transporting material (HTM) is one of the key components, which transport photo-generated holes to contact. The HTM should exhibit high enough hole mobility, suitable highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMO) energy levels. The HTMs are currently a bottleneck for the realization of cost-effective and stable devices. Despite significant efforts dedicated towards development of new HTMs, the field is still dominated by costly small spiro-type molecule spiro-OMeTAD and even more expensive macromolecule poly[bis(4-phenyl)(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)amine]. The high cost of these HTMs arises from the expensive synthesis and purification procedures, which limit their potential for applications in low-cost solar cells. For example, spiro-OMeTAD is synthesized in five reaction steps that require low temperature (-78 °C), sensitive (n-butyllithium or Grignard reagents) and aggressive (Br2) reagents. Moreover, spiro-OMeTAD, and other HTMs requires costly sublimation steps for purification to obtain high-performance devices.
Herein we plan the synthesis and characterization of novel organic small-molecules for the hybrid solar cells. By simple reactions from readily available commercial starting materials synthesized organic molecules should be making theses HTMs very appealing for commercial prospects of hybrid solar cells.
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Valorisation of poorly studied plant species by evaluating their phytochemical composition and functional properties
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prof. dr. Petras Rimantas VENSKUTONIS |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
The plants biosynthesize various secondary metabolism products, including bioactive compounds (e.g. antioxidants, antimicrobials, anticancerogenic molecules), which may find applications in food additives, functional ingredients for nutraceuticals, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and other purposes. Considering that there are thousands of species in the Plant Kingdom and many of them are very poorly studies, it may be expected to discover (identify) new structures possessing beneficial properties, e.g. antioxidant capacity, antimicrobial and enzyme inhibitory activity, etc. The candidate species may be selected from the plants growing in Lithuania and other regions; e.g. until now performed preliminary studies have shown that the extracts from such plants possess strong radical scavenging capacity.
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Synthesis and electrocatalytic activity of nanostructured oxide films for water electrolysis and CO2 reduction
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doc. dr. Agnė ŠULČIŪTĖ |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Hydrogen has the potential to play a significant role in tackling climate change and solving renewable energy storage problems. Water electrolysis driven by renewable electricity is considered to be the most perspective option for the development of so-called hydrogen-based economy. On the other hand, CO2 electrochemical reduction has emerged as a promising method for the conversion of CO2 and water converted into value-added chemical compounds, such as carbon monoxide, formic acid, ethylene or ethanol. However, there is a need for developing better electrodes and new catalysts in order to decrease the cost of green hydrogen production or CO2 conversion into valuable chemicals. The aim of the dissertation is relevant to the development of electrochemical technologies for water electrolysis and CO2 reduction. Particular attention will be paid to the search of efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts based on nanostructured metal oxides suitable for the implementation of these processes. In order to achieve the aim, the following tasks are formulated:
1. To synthesize nanostructured mixed oxide films on stainless steel;
2. To evaluate the influence of synthesis conditions on structure, composition and morphology of the prepared films;
3. To study the electrocatalytic activity of the prepared electrodes in water splitting and CO2 electroreduction.
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Synthesis and investigation of N-aryl substituted amino acids and their derivatives with azole and azine moiety
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prof. habil. dr. Vytautas MICKEVIČIUS |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
The search for new biologically active substances and the development of medicinal preparations is an important continuous process that enables the normal functioning of vital systems. Heterocyclic compounds make up more than half of all known organic compounds. Recently, much attention has been paid to nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds with antimicrobial, fungicidal, analgesic, sedative, anticancer, etc. properties. impact, synthesis and research. From a biological point of view, sulfonamides are very important, with biological activity, including compounds that inhibit the activity of carbonic anhydrases. Also, a number of biologically active compounds with amino acid fragments are known, which are used to create preparations important in pharmaceuticals. The essence of the planned work is to synthesize potentially biologically active N-aryl substituted amino acids, their derivatives, variously functionalized heterocyclic systems of azoles, azines, to determine their structure and to study their chemical and biological properties. The practical significance of the work will be defined by the study of the antimicrobial and anticancer properties of some of the synthesized compounds and the assessment of the dependence of their activity on the chemical structure. Based on the obtained data, it will be possible to create a targeted synthesis methodology for synthesizing biologically active substances, intermediate compounds.
