Silvia Centeno Benigno brings new expertise to the DWI
From now on, the DWI will benefit from the expertise of Dr. Silvia Centeno Benigno: Since the beginning of the year, the chemist and expert in spectroscopy and microscopy became a project leader at the Leibniz Institute in Aachen. Her expertise and research interests focus on the relationship between the chemical structure and physicochemical properties of different materials. Special focus here is on submicron polymer objects and hybrid organic-metallic systems. This includes, for example, the investigation of novel polymer materials and hybrid systems such as organic molecules on metallic surfaces. Her research interests therefore coincide excellently with several of the DWI's main topics, so that Silvia Centeno Beningo will be able to make a valuable contribution to advancing various scientific questions and applications.
Spectroscopy and microscopy - indispensable methods for the investigation of material properties and the core expertise of Silvia Centeno Benigno
Silvia Centeno Benigno's work aims to gain a deeper understanding of the physicochemical properties of macromolecules and to investigate their relationship to the (chemical) structure of the materials formed from them. To do this, she uses various analytical procedures and methods from Fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy and microscopy.
With the help of spectroscopy, the decomposition (spectrum) of light into its components or colours, the interaction of light (electromagnetic radiation) and matter can be studied and from this relevant conclusions can be derived from the material properties and structure. Standard spectroscopy methods used at the DWI include infrared, Raman and Fluorescence spectroscopy between others. Especially in the field of Raman spectroscopy, Silvia Centeno Benigno has extensive and specialised research expertise, as she has worked on nonlinear Raman scattering (coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, CARS) and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) during her career. She has also expertise in Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy and Fluorescence Lifetime methods.
Nowadays it is very important to characterize and resolve the structure of materials in the nano and micrometer range and the development of smart polymer responsive materials at DWI is a clear example of that. In this regard microscopy methods result to be an essential approach in order to help in clarifying the scientific questions posed by the DWI. Silvia Centeno Benigno also has outstanding experience in this field, which can be used, among other things, for investigations into how cells and tissue interact with hydrogels. This in turn opens up new possibilities to optimise the functionality and structure of the gels or to design them with specific properties targeted. Among the microscopy techniques in which Silvia Centeno Benigno has particular expertise is fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). FLIM determines the time a fluorophore remains in an excited state before emitting a photon. Since the fluorescence lifetime strongly depends on the environment of the fluorophore in it, special insights into microscopic local material conditions can be gained that are not detectable with spectral techniques alone. She is also an expert in super-resolution localization fluorescence methods, which together with STED Fluorescence microscopy, are very powerful microscopy techniques allowing us to resolve the structure of materials down to a couple of tens of nanometers.
About Silvia Centeno Benigno
Silvia Centeno Benigno studied chemistry in Spain (Málaga). She obtained her doctorate there in 2004 under the guidance of Juan Carlos Otero Fernández de Molina and Isabel López Tocón. After that she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Málaga as well as in Johan Hofkens' group at KU Leuven in Belgium and at the Institute for Physical Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University with Dominik Wöll.