The doctoral dissertation in the field of Chemistry will be examined at the Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, Joensuu campus.
What is the topic of your doctoral research? Why is it important to study the topic?
My PhD research focuses on the design of new light-emitting materials which contain silver and gold. These metals are built into molecular compounds together with specially designed organic components called hybrid phosphines. When these species are exposed to UV-light, the metal–ligand system as a whole can generate light of different colors. By carefully changing the structure of the hybrid phosphines, we can tune how bright the complexes glow and what color of light they emit.
Studying these structure–property relationships help us understand how small molecular changes affect emission behavior. This knowledge can then be used to design smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable materials for technologies such as LED lighting, sensors, and biomedical imaging. Overall, my work shows how the molecular design can turn simple metal–organic building blocks into advanced materials for modern energy-saving and high-tech applications.
What are the key findings or observations of your doctoral research?
My research revealed how small changes in organophosphorus building blocks in their silver and gold derivatives can precisely control the color and intensity of light emission. This understanding allows us to tune optical characteristics of these compounds across the visible spectrum simply by adjusting their chemical structure.
The study also uncovered how subtle interactions between the metal and the organic constituent govern energy transfer and emission efficiency. These insights are valuable because they provide a clear design strategy for creating new, customizable, and sustainable luminescent materials.
For the broader public, this work opens the door to greener lighting technologies, improved sensors, and innovative bioimaging tools that rely on earth-abundant, less toxic metals instead of rare or expensive ones.
What are the key research methods and materials used in your doctoral research?
In my research, I designed and synthesized organophosphorus compounds and combined them with silver and gold salts to form new luminescent molecular materials. All new species were carefully characterized using a range of physical techniques, including various spectroscopic methods, X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry, to understand their structure and photophysical behavior. Computational analysis was used to correlate intrinsic molecular features with light emitting performance.
By comparing experimental and theoretical results, the key factors that allow precise control over emission properties were identified. This combined synthetic, analytical, and computational approach provided a comprehensive understanding of how to design efficient, tunable, and sustainable light-emitting materials.
The doctoral dissertation of Mariia Beliaeva, MSc, entitled Hybrid Phosphines Steering Tunable Emissive States in Silver and Gold Complexes will be examined at the Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology, Joensuu campus. The opponent will be Professor Kari Rissanen, University of Jyväskylä and the custos will be Professor Igor O. Koshevoy, University of Eastern Finland. Language of the public defence is English.
For more information, please contact:
Mariia Beliaeva, [email protected]
