Trial lecture
November 24th, 10:15 AM, Auditorium 2, Chemistry building
Trial lecture title:
“Porphyrins as light harvesters in organic photovoltaic.”
Kreeringssammendrag/Conferral summary
Mikrober på overflater spiller en viktig rolle i indirekte overføring av infeksjoner. Antimikrobiell fotodynamisk terapi er et lovende alternativ til å dekontaminere overflater, men også for direkte behandling av eksisterende mikrobielle infeksjoner. I dette doktorgradsarbeidet har vi designet fotoaktive organisk-uorganiske hybridoverflater med stabile fotosensitive materialer som viser svært effektive egenskaper i antimikrobiell fotodynamisk terapi. Overflatene er laget med tynnfilmmetoder som molekylær lagavsetning og spin coating for å oppnå den nødvendige kontrollen for å designe materialene.
Main research findings
Surfaces contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms play an important role in the indirect transmission of infections and consequently in the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy is an alternative method to surface decontamination that is based on the interaction between photosensitizer, light, and oxygen to allow for the formation of reactive oxygen species that can cause oxidative damage to biological molecules.
This doctoral project aimed to develop a novel group of photodynamic surfaces for potential use in surface decontamination by means of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy. Molecular layer deposition and spin coating were used as synthesis tools to build uniform organic-inorganic hybrid surfaces containing immobilised photosensitizers such as aromatic dicarboxylic acids or porphyrins, together with various transition metals. We explored the impact of both organic and inorganic components on the photophysical, and thus antimicrobial properties of surfaces, and demonstrated that it is possible to tune such properties by using a combination of various components. Our results so far have been promising in the use of new photodynamic surfaces in the photoinactivation of pathogenic microorganisms. We proposed that such uniform coatings could be applied on materials with complex topography (such as dental implants) where the elimination of pathogens is especially challenging.