Dr. Kaloian Koynov
Kaloian Koynov studied physics at the Sofia University and received his diploma in 1993. In 1997 he received his PhD from the same university for a work on cascaded nonlinear optical processes and their applications for all-optical switching in the group of Solomon Saltiel. Then he spent a postdoctoral year in the Institute for Fundamental Electronics, University Paris Sud, France, studying grating couplers into semiconductor waveguides. In 2000 he joined the department of Wolfgang Knoll at the MPI for Polymer Research as a postdoc and EU Marie Curie Fellow. Here, he worked with Christoph Bubeck on the nonlinear optical properties of thin films of conjugated polymers.
Since 2006 he is a group leader in the department of Hans-Jürgen Butt at the MPIP, where he leads the Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy group.
In addition, he is in charge of the service laboratory “Mechanic / Dielectric Properties” that provides numerous possibilities for characterization of macromolecular materials.
Research Interests
Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is a sensitive and selective technique for studying the mobility of fluorescent species, such as small molecules, macromolecules or nanoparticles, in various environments. We develop and apply FCS based approaches to address broad range of questions in polymer, colloid and interface science. By monitoring the mobility of fluorescent tracers we obtain information about the surrounding environment, which may range from a polymer melt or hydrogel to a fluid/solid or fluid/fluid interface. Alternatively, we use FCS to measure hydrodynamic radius, fluorescence brightness and local concentration of fluorescently labeled colloids and macromolecules (polymers, copolymers, proteins, DNAs) and thus investigate conformational changes, mutual interactions or aggregation. Such studies are particularly useful for characterization of drug nanocarriers in biological fluids, such as blood plasma or whole blood.