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Novel hybrid perovskite compositions for application in solar cells
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v.m.d. dr. Kasparas RAKŠTYS |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
The main area of research will be the synthesis and characterization of materials for use in organic and/or hybrid photovoltaic devices. The position asks for skills in multistep synthesis of charge generating and transporting materials, in particular novel hybrid perovskite and related pigments. The candidates are expected to be independent, highly ambitious, career oriented, and hard working. We offer excellent working conditions and an environment strongly conducive to academic research.
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| Design, synthesis of new heterocyclic derivatives, containing nitrogen atom, and investigation of structure and properties |
doc. dr. Vilija Kederienė |
state-funded |
| Design, synthesis and investigation of novel heterocyclic compounds |
doc. dr. Eglė ARBAČIAUSKIENĖ |
state-funded |
| Synthesis, structure and properties of new N-heterocyclic compounds |
prof. habil. dr. Algirdas ŠAČKUS |
state-funded |
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Synthesis and characterization of new organic emitters exhibiting long-lived emission
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lekt. dr. Rasa Keruckienė |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Organic phosphorescent materials have attracted a lot of attention due to their possible use in the technologies of screens, organic light-emitting diodes, optical data carriers and sensors. Many phosphorescent organic materials are organometallic compounds and their high efficiency is due to the existing spin-orbit interaction of the metal atom. Although these materials have high emission quantum efficiency, they are toxic and expensive (eg organometallic compounds), or the blue light-emitting organometallic emitters are not stable. Few organic materials exhibit effective phosphorescence at room temperature and only under certain conditions (in crystals, polymer matrices). In organic metal-free, room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials, the energy of the excited triplet state usually relaxes through non-radiative channels, e.g. the molecules begin to vibrate more strongly. Therefore, one of the main challenges to develop RTP organic metal-free materials with high quantum efficiency and long emission lifetimes is to prevent the unwanted loss of molecular excitation energy through vibrational channels. Further analysis of metal-free organic materials is required in order to investigate in detail the structure-dependent trends of material properties. The search for effective TADF/RTP materials and their potential applications not only in OLEDs, but also in oxygen sensor systems, or photodetectors, is a relevant topic and distinguishes this research from other scientific works in the scientific community. The aim of this research is the synthesis and investigation of properties of new metal-free emitters with donor-acceptor fragments, characterized by long emission lifetimes.
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Self-assembling biopolymeric amphiphiles
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prof. dr. Ramunė RUTKAITĖ |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
Numerous approaches have been developed for the self-assembly of natural or synthetic amphiphiles into soft core-shell nano- or microobjects which are of great interest in various fields. Among these amphiphilic molecules, amphiphiles containing natural blocks, such as polysaccharides, have attracted the most attention because they are non-toxic, non-immunogenic, biocompatible, biodegradable, and renewable. Polysaccharide based amphiphilic copolymers might represent a new class of biopolymeric materials with potential applications in different fields such as medicinal applications and pharmaceutics where the design of nano or microdevices carrying a polysaccharide chains can be also of interest for therapy, vaccination and diagnostic purposes.
The aim of this research work – to obtain various modified polysaccharide structures having both hydrophilic and lipophilic groups and to explore their properties in the light of different potential applications.
During the course of the project chemical and physical modification of natural polysaccharides will be performed to obtain the derivatives of different structure, amphiphilicity, charge density (either neutral or charged), molecular weight etc. The self-aggregation behavior of obtained amphiphilic polysaccharides in water via formation of various structures e.g. hydrogel nanoparticles, micelles, polymersomes, oil in water emulsions etc. as well as their properties will be also assessed. The developed materials will be also tested in some applications such as controlled delivery of target compounds via stimuli responses e.g. pH, temperature, enzyme-degradation etc.
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Distribution of heavy metals in granulometric fractions of waste biological treatment products
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prof. dr. Gintaras DENAFAS |
state-funded |
Research Topic Summary.
In this work, it is planned to study the chemical structure and composition of the granulometric fractions of yard and food waste compost, the stabilate of the biodegradable fraction of mixed municipal waste and the fine fraction of landfills, as well as the concentrations of heavy metals and microplastics in each of the granulometric fractions. After conducting research, to evaluate the distribution of heavy metals according to particle sizes, the dependence of metal content and leaching into the environment on the chemical structure of the matrix of the granulometric fraction and the amount of microplastics. Based on the results of the assessment, to propose options for preventing the entry of heavy metals into the compost.
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