Academician Ion Tighineanu at 70 years old. A fascinating achievement driven by nanotechnology.#News247WorldPress

In 2001, when the National Center for the Study and Testing of Materials (CNSTM) was opened within UTM, Professor Ion Tighineanu brought the first state-of-the-art equipment in the field of nanotechnologies, such as the scanning electron microscope and the atomic force microscope, later being endowed with other research units. Previously, the founding director had selected a group of the most talented students, being attracted to research from the third year. Eduard Monaico, Veaceslav Popa and Lilian Sîrbu – graduates of UTM – were involved in the formation and arrangement of the new Center. These and other young people, who were to work at the nanotechnology center, one by one, were sent to the West to do research and learn the management of modern equipment.

Photo: Robert Williams (left), Acad. Ion Tighineanu (right)

Twenty-four years have passed since the founding of the National Center for the Study and Testing of Materials (CNSTM). Does this story have a happy journey of over two decades? What are its most important developments? In a recent summary article published in the weekly “Literature and Art”, no. 10 from March 6, 2025, regarding the achievements of the National Center for the Study and Testing of Materials and the development of nanotechnologies in the first quarter of the twenty-first century, Prof. Ion Tighineanu notes: as early as 2005, we invented a new nanotechnological method, the so-called Surface Charge Lithography (LSS). The innovative nanotechnological approach has opened new horizons for studying and utilizing gallium nitride, having been successfully applied for the development of ultra-thin GaN membranes, two-dimensional photonic crystals, and various original photonic elements (waveguides, beam splitters).

The elaboration allowed, for the first time, the direct visualization of the network of dislocations in a solid body. The technology in question was highly appreciated by renowned international experts in the field and appreciated with the Gold Medal (Award of Excellence) at the INPEX-2005 Exhibition of New Technologies and Materials in Pittsburgh (USA).

Also, CNSTM collaborators managed to develop for the first time ordered networks of titanium dioxide nanotubes, awarded the Special Prize for the most valuable development in nanotechnologies at the 11th International Intellectual Property Exhibition ‘Archimedes’ in Moscow in April 2008. Based on these ordered nanotube networks, so-called micro-submarines were built with self-propelling capabilities in liquid environments and directed transport of micro- and nano-capsules under the influence of light.

The most resounding invention of the Nanotechnology Center concerns the development of Aerogalnite (or aero-GaN) – a fascinating inorganic material that simultaneously exhibits contradictory properties – hydrophobic and hydrophilic: hydrophobic when wet and hydrophilic when the sample is removed from contact with water. This miraculous material consists of tetrapod elements with ultra-thin cavities and walls, which self-organize when interacting with water, similar to phospholipids – the amphiphilic organic molecules in the process of forming cell membranes. The self-organization of components, flexibility, chemical stability, radiation resistance, and other exceptional properties of Aerogalnite open up a multitude of opportunities for practical applications of the new nanomaterial in micro-electro-mechanical structures with self-propulsion and increased energy efficiency, in microfluidics, sensors, ecology, biomedicine, microrobotics, and more.

Prof. Ion Tighineanu considers the greatest achievement of the National Center for the Study and Testing of Materials to be the creation of the scientific school in the field of nanotechnologies in the Republic of Moldova and the training of highly qualified staff. During these years, 12 young people have successfully completed their doctoral theses here: Veaceslav Popa, Eduard Monaico, Mihai Enache, Lilian Sirbu, Olesea Volciuc, Tudor Branişte, Alexandru Burlacu, Vitalie Postolache, Vladimir Ciobanu, Elena Monaico, Vadim Morari and Andrei Tiron. One of them, Eduard Monaico, last year, also defended his thesis as a doctor habilitate. Tudor Branişte, president of the Youth Academy of Moldova, is currently working on the thesis of doctor habilitat.

The collaborators of the National Center have won important international grants through competitions, including one worth 0.5 million euros through the European Framework Program 7 and another worth one million euros through the Horizon 2020 Program, providing many young people from different local institutions access to modern infrastructure for completing bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral theses. Only within the European project NanoMedTwin, 16 young people benefited from academic mobility, visiting elite laboratories in Germany, Sweden, Italy, and the United Kingdom for 4-6 months. Some of these young people, initiated in research at the National Center, are currently engaged in intensive work at research institutes and industrial companies in other countries. For example, in Germany alone, the following are working: Dr. Sergiu Langa at the Fraunhofer Institute in Dresden; Dr. Ala Cojocaru at Phi-Stone AG in Kiel; Dr. Olesea Volciuc at ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Oberkochen; Dr. Oleg Gridenco from Bruker Daltonics, Bremen.

The scientific and managerial activity of Prof. Ion Tighineanu brilliantly reflects his professional advancement: he was elected corresponding member (2007), full member (2012) of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, honorary member of the Romanian Academy (2015), honorary professor of Shizuoka University, Japan (2017), member of the European Academy (2021), member of the International Scientific Council (2022), member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2022), etc. Since 2019, he has been president of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. A consideration of the merits of academician Ion Tighineanu are the international forums in the field of nanotechnologies that entrusted him with the role of president: the International Conference on Nanotechnologies (7th and 8th editions), organized in Barcelona, Spain, on May 4–6, 2015 and May 8–9, 2018, convened by the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE).