Molecular Photonics
Prof. Dr. Benjamin DIETZEK-IVANŠIC
Prof. Benjamin Dietzek-Ivansic.
Benjamin DIETZEK-IVANSIC.
Prof. Dr. Benjamin DIETZEK-IVANŠIC
Email: benjamin.dietzek@uni-jena.de
Phone: + 49 3641-948360
Benjamin Dietzek-Ivanšic, FRSC, is professor of Physical Chemistry, head of the research department Functional Interfaces and Deputy Scientific Director at the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Jena Center for Soft Matter. He is cospokesperson of the SFB/TRR 234 CATALIGHT and chair of the ITN LOGICLAB.
Research Areas
Prof. Dietzek-Ivanšic’s research in the field of molecular photonics focuses on understanding the relationship between structure, photoinduced dynamics and the function of molecules and molecular materials, including:
- Electron transfer reactions in molecules in solution and in molecule-bulk interfaces
- Photoinduced processes in drugs for photodynamic therapy and molecular sensors
- Photoinduced processes in molecular sensors
- Photophysics underlying molecular photocatalytic water-splitting
- Developing experimental tools to characterize structural and electronic intermediates in (photo)catalytic cycles and the impact of local environment on the photophysics of molecules
Teaching Fields
Benjamin Dietzek-Ivanšic is actively involved in the education of young developing researchers. His teaching includes classes in:
- Physical Chemistry
- Molecular Spectroscopy
Research Methods
Prof. Dietzek-Ivanšic’s group uses a variety of spectroscopic methods to study the photoinduced function-determining processes in molecules and molecular materials:
- Ultrafast time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy spectroelectrochemistry
- Time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy
- Resonance-Raman spectroelectrochemistry
- Ultrafast pump-probe microscopy
- Vibrational sum-frequency generation
- Time-resolved EPR spectroscopy
Left: Photoinduced dynamics of terpyridine 4H-imidazole-ruthenium complexes. Right: SERS enhancement in the spectra of ruthenium dye-metal nanoparticle conjugates.
For a long time, the group has been working on the photophysical mechanisms underlying structural changes in light-responsive polymer nanocarriers for target drug release. This work is performed in the context of the SFB 1278 POLY TARGET. Here we could demonstrate low-intensity upconversion in a noble-metal free polymer [1]. Furthermore, we investigated the photoacidity and photostability of a new class of naphtol-based polyermic photoacids [2, 3]. In collaboration with the Schacher group we investigated the impact of the local polymer environment on the light-activated reactivity of polymer-integrated photobases as a novel material to device light-responsive polymer nanostructures [4].
[1] Sittig et al., Phys.Chem.Chem.Phys. 22, 4072 (2020).
[2] Wendler et al., Macromol. Rapid Commun. 41, 1900607 (2020).
[3] Wendler et al., Chem. Eur. J. 26, 2365 (2020).
[4] Sittig et al., Chem. Eur. J. 27, 1072 (2020).