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Recent Publications
The size of critical secondary nuclei of polymer crystals does not depend on supersaturation
Yang Liu, Zhiqi Wang, Yao Zhang, Tianyu Wu, Tianze Zheng, Bao Hua Guo, Günter Reiter, Jun Xu. Nature Communications 16 (2025) 3773
It is still a great challenge to determine the size of critical nuclei, which is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of crystallization and for testing the controversial crystallization theories. Here, we propose a method to determine the size of critical secondary nuclei on growth faces of poly(butylene succinate) single crystals in solution, basing on the probability of statistically selecting crystallizable units in random copolymers. In a dilute solution and for a given crystallization temperature, we reveal that the size of critical secondary nuclei was independent of supersaturation, contrary to the well-accepted prediction of existing theories which expect that the size of the critical nucleus increases with decreasing supersaturation. Accounting correctly for the dilution-caused change in the steady-state concentration of clusters of various sizes, we remedy inconsistencies of existing theoretical approaches in deriving the correct size of critical secondary nuclei in solution being independent of supersaturation. (more...)
Binghua Wang, Hailong Zou, Xuchen Wang, Changyu Shen, Jingbo Chen, Günter Reiter, Bin Zhang. Nature Communications 16 (2025) 3275
The dissolution of polymer crystals often proceeds at rates varying in time and space. Here, using low molecular weight poly(ethylene oxide) as a model polymer, we exploit step-wise selective dissolution for unveiling how spatial variations in metastability are generated during the growth of lamellar polymer single crystals. The dissolution velocity along defined crystal faces is constant, but ca. 5 times faster for rough than for smooth faces. From the temperature dependence of dissolution, we derive detachment energies of 420 ± 40 kJ/mol and 650 ± 50 kJ/mol for rough and smooth faces, respectively, suggesting that on a rough face polymer chains have ca. 1/3 less neighboring molecules to interact with. The observed high values of the activation energy indicate that, for dissolving a polymer crystal, the progressive detachment of whole chains is indispensable. Our study reveals a strong relation between growth kinetics and the resulting metastability of polymer crystals. (more...)
Baode Zhang, Snežana D. Zarić, Sonja S. Zrilić, Iosif Gofman, Barbara Heck, Günter Reiter. Communications Chemistry 8 (2025) 21
The interplay between attractive London dispersion forces and steric effects due to repulsive forces resulting from the Pauli principle often determines the geometry and stability of nanostructures. Aromatic polyimides (PI) and carbon nanotubes (CNT) were chosen as building blocks as two components in the hetero delocalized electron nanostructures. Two PIs, having the same diamine part and different linkage substituents between two phenyl rings of dianhydride part, one linked with ether bond (C-O-C) (OPI), the other with C-(CF3)2 (FPI), were investigated. Surprisingly, two CNT/PI nanocomposites show distinct failure mode from CNT yielding to CNT pull-out failure. Calculation of the interaction energy and chain conformations of each PI upon CNT was performed by accurate density functional theory (DFT) calculations and molecular dynamic simulation (MDS). (more...)
Valentina Pirela, Leire Unanue, Justine Elgoyhen, Javier Ramos, Juan Francisco Vega, Agurtzane Mugica, Manuela Zubitur, Cuong Minh Quoc Le, Abraham Chemtob, Radmila Tomovska, Günter Reiter, Jaime Martín, Alejandro J. Müller. European Polymer Journal (2025) 113721
This work studies how the chemical structure of relatively similar high-sulfur alternating polythioether homopolymers (DMDS-alt-DVE, DMDS-alt-TEGDVE, and DMDS-alt-BDDVE) affects their structural properties, morphology, polymorphism, and crystallization kinetics. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized light optical microscopy (PLOM) experiments revealed a complex crystallization for the samples in which up to three different polymorphic phases were identified: a very low melting crystal form (VL-Tm form), a low melting crystal form (L-Tm form) and a high melting crystal form (H-Tm form), characterized by their corresponding melting temperature ranges and confirmed via Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS). A coexistence of negative and positive spherulites was found, and their origin was revealed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), which showed how the lamellar arrangement varied in the samples from predominantly radial to a cross-hatched morphology. (more...)
