ValeriiaOvdenko

Valeriia Ovdenko
PhD in Chemistry
Assistant Professor, Department of Polymer Chemistry
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Education and professional activity

✔Since 2020, Valeriia Ovdenko has been working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Polymer Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
✔ 2015–2019 — Engineer of the First Category and subsequently Junior Researcher at the Research Laboratory “Information Media Based on Monomers and Polymers.”
✔ 2012-2015 years -PhD studies at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv under the supervision of Professor O. Yu. Kolendo, Doctor of Chemical Sciences. In 2018, she defended her PhD thesis entitled “Synthesis and Investigation of New Bis-Azomethine-Containing Methacrylates for Optoelectronics.”
✔ 2006-2012 years - Studies at the Faculty of Chemistry, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Department of Polymer Chemistry. Her Master’s thesis, entitled “Synthesis and Investigation of the Physicochemical Properties of New Nickel Bis(1,2-dithiolene) Complexes as Acceptors for Polymer Systems Designed for Solar-Cell Applications,” was completed under the supervision of Professor O. Yu. Kolendo and co-supervision of Bénédicte Garreau de Bonneval, Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination, Toulouse, France.

Teaching activity

She teaches the following courses:
«Photochemistry of organic compounds, monomers and light-sensitive composites»;
«Polymer Chemistry»;
«Special-Purpose Polymer Composites»;
«Methods for Structural Characterization of Chemical Compounds and Materials»;
«Spectroscopic Methods for the Investigation of Monomers and Polymers»;
«Chemistry» for students of the Institute of Biology and Medicine.

International scientific experience

She has completed three research internships at leading laboratories in France:
2012 — Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination, Toulouse. The research focused on the synthesis of symmetrical nickel complexes and the application of electrochemical methods to investigate their properties.
2013 — University of Angers. She worked on the synthesis of photoactive and electrically conductive thiophene-based azo compounds.
2019 — Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination, Toulouse. She participated in the development of photoactive ferrocene-based azo compounds.

From 2014 to 2021, she served as an editor of the French-Ukrainian Journal of Chemistry.

Scientific interests

Scientific interests include molecular design, synthesis, and comprehensive investigation of photoactive organic compounds, monomers, polymers, and polymer composites for optoelectronics, nonlinear optics, photonics, and holography. The main focus is on the development of functional materials capable of reversibly changing their spectroscopic, structural, and optical properties under light irradiation. An important aspect of the research is establishing relationships between the molecular structure of the photoactive fragment, its photochemical behavior, and the functional response observed in solutions, polymer matrices, and thin films.
The main research areas include:
✔ molecular design and synthesis of photosensitive compounds, including azo compounds, azomethines, azo-azomethines, and other organic photoactive systems;
✔ investigation of the effects of substituent nature and position, heterocyclic fragments, and molecular conformation on spectroscopic, photophysical, and photochemical properties;
✔ study of photoisomerization and other light-induced processes in solutions and thin polymer films;
✔ investigation of how the incorporation of several photoactive fragments into a single molecule affects the intensity, rate, and stability of the photochemical response;
✔ synthesis of functional monomers containing photoactive fragments and evaluation of their ability to undergo homo- and copolymerization;
✔ study of polymerization kinetics and the molecular-weight, thermal, spectroscopic, and photochemical characteristics of the resulting polymers;
✔ development and investigation of photoactive polymer composites for holographic recording, nonlinear optics, and laser-beam control;
✔ quantum-chemical modelling of the electronic structure, optical transitions, electron-density distribution, and nonlinear optical properties of photoactive molecules.

​Teaching activity

International scientific experience

Scientific interests

Scientific identifiers

Teaching activity