Aleksandr Dolbin

Dolbin Alexander Vitoldovich is head of the group for dilatometric studies at the Department for thermal properties of molecular crystals of B.I. Verkin Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering,Ph.D. in Engineering in 1996, defended his dissertation “Quantum and dimensional effects in the low-temperature thermal expansion of carbon nanostructures” in 2012 and was given the Degree of a Doctor of Sciences in physics and mathematics, senior researcher. Born 1967. He is an author and co-author of over 60 scientific articles and inventions.
The dilatometric group has been engaged in studies at low temperatures since 1972. The group includes two Drs: Victor Gavrilko, Valentin Esel'son and the young Ph.D.: Nicolay Vinnikov and Sergey Popov. Till 2004 the group was headed by the Dr Anatolii N. Aleksandrovskii (Deceased).
The researchers possessing high qualifications and unique modern technical equipment have succeeded in solving a number of scientific problems of crystal lattice dynamics, nuclear spin conversion, rotational motion of molecules in the crystal lattice, thermal expansion and sorption properties of carbon nanostructures.
The dilatometric investigations are made using two low temperature high-sensitivity capacitance dilatometers capable of detecting an atomic-spacing change in the sample size. One of the dilatometers is used to investigate the thermal expansion of solid gases in the temperature range of their existence. The other is intended for thermal expansion of any solid samples of arbitrary shapes in the temperature interval 1.5 - 300K. The group has developed and constructed a unique vacuum desorption gas analyzer for investigating the kinetic of impurity sorption by carbon nanostructures and for measuring the concentrations and qualitative compositions of small amounts of impurity gases sorbed in nanomaterials.

The researchers of this group have studied the thermal expansion of solidified gases Ar, Kr, Ne, H₂, HD, D₂, CH₄, CHD₃, CD₄, N₂, CO₂, CO, N₂O, NH₃, CCl₄, CBr₄, SF₆and some of their solid solutions. Also, the thermal expansion of fullerite, various structural materials and crystal for low temperature and space applications has been investigated. The negative thermal expansion and the phenomenon of the orientational polyamorphism of the fullerite С60 have been found out at temperatures of liquid helium at last years. Low temperature dilatometric investigations of the thermal expansion were performed for the first time on samples of pure and doped with various gases single-walled carbonnanotube bundles (SWNTs) in the direction perpendicular to the bundle axes. The impurity and quantum effects in thermal expansion of carbon nanostructures have been investigated. Quantum diffusion of He, H2 and Ne in fullerite C₆₀has been detected and investigated. It has been found that the spatial 4He and 3He redistribution in bundles of carbon nanotubes is of the tunnel character. The effect of radioactive irradiation of bundles of nanotubes with γ-quanta in the atmosphere of various gases upon the radial thermal expansion of nanotube bundles and their sorption of hydrogen has been investigated for the first time experimentally. It is found that irradiation of the samples has caused a drastic increase in the quantity of the hydrogen chemosorbed by the nanotubes. Most of the experimental results have been included into the handbooks and monographs published in the USSR, Ukraine and the USA.

The group maintains a continuous scientific information exchange with researchers in different countries. On cooperation bases with the Department of Experimental Physics Umea University (Sweden), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (Australia), National Kharkov Physico-Technical Institute Scientific Center (Ukraine) complex investigations have been performed on fullerite C₆₀ (pure and doped with various gases). Joint studies are also carried out with the Institute of Physics of Solids, Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia). A programme has been developed to investigate the physical properties of C₆₀ jointly with the National Mirzo Ulugbek University of Uzbekistan. The investigations of the thermal properties of SWNTs have been performed with E. L. Andronikashvili Institute of Physics Georgian Academy of Sciences, Tbilisi (Georgia).

Publications of the dilatometric group after 2000:

1. A.N. Aleksandrovskii, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Manzhelii, B. G. Udovidchenko, A. Soldatov, and B. Sundqvist, Thermal expansion of single-crystal fullerite C₆₀ at liquid-helium temperatures, Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 26, 100, (2000) [Low Temp. Phys. 26, 75 (2000)].

