A research paper by scientists of the University of Malta in collaboration with the Université de Bordeaux and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) is featured on the front cover of the December issue of the New Journal of Chemistry.
Dr David C. Magri and research students of the Department of Chemistry have developed new fluorescent molecules that mimic digital logic gates. The molecules operate as AND logic gates in aqueous solution with acid and ferric iron as inputs and a green fluorescence as the output. A technique known as time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy was used to measure the photophysical characteristics of the molecules. Studies revealed that electrons move about the molecules very quickly on the picosecond timescale.
Reference
Alex D. Johnson, Kyle A. Paterson, Jake C. Spiteri, Sergey A. Denisov, Gediminas Jonusauskas, Arnaud Tron, Nathan D. McClenaghan and David C. Magri, Water-soluble naphthalimide-based ‘Pourbaix Sensors’: pH and redox-activated fluorescent AND logic gates based on photoinduced electron transfer, New Journal of Chemistry 2016, 40, 9917-9922. doi:10.1039/c6nj02023b.
This work is supported by ERDF grant 309CT 3097/2013 'Strengthening of the Organic, Inorganic and Physical Chemistry Facilities'. The Embassy of France to Malta, MCST and the CNRS are thanked for supporting a short-term internship for Jake Spiteri to visit the Université de Bordeaux. Prof. Robert M. Borg is acknowledged for helping with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. Technical assistance with the cover artwork was provided by James Moffett.