ORLOVA, Anna O.
Dr. Sci. in Physics and Mathematics (ITMO University)
Research interests

Fundamental research in the field of development of colloidal systems and multilayer coatings based on colloidal quantum-sized semiconductor 0D, 1D and 2D nanocrystals; magnetic nanoparticles; metal oxides; molecular generators of reactive oxygen species (ROS); specific indicator molecules; porous dielectric matrices

Features of the PhD program

International scientific collaboration. Among the international partners are the School of Chemistry and the School of Medicine at Trinity College, Dublin; the Chemistry Laboratory of the Lyon School of Higher Education, France; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel; Center for Nano & Material Sciences at Jaina University, India; Cente of Semiconductor Components and Nanotechnologies at Compinas University, Brazil. 
 
The research team of Professor Orlova uses unique equipment, including:
  1. Scanning electron microscope – Merlin (CarlZeiss, Germany).
  2. Laser scanning luminescence microscope with the option of measuring the luminescence decay time – MicroTime100 (PicoQuant, Germany). 
  3. Confocal laser scanning fluorescent microscope – LSM-710 (CarlZeiss, Germany). 
  4. Micro-Raman Spectrometer – «inVia» (Renishaw, UK). 
  5. FTIR spectrometer – Tensor 27 (Bruker, Germany). 
  6. Atomic force microscope – Solver-PRO (NT-MTD, Russia).
  7. Scanning spectrophotometer – UV-3600 (Shimadzu, Japan).
  8. Scanning spectrofluorometer – CaryEclipse (Varian, USA). 
  9. Spectrophotometer – EPP2000-NIRX-SR InGaAs-512 (StellarNet, USA).
  10. Source Measure Unit Instruments Keithley 2400(Tektronix, USA). 
  11. A chemical laboratory with the necessary equipment and chemical reagents for the synthesis of colloidal nanoparticles, modification of their surface, and formation of the investigated hybrid structures.
  12. Langmuir-Blodgett setup KN 2002 (KSV NIMA) 
 
The research of Professor Orlova's students was supported within the framework of the "Erasmus +", "Erasmus + Fund" programs, by a grant named after Maria Sklodowska-Curie, the Micro Fellowship program at ITMO University. 4 out of 5 postgraduate students defended ahead of schedule. Undergraduates and postgraduate students were supported by scholarships from the President of the Russian Federation, the government of St. Petersburg
List of the supervisor’s research projects (participation/supervision)
  • Luminescent quantum dot nanocomposites for therapy and diagnostics (Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation), PI, 01.01.2020-31.12.2024
  • Ultrafast time-resolved adaptive digital holography in linear and nonlinear optical processes for dynamic biomedical imaging and diagnosis (Grants from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research), co-PI, 2019-2021
  • Optical and electrical properties of hybrid nanomaterials based on carbon, semiconductor, and metallic nanostructures (Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation), Researcher, 2013-2019
  • Development of new systems of chiral quantum dots and their applications. (Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation), Researcher, 2013-2017
List of potential thesis topics
  • R&D of ROS nanogenerators based on molecular and nanoparticle sensitizers
  • R&D of biocompatible magneto-luminescent nanostructures for target theranostics  
  • R&D of hybrid nanostructures for sensorics
Key publications
  1. Sewid F.A., Skurlov I.D., Kurshanov D.A., Orlova A.O. Singlet oxygen generation by hybrid structures based on CdSe/ZnS quantum dots and tetraphenylporphyrin in organic medium // Chemical Physics Letters. - 2021. - V. 765. - Art. Nr. 38303
  2. Reznik I., Zlatov A., Baranov M., Zakoldaev R., Veniaminov A., Moshkalev S.,  Orlova A. Photophysical Properties of Multilayer Graphene–Quantum Dots Hybrid Structures. Nanomaterials  2020, 10 (4),14
  3. Kolesova E., Maslov V., Safin F., Purcell-Milton F., Cleary O., Volkov Y., Gun’ko Y. Orlova A.  Photoinduced charge transfer in hybrid structures based on titanium dioxide NPs with multicomponent QD exciton luminescence decay. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2019, 123 (23), 14790-14796
  4. Influence of CdSe and CdSe/CdS nanocrystals on the optical activity of chiral organic molecules. K Visheratina, AO Orlova, F Purcell-Milton, VA Kuznetsova, AA Visheratin, EV Kundelev, VG Maslov, AV Baranov, AV Fedorov, YK Gun’ko. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2018, 6(7), 1759-1766
  5. Impact of Shell Thickness on Photoluminescence and Optical Activity in Chiral CdSe/CdS Core/Shell Quantum Dots. Finn Purcell-Milton, Anastasia K Visheratina, Vera A Kuznetsova, Aisling Ryan, Anna O Orlova, Yurii K Gun’ko. ACS Nano 2017 11 (9), 9207-9214
Key IPs
  1. It has been proposed a model of photoinduced electron transfer in hybrid structures based on CdSe quantum dots and titanium dioxide
  2. A model of energy transfer in structures with quantum dots, photosensitizers, and indicator molecules has been proposed
  3. The regularities of energy / charge transfer in hybrid structures based on multilayer graphene nanoribbons and quantum-sized nanocrystals have been established
  4. The regularities of the optical activity of semiconductor quantum nanocrystals, induced by chiral enantiomers have been established
Supervisor’s specific requirements
A graduate student must have knowledge in the following areas: 
  • Molecular spectroscopy
  • Solid state physics
 
A postgraduate student must have experimental skills in spectroscopy including standard instrumentation (spectrophotometers, spectrofluorimeter, DLS, Raman, FTIR)
 
 
In addition, postgraduate student must have at least two of the following skills:
  • Ability to work with modern laser microscopes
  • Experience in experimental work devoted to optical properties of molecular objects or colloidal nanoparticles
  • Experience in the preparation of various layered samples and coatings based on molecules or colloidal nanoparticles using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique, spin coating, deep coating
  • Ability to write articles in English (availability of publications with first authorship)
  • Proficiency in Origin, Wolfram Mathematica, Python etc.
Code of the subject area of the PhD program
03.06.01 Physics and Astronomy 
Specialization: Optics