Prof. Dr. Yusuf Yağcı's Study Draws International Attention
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Yağcı, a faculty member in the Chemistry Department at Istanbul Technical University's Faculty of Science and Letters, conducted research in collaboration with China's Jiangnan University.
He developed a polymerization system inspired by the behavior of the dandelion plant, known in Turkey as karahindiba. The research article was published in Nature Communication, one of the world's leading scientific journals.
Under a three-year agreement within the framework of China's Jiangsu Province program, Prof. Dr. Yusuf Yağcı delivers seminars at Jiangnan University for two months each year and contributes to joint research projects. The research was conducted at Jiangnan University between December 2018 and January 2019.
Inspired by the dandelion plant, which disperses its seeds by separating them from the stem, the study shows that nanoparticles absorb light in the near-infrared region, which is harmless to humans, and emit molecules that interact with monomers present in the environment, initiating polymerization.
Drawing Inspiration from Nature
This research involves initiating polymerization with no harm to humans. The initiator system consists of an upconverting nanoparticle and an organic molecule chemically bonded to it.
UCNPs emit light in the near-infrared region, and in daily applications, photopolymerization coatings, microelectronics, 3D printing, and dental fillings will be among the many areas where this will trigger innovative work and accelerate development.
A New Approach in Basic Science
The research was conducted using UCNPs with an additional initiator system required for polymerization, as a result of joint work with Prof. Dr. Gönül Eryürek from Istanbul Technical University's Department of Physics Engineering, previously published in the important journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
In the new study conducted by Prof. Dr. Yusuf Yağcı with Jiangnan University scientists Zhiquan Li, Xiucheng Zou, Feng Shi and Ren Liu, the initiator is bonded to the UCNP, and when irradiated, the initiator particles show a tendency to disperse into the solution, similar to the aforementioned plant.
This system overcomes all the limitations of existing UCNP initiators.
