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Publications 2022-2023

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

2022-brahim.jpgInduced 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...)


Transparent, thermoplastic, aliphatic polyesters through crystallization under molecular confinement

Maziar Matloubi, Melika Sarem, Barbara Heck, Günter Reiter, and V. Prasad Shastri.  Matter 6 (2023) 30573074

shastri-matter.jpgIn semi-crystalline biodegradable polymers, uncontrolled evolution of crystallinity impacts processing and bulk properties, limiting their application. Through molecular confinement of low-molecular-weight poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) segments by polysiloxane blocks and processing at far-from-equilibrium conditions, PLLA crystallization into lamellae of a few nm in thickness with coherence lengths below 100 nm was achieved, thus giving access to films that are optically transparent for over 5 years, possess high Young’s modulus and elongation at break, undergo controlled degradation, and support functional endothelialization. The films possess a nanophase segregated bulk morphology with a hydrophobic siloxane-dominated surface that can be pressure bonded following cold oxygen plasma activation and low-temperature glassy PLLA domains interspersed by nanoscale crystalline physical crosslinks that enable glass transition temperature-triggered shape change. The segmented thermoplastic polyesters (STEPs) can additionally be processed using melt-extrusion printing into 3D objects, thus opening potential application opportunities in the fabrication of implantable/degradable electronics, smart textiles, and packaging. (more...)


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

ma2c02252.jpgWe 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...)


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

la2c03179.jpgWe 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...)

 

Complete List

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
Semi-crystalline poly(thioether) prepared by visible-light-induced organocatalyzed thiol-ene polymerization in emulsion
Cuong Minh Quoc Le, Gautier Schrodj, Ibrahima Ndao, Brahim Bessif, Barbara Heck, Thomas Pfohl, Günter Reiter, Justine Elgoyen, Radmila Tomovaska and Abraham Chemtob. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 43 (2022) 2100740
Primary nucleation in metastable solutions of poly(3-hexylthiophene)
Tianyu Wu, Sivasurender Chandran, Yao Zhang, Tianze Zheng, Thomas Pfohl, Jun Xu, Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 55 (2022) 3325–3334
An investigation on the heat dissipation in Zn-substituted magnetite nanoparticles, coated with citric acid and pluronic F127 for hyperthermia application
Sara Shatooti, Morteza Mozaffari, Günter Reiter, Diana Zahn, Silvio Dutz. Physica B: Physics of Condensed Matter 625 (2022) 41346856
Transparent, thermoplastic, aliphatic polyesters through crystallization under molecular confinement
Maziar Matloubi, Melika Sarema, Barbara Heck, Günter Reiter and V. Prasad Shastri. Matter 6 (2023) 3057-3074
Non-equilibrium Properties of Thin Polymer Films
Sivasurender Chandran, Günter Reiter. In Matyjaszewski et al. (Eds.): Macromolecular Engineering: From Precise Synthesis to Macroscopic Materials and Applications, 4 Volumes, 2nd ed. Edition, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, 2022. ISBN 9783527344550
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