Publications 2022-2024
Highlights
In situ dissolution and swelling of confined lamellar polymer crystals through exposure to humid air
Brahim Bessif, Thomas Pfohl, Barbara Heck, Yaser Alshetwi, Emna Khechine, Jun Xu, and Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 55, 6015–6022, 2022
Induced by exposure to humid air, we observed in-situ the temporal and spatial changes in thickness and morphology of sandwich-like polymer platelets of a block copolymer. These micron-size platelets consisted of a crystalline poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) lamella confined between two glassy poly(styrene) (PS) layers, formed via crystallization of a hydrophobic-hydrophilic PS-b-PEO diblock copolymer. We observed first the dissolution of the confined crystalline PEO layers characterized by sharp dissolution front propagating at a constant velocity as described by case II diffusion of a liquid into a solid. (more...)
Brahim Bessif, Barbara Heck, Thomas Pfohl, Cuong Minh Quoc Le, Abraham Chemtob, Valentina Pirela, Justine Elgoyhen, Radmila Tomovska, Alejandro Müller, Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 56 (2023) 1461–1470
We present investigations of the intricate crystallization and melting behavior of an alternating copolymer synthesized by photopolymerization of 2,2’dimercaptodiethyl sulfide (DMDS) with di(ethylene glycol)divinyl ether (DVE). Upon increasing temperature, we observed the succession of two distinctly separated melting processes, which we related to the sequential formation and disappearance of two crystalline polymorphs. Due to their well separated melting temperatures and, we labelled these polymorphs as LOW--form and HIGH--form, respectively. X-ray diffraction results confirmed differences in the parameters of the crystal unit cells. (more...)
Emna Khechine, Sebastian Noack, Helmut Schlaad, Jun Xu, Günter Reiter, Renate Reiter. Langmuir 39 (2023) 2710–2718
We investigated changes in the hydration state of poly(ethylene glycol) through morphological changes in Langmuir monolayers of a poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(L-lactide) (PEG-b-PLLA) diblock copolymer. When the PEG blocks were hydrated, we observed a remarkable morphology of bundles of ring-like filaments, arranged concentrically, yielding densely packed disk-like objects with a hollow centre. We attribute the uniform curvature of these filaments to a strong mismatch between the molecular volumes occupied by PLLA blocks and hydrated PEG blocks, respectively. (more...)
Da Huang, Thorsten Hugel, and Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 2024, 57, 3696–3705
We have investigated the formation of millimeter-long filaments induced by spin-coating ca. 130 °C dilute para-xylene solutions of rapidly crystallizable polyethylene chains with a contour length in the micrometer range onto ca. 80 °C mica substrates. These filaments were radially oriented and accumulated on the periphery of the substrate. Our observations can be explained by the stretching of polymers through the flow field induced by spinning the solution on a solid substrate. The corresponding loss in conformational entropy emphasized attractive interactions between polymers, which resulted in the formation of bundles and their assembly into long filaments. (more...)
