Barbara Urasinska-Wojcik graduated in 2004 with a M.Sc. degree in Materials Science Engineering from Wroclaw University of Technology in Poland. During her degree project, she studied the spectroscopic properties of sulfonated aluminium phthalocyanines in aqueous solutions and their applications for photodynamic therapy. She studied for a Ph.D. with Professor Geoff Ashwell in the Nanomaterials group at Cranfield University, before transferring to the University of Wales, Bangor. During her Ph.D. she focused on the design, preparation and characterisation of molecular diodes from new types of organic junctions and also the electrical characterisation of molecular wires. Her paper on the molecular diodes and the molecular wire have attracted much attention and were designated as “Hot Articles” by the Royal Society of Chemistry and received “Top Ten” listings on the RSC website. They have also received reviews in Chemistry World, Chemical Science and Utilise Gold Bulletin and were highlighted in several other countries. Her research as a postdoctoral research officer within the College of Physical and Applied Sciences at Bangor University involved organic photovoltaic materials, electrical and optical characterisation of organised molecular films and single molecule electronics.

In November 2010, Barbara took up her role as a Project Scientist in the research group of Professor Michael Turner. Barbara is a part of the Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry (KCMC) and is currently working on fabrication and characterisation a range of organic semiconductor devices (mainly OPVs and OFETs).

Patent:

Novel photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical coatings and devices. G. J. Ashwell, B. Urasinska-Wojcik, PCT/GB 2010/050912 (28th May 2010).

Publications:

Molecular bridging of silicon nanogaps. G. J. Ashwell, L. J. Phillips, B. J. Robinson, B. Urasinska-Wojcik, C. J. Lambert, I. M. Grace, M. R. Bryce, R. Jitchati, M. Tavasli, T. I. Cox, I. C. Sage, R. P. Tuffin, S. Ray, ACS Nano, 2010, DOI: 10.1021/nn102460z.

Self-assembly of amino-thiols via gold-nitrogen links and consequence for in situ elongation of molecular wires on surface-modified electrodes. G. J. Ashwell, A. T. Williams, S. A. Barnes, S. L. Chappell, L. J. Phillips, B. J. Robinson, B. Urasinska-Wojcik, P. Wierzchowiec, I. R. Gentle, B. J. Wood, Journal of American Chemical Society, 2010, (submitted for publication).

Synthesis and properties of functionalized oligo(arylene) molecular wires with thiolated termini: competing thiol-Au and nitro-Au assembly. X. Zeng, C. Wang, A. S. Batsanov, M. R. Bryce, J. Gigon, B. Urasinska-Wojcik, G. J. Ashwell, Journal of Organic Chemistry, 75, 130-136, 2010.

In situ stepwise synthesis of functional multijunction molecular wires on gold electrodes and gold nanoparticles. G. J. Ashwell, B. Urasinska-Wojcik, L. J. Phillips, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 49, 3508-3512, 2010.

Light-induced effects in sulfonated aluminum phthalocyanines-potential photosensitizers in the photodynamic therapy. Spectroscopic and kinetic study. K. Palewska, M. Sujka, B. Urasinska-Wojcik, J. Sworakowski, J. Lipinski, S. Nespurek, J. Rakusan, M. Karaskova, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 197, 1-12, 2008.

Electrical characterisation of 7 nm long conjugated molecular wires: experimental and theoretical studies. C. Wang, A.S. Batsanov, M.R. Bryce, G.J. Ashwell, B. Urasinska, I. Grace, C.J. Lambert, Nanotechnology, 18, no 044005, 2007.

Molecules that mimic Schottky diodes. G. J. Ashwell, B. Urasinska, W. D. Tyrrell, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 8, 3314-3319, 2006. Designated by the Royal Society of Chemistry as a “Hot Article”, the most accessed paper for 2006 and second most accessed paper for 2007. Also, reviewed by C. Boothby in Chemical Science (3, C58, 2006) and Chemistry World, K. Langer in PAP-Poland (2006/07/10 and 2006/07/14) and in Global Trends Briefing-Korea (2006/07/15). Paper featured on the journal’s cover.

Single-molecule electrical studies of a 7 nm long molecular wire. G. J. Ashwell, B. Urasinska, C. Wang, M. R. Bryce, I. Grace, C. J. Lambert, Chemical Communications, 45, 4706-4708, 2006. Designated as a “Hot Article” by the Royal Society of Chemistry journals and was listed as most accessed for November 2006 and also reviewed in Utilise Gold Bulletin.

Organic rectifying junctions from an electron-accepting molecular wire and an electron-donating phthalocyanine. G. J. Ashwell, W. D. Tyrrell, B. Urasinska, C. Wang, M. R. Bryce, Chemical Communications, 15, 1640-1642, 2006.