What did you study?
Lanthanides are elements with unique magnetic and optical properties, making them promising for future technologies such as data storage, sensing, and quantum devices. Their complexes can act as single-molecule magnets and also emit light, combining magnetic and optical functions within a single molecule. However, designing such systems requires precise control over their molecular structure.
What were the results of your study?
The dissertation explores three distinct approaches to ligand design. Bulky oxygen-based aryloxide ligands were used to stabilize a tetranuclear dysprosium complex in which the outer dysprosium ions experience a strongly oriented magnetic environment, which is a key ingredient for single-molecule magnet behavior. Nitrogen-based radical bridges between pairs of lanthanide ions served as a second strategy, where the magnetic coupling strength between the metals could be tuned by modifying the electronic structure of the bridge. A third approach, combining hard and soft donor atoms around the dysprosium ion, produced a compound that simultaneously displays single-molecule magnet behavior and luminescent thermometry.
I found that small changes in ligand design can significantly affect not only magnetic behavior but also optical properties. This gives us the ability to control magnetic and optical properties by modifying ligand environments, electronic structure, and molecular geometry.
How can the results be applied? What new insights did the research contribute to the topic?
The results demonstrate how magnetic and optical properties can be controlled and combined within a single molecular system, and provide design principles for multifunctional materials with tailored properties. These findings contribute to the development of advanced materials for applications such as high-density data storage, molecular sensors, and quantum technologies.
Rezeda Gayfullina will defend the doctoral dissertation “Structure –Property Relationships in Lanthanide-based Systems: From Single-Molecule Magnets to Dual-Functional Complexes” on Friday, April 24, 2026, at 12:00 at the Ylistönrinne Campus in lecture hall KEM4, University of Jyväskylä. The opponent is Associate Professor Antti Karttunen (Aalto University), and the custos is Assistant Professor Jani O. Moilanen (University of Jyväskylä). The public defense will be held in English.
Further information:
- Rezeda Gayfullina, rezeda.r.gayfullina@jyu.fi