Complete List
- Hydro-elastic interactions for shaping hydrodynamic properties in microfluidic flows
- Claas-Hendrik Stamp, Inauguraldissertation der Fakultät für Mathematik und Physik, 2024
- Post-spin Stretch Improves Mechanical Properties, Reduces Necking, and Reverts Effects of Aging in Biomimetic Artificial Spider Silk Fibers
- Gabriele Greco, Benjamin Schmuck, Fredrik G. Bäcklund, Günter Reiter and Anna Rising. ACS Applied Polymer Materials, published online https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsapm.4c02192
- Mechanistically Different Mechanochromophores Enable Calibration and Validation of Molecular Forces in Glassy Polymers and Elastomeric Networks
- Raphael Hertel, Maximilian Raisch, Michael Walter, Günter Reiter, Michael Sommer. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, e202409369
- Mechanism for the formation of millimeter-long solid filaments by spin coating dilute solutions of a crystallizable polymer
- Da Huang, Thorsten Hugel, Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 57 (2024) 3696–3705
- Competing influences of cooling rate and diluent concentration on crystallization of poly(3-hexylthiophene)
- Mina Alizadehaghdam, Farhang Abbasi, Günter Reiter. J. Phys. Chem. C 128 (2024) 4757–4765
- “Printing” on Polymer Single Crystals through Microregional Heating
- Tianyu Wu, Haimu Ye, Xinyi Pan, Yaning He, Jun Xu, Günter Reiter. ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2024, 6, 14, 7969–7977
- Identifying a Mesomorphic Boundary Zone within Polybutene-1 Single Crystals Emerging during a Crystal-Crystal Transformation
- Jinlong Chen, Binghua Wang, Changyu Shen, Jingbo Chen, Günter Reiter, Bin Zhang. Macromolecules 56 (2023) 5050–5057
- Determining the maximum melting temperature of polymer crystals from a change in morphology of dewetting rims
- Gang Wang, Guotao Shi, Anchenyi Yang, Binghua Wang, Changyu Shen, Jingbo Chen, Günter Reiter, Bin Zhang. Polymer 274 (2023) 125874
- Unraveling the complex polymorphic crystallization behavior of the alternating copolymer DMDS-alt-DVE
- Valentina Pirela, Justine Elgoyhen, Radmila Tomovska, Jaime Martin Perez, Cuong Minh Quoc Le, Abraham Chemtob, Brahim Bessif, Barbara Heck, Günter Reiter, and Alejandro Müller. ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 5 (2023) 5260–5269
- Nucleation Assisted through the Memory of a Polymer Melt: A Different Polymorph Emerging from the Melt of another One
- Brahim Bessif, Barbara Heck, Thomas Pfohl, Cuong Minh Quoc Le, Abraham Chemtob, Valentina Pirela, Justine Elgoyhen, Radmila Tomovska, Alejandro Müller, Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 56 (2023) 1461–1470
- Tuning the hydraulic resistance by swelling-induced buckling of membranes in high-aspect-ratio microfluidic devices
- Claas-Hendrik Stamp, Binyam Solomon, Friederike Lang, Efstathios Mitropoulos and Thomas Pfohl. Lab Chip 23 (2023) 3662-3670
- Reversible Dehydration-Hydration of Poly(ethylene glycol) in Langmuir Monolayers of a Diblock Copolymer Inferred from Changes in Filament Curvature
- Emna Khechine, Sebastian Noack, Helmut Schlaad, Jun Xu, Günter Reiter, Renate Reiter. Langmuir 39 (2023) 2710–2718
- Improving the order of crystalline regions of poly(3-hexylthiophene) by crystallization from the self-nucleation domains
- Mina Alizadehaghdam, Farhang Abbasia, and Günter Reiter. Thermochimica Acta 717 (2022) 179352
- Determining Entanglement Molar Mass of Glassy Polyphenylenes Using Mechanochromic Molecular Springs
- Maximilian Raisch, Günter Reiter, Michael Sommer. ACS Macro Lett. 11, 760–765, 2022
- Editorial on the Special Topic “Polymer Crystallization”
- Jun Xu, Günter Reiter, and Rufina G. Alamo. Crystals 12, 618 (2022)
- In situ dissolution and swelling of confined lamellar polymer crystals through exposure to humid air
- Brahim Bessif, Thomas Pfohl, Barbara Heck, Yaser Alshetwi, Emna Khechine, Jun Xu, and Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 55, 6015–6022, 2022
- The memory of thin polymer films generated by spin coating
- Günter Reiter, Farzad Ramezani, Jörg Baschnagel. EPJE 45 (2022) 51
- Bacteria-on-a-bead: probing the hydrodynamic interplay of dynamic cell appendages during cell separation
- Nora Sauter, Matteo Sangermani, Isabelle Hug, Urs Jenal, and Thomas Pfohl. Biology Communications 5 (2022) 1093
- Crystallization of copolymers: formation of alternating periodic structures and concepts for their modification
- Brahim Bessif. Inaugural-Dissertation der Fakultät für Mathematik und Physik, 2022
- Illumination of a Conjugated Polymer with Visible Light to Control Crystallization and Enhance Photoluminescence
- Yaser AlShetwi. Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrads der Fakultät für Chemie und Pharmazie, 2022