2. A.N. Aleksandrovskii, V. G. Gavrilko, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Manzhelii, B. G. Udovidchenko, V. P. Maletskiy, and B. Sundqvist, Low-temperature thermal expansion of fullerite C₆₀ alloyed with argon and neon, Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 27, 1401, (2001) [Low Temp.Phys. 27, 1033 (2001)].

3. A.N. Aleksandrovskii, V. G. Gavrilko, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Manzhelii, B. Sundqvist, B. G. Udovidchenko, and V. P. Maletskiy, Argon effect on thermal expansion of fullerite C₆₀ at helium temperatures, Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 27, 333 (2001) [Low Temp. Phys. 27, 245 (2001)].

4. A.N. Aleksandrovskii, V. G. Gavrilko, A. V. Dolbin, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Manzhelii, and B. G. Udovidchenko, Thermal expansion of solid solutions Kr-CH₄ at temperatures of liquid helium, Fiz. Nizk. Temp 29,715 (2003) [Low Temp. Phys. 29, 534 (2003)].

5. A.N. Aleksandrovskii, A. S. Bakai, A. V. Dolbin, G. E. Gadd, V. B. Esel’son, V. G. Gavrilko, V.G.Manzhelii, B. Sundqvist, and B.G. Udovidchenko, Low temperature thermal expansion of pure and inert gas-doped C₆₀, Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 29, 432 (2003) [Low Temp. Phys. 29, 324(2003)].

6. A.N. Aleksandrovskii, A.S Bakai, D. Cassidy, A.V. Dolbin, V.B. Esel'son, G.E. Gadd, V.G. Gavrilko, V.G. Manzhelii, S. Moricca, B. Sundqvist, On the polyamorphism of fullerite-based orientational glasses , Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 31, 565, (2005) [Low Temp. Phys. 31, (2005)].

7. V.G. Manzhelii, A.V. Dolbin, V.B. Esel`son, V.G. Gavrilko, D. Cassidy, G.E. Gadd, S. Moricca, and B. Sundqvist. Thermal expansion and polyamorphism of N₂ – C₆₀solutions, Fiz. Nizk. Temp.32, 913, (2006) [Low Temp. Phys. 32, 695 (2006)].

8. A.N. Aleksandrovskii, N.A.Vinnikov, V.G. Gavrilko, A.V. Dolbin, V.B. Esel'son, А.М. V.P. Maletskiy. The low-temperature gas analyser for paucities of the gases desorbed from a nanostructure and disperse materials, Ukr. J. Phys., 51, 1152, (2006).

9. N.A.Vinnikov, V.G. Gavrilko, A.V. Dolbin, V.B. Esel`son, V.G. Manzhelii, B. Sundqvist. Effect of dissolved oxygen on thermal expansion and polyamorphism of fullerite C₆₀, Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 33, 618 (2007) [Low Temp. Phys. 33, 465 (2007)].

10. A.V. Dolbin, V.B. Esel`son, V.G. Gavrilko,V.G. Manzhelii, N.A.Vinnikov, G.E. Gadd, S. Moricca, D. Cassidy, B. Sundqvist. Specific features of thermal expansion and polyamorphism in CH4 – C60 solutions at low temperatures. Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 33, 1401 (2007) [Low Temp. Phys. 33, 1068 (2007)].

11. A.V. Dolbin, V.B. Esel`son, V.G. Gavrilko,V.G. Manzhelii, N.A.Vinnikov, G.E. Gadd, S. Moricca, D. Cassidy, B. Sundqvist. Influence of the noncentral interacting between the impurity and matrix on the thermal expansion and polyamorphism of CO solutions in solid С60 at low temperatures, Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 34, 470 (2008) [Low Temp. Phys. 34, 465 (2008)].

12. A.V. Dolbin, V.B. Esel`son, V.G. Gavrilko,V.G. Manzhelii, N.A.Vinnikov, S.N. Popov, B. Sundqvist. Radial thermal expansion of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles at low temperatures. Fiz. Nizk. Temp.34, 860 (2008). [Low Temp. Phys. 34, 678 (2008)].

