CeNT Seminar (12.12.2025): Illuminating the Winter Gloom: Laser Light in Self-Assembly, Shaping and Actuation of Functional Soft Materials

09 12 2025

The Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw invites to a seminar by:

prof. Paweł Majewski

Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw

Title: Illuminating the Winter Gloom: Laser Light in Self-Assembly, Shaping and Actuation of Functional Soft Materials
Date: Fri Dec 12th, 2025
Time: 12:00 (Central European Time)
Host: prof. Bartosz Trzaskowski
The seminar will be held in the 00.142 auditorium

Abstract:

Illuminating materials with a powerful laser light offers an effective method for localized heating, facilitating alterations in their internal structure through processes such as localized melting, recrystallization, or enhanced diffusion and formation of supramolecular structures. This presentation centers on soft materials, specifically polymers, liquid crystals, and polymer-colloid hybrids, where laser light can precisely control self-assembly.

Initially, I investigate the self-assembly and photothermal alignment of block-copolymer (BCP) thin films. In this case, laser-induced temperature gradients transform disordered morphologies into uniaxially ordered, anisotropic domains. These structured BCP films act as synthetic templates for forming aligned arrays of metallic or metal oxide nanowires [1][2]. The second example focuses on liquid crystal (LC) thin films, which consist of molecules that naturally arrange into chiral helical structures, displaying remarkable optical properties such as circular dichroism and circular birefringence. I demonstrate that spatially modulated laser light can modify chirality in these films, enabling the formation of chiral two-dimensional patterns that remain invisible to the naked eye but become apparent under circularly polarized light [3].

Next, I explore the self-assembly of a colloidal system comprised of gold nanoparticles and DNA origami superlattices [4]. Here, laser light is employed to manipulate shape and growth direction via laser-induced processes like annealing, sculpturing, and directed growth. Lastly, I emphasize the use of modulated laser radiation to elicit rapid reactions in highly resilient, ultrathin polymeric membranes, which are crafted from materials responsive to environmental factors such as humidity or polar organic vapors [5].

References:
[1] Majewski, P. W.; Rahman, A.; Black, C. T.; Yager, K. G. Arbitrary Lattice Symmetries via Block Copolymer Nanomeshes. Nat Commun (2015)
[2] Leniart, A. A.; Pula, P.; Sitkiewicz, A.; Majewski, P. W. Macroscopic Alignment of Block Copolymers on Silicon Substrates by Laser Annealing. ACS Nano (2020)
[3] Szustakiewicz, P.; Powała, F.; Szepke, D.; Lewandowski, W.; Majewski, P. W. Unrestricted Chiral Patterning by Laser Writing in Liquid Crystalline and Plasmonic Nanocomposite Thin Films. Advanced Materials (2023)
[4] Majewski, P. W.; Michelson, A.; Cordeiro, M. A. L.; Tian, C.; Ma, C.; Kisslinger, K.; Tian, Y.; Liu, W.; Stach, E. A.; Yager, K. G.; Gang, O. Resilient Three-Dimensional Ordered Architectures Assembled from Nanoparticles by DNA. Science Advances (2021)
[5] Krysztofik, A.; Pula, P.; Pochylski, M.; Zaleski, K.; Gapiński, J.; Majewski, P.; Graczykowski, B. Fast Photoactuation and Environmental Response of Humidity-Sensitive pDAP-Silicon Nanocantilevers. Advanced Materials (2024)