13. A. V. Dolbin, N. A. Vinnikov, V. G. Gavrilko, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Manzhelii, G. E. Gadd, S. Moricca, D. Cassidy, and B. Sundqvist. Thermal expansion of deuterium methane solutions in fullerite C₆₀ at low temperatures. Isotopic effect, Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 35, 299 (2009) [Low Temp. Phys. 35, 226 (2009)].

14. A. V. Dolbin, V. B. Esel’son, V. G. Gavrilko, V. G. Manzhelii, N. A. Vinnikov, S. N. Popov, N. I. Danilenko and B. Sundqvist. Radial thermal expansion of pure and Xe-saturated bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes at low temperatures. Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 35, 613 (2009) [Low Temp. Phys. 35, 484 (2009)].

15. A. V. Dolbin, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Gavrilko, V. G. Manzhelii, S. N. Popov, N. A. Vinnikov and B. Sundqvist. The effect of sorbed hydrogen on low temperature radial thermal expansion of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles.Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 35, 1209 (2009), [Low Temp. Phys. 35, 939 (2009)].

16. A. V. Dolbin, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Gavrilko, V. G. Manzhelii, S. N. Popov, N. A. Vinnikov and B. Sundqvist. The low-temperature radial thermal expansion of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles saturated with nitrogen.Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 36, 465 (2010), [Low Temp. Phys. 36, 365 (2010)].

17. A. V. Dolbin, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Gavrilko, V. G. Manzhelii, N. A. Vinnikov, S. N. Popov and B. Sundqvist. Quantum effects in the radial thermal expansion of bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes doped with ⁴He.Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 36, 797 (2010)[Low Temp. Phys. 36, 635 (2010)].

18. A. V. Dolbin, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Gavrilko, V. G. Manzhelii, N. A. Vinnikov, and S. N. Popov. Kinetics of ⁴He gas sorption by fullerite C₆₀. Quantum effects.Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 36, 1352 (2010), [Low Temp. Phys. 36, 1091 (2010)].

19. A. V. Dolbin, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Gavrilko, V. G. Manzhelii, S. N. Popov, N. A. Vinnikov and B. Sundqvist. The effect of O₂ impurities on the low-temperature radial thermal expansion of bundles of closed single-walled carbon nanotubes.Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 37, 438 (2011), [Low Temp. Phys. 37, 343 (2011)].

20. M. I. Bagatskii, V. V. Sumarokov and A. V. Dolbin. A simple low-temperature adiabatic calorimeter for small samples.Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 37, 535 (2011), [Low Temp. Phys. 37, 424 (2011)].

21. A. V. Dolbin, V. B. Esel’son, V. G. Gavrilko, V. G. Manzhelii, N. A. Vinnikov, S. N. Popov, and B. Sundqvist. Quantum phenomena in the radial thermal expansion of bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes doped with ³He. A giant isotope effect. [Low Temp. Phys. 37, 544 (2011)].

22. A. V. Dolbin, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Gavrilko, V. G. Manzhelii, N. A. Vinnikov, S. N. Popov, B. A. Danilchenko, and N. A. Tripachko. Hydrogen sorption and radial thermal expansion of bundles of single-walled nanotubes irradiated by γ-rays in hydrogen atmosphere. Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 37, 744 (2011) [Low Temp. Phys. 37, 589 (2011)].

23. A. V. Dolbin, V. B. Esel'son, V. G. Gavrilko, V. G. Manzhelii, N. A. Vinnikov, S. N. Popov. Kinetics of the Sorption of ³He by C₆₀ Fullerite. The Quantum Diffusion of ³He and ⁴He in Fullerite. JETP Letters, 93, pp. 577–579 (2011).

24. M. I. Bagatskii, V. V. Sumarokov, A. V. Dolbin, and B. Sundqvist. Low-temperature heat capacity of fullerite C₆₀ doped with deuteromethane. Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 38, 87-94 [Low Temp. Phys. 38, 67 (2012)]

25. M.I. Bagatskii, M.S. Barabashko, A.V. Dolbin, and V.V. Sumarokov The specific heat and the radial thermal expansion of bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 38, 667-673 (2012).