List of Publications
- Relation between Charge Transport and the Number of Interconnected Lamellar Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Crystals
- Binghua Wang, Jingbo Chen, Changyu Shen, Günter Reiter, Bin Zhang. Macromolecules 52 (2019) 6088-6096
- Fully Isotactic Poly(p-methylstyrene): Precise Synthesis via Catalytic Polymerization and Crystallization Studies
- Tianyu Wu, Luis Valencia, Thomas Pfohl, Barbara Heck, Günter Reiter, Pierre Lutz, Rolf Mülhaupt. Macromolecules 52 (2019) 4839-4846
- Photoelectronic properties of composite films based on conductive polymer PIDT-BT and single-walled carbon nanotubes
- Andrey N. Aleshin, Baode Zhang, Petr A. Aleshin, Vasily N. Petrov, Irina N. Trapeznikova, Günter Reiter, Janis Kleperis. SN Applied Sciences 1 (2019) 1101
- Segmental Rearrangements Relax Stresses in Nonequilibrated Polymer Films
- Sivasurender Chandran, Günter Reiter. ACS Macro Letters, 8, 646, (2019)
- Thermodynamic Features of Perfectly Crystalline Poly(3-Hexylthiophene) Based on Flory’s Relation
- Mina Alizadehaghdam, Silvia Siegenführ, Farhang Abbasi, and Günter Reiter. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics 57, 431–437 (2019)
- Thermodynamic Features of Perfectly Crystalline Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Revealed Through Studies of Imperfect Crystals
- Mina Alizadehaghdam, Barbara Heck, Silvia Siegenführ, Farhang Abbasi, and Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 52 (2019) 2487–2494
- A Structural Fibrillation Parameter from Small Angle X-ray Scattering to Quantify Pulp Refining
- Jia Mao, Barbara Heck, Hatem Abushammala, Günter Reiter, and Marie-Pierre Laborie. Cellulose 26 (2019) 4265–4277
- Following isothermal and non-isothermal crystallization of poly(3- hexylthiophene) thin films by UV-vis spectroscopy
- Mina Alizadehaghdam, Barbara Heck, Silvia Siegenführ, Yaser AlShetwi, Fanuel M. Keheze, Sebastian Stäter, Farhang Abbasia, Günter Reiter. Polymer 210 (2020) 122959
- Snails as living 3D printers: free forms for the architecture of tomorrow
- Christoph Allgaier, Benjamin Felbrich, Frederik Wulle, Emna Khechine, James H. Nebelsick, Achim Menges, Günter Reiter, Renate Reiter, Armin Lechler, Alexander Verl, Karl-Heinz Wurst. In Knippers, J; Schmid, U.; Speck, T. (eds.) Biomimetics for Architecture, Birkhäuser, Basel 2019, pp 126-133. (ISBN: 978-3-0356-1791-7)
- Controlling the Growth of Stacks of Correlated Lamellar Crystals of a Block Copolymer
- Sumit Majumder, Renate Reiter, Jun Xu and Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 52 (2019) 9665-9671
- Determination of the Critical Size of Secondary Nuclei on the Lateral Growth Front of Lamellar Polymer Crystals
- Shujing Zhang, Jiarui Han, Yang Gao, Bao-Hua Guo, Günter Reiter, Jun Xu. Macromolecules 52 (2019) 7439-7447
- A Nucleation Mechanism Leading to Stacking of Lamellar Crystals in Polymer Thin Films
- Sumit Majumder, Purushottam Poudel, Hui Zhang, Jun Xu, Günter Reiter. Polymer International 69 (2020) 1058
- Processing Pathways Decide Polymer Properties at the Molecular Level
- S. Chandran, J. Baschnagel, D. Cangialosi, K. Fukao, E. Glynos, L. M. C. Janssen, M. Müller, M. Muthukumar, U. Steiner, J. Xu, S. Napolitano, and G. Reiter. Macromolecules 52 (2019) 7146-7156
- Controlling the Pore Size in Conjugated Polymer Films via Crystallization-Driven Phase Separation
- Shaowen Guo, Changyu Shen, Jingbo Chen, Günter Reiter, Bin Zhang. Soft Matter 15 (2019) 2981-2989
- Adapted Creep Test for the Study of Non-Equilibrated Thin Polymer Films
- Farzad Ramezani. Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Fakultät für Mathematik und Physik der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg 2019
- Tad Pili Play a Dynamic Role in Caulobacter crescentus Surface Colonization
- Matteo Sangermani, Isabelle Hug, Nora Sauter, Thomas Pfohl, Urs Jenala. mBio 10:e01237-19 (2019)
- Spatially resolved small-angle X-ray scattering for characterizing mechanoresponsive liposomes using microfluidics
- Marzia Buscema, Hans Deyhle, Thomas Pfohl, Andreas Zumbuehl, Bert Müller. Materials Today Bio 1 (2019) 100003
- Semicrystalline Non-Isocyanate Polyhydroxyurethanes as Thermoplastics and Thermoplastic Elastomers and Their Use in 3D Printing by Fused Filament Fabrication
- Vitalij Schimpf, Johannes B. Max, Benjamin Stolz, Barbara Heck, and Rolf Mülhaupt. Macromolecules 52 (2019) 320-331
- Self-Assembly of Oligo(phenylene-thiophene)s on Monolayer Graphene: Molecular Dynamics Simulations
- Natalia Borzdun, Victor Nazarychev, Sergey Larin, Guenter Reiter, Sergey Lyulin. J. Phys. Chem. C, 123 (2019) 859–867
- Functional macromolecular systems: kinetic pathways to obtain tailored structures
- V. Abetz, K. Kremer, M. Müller, and G. Reiter. Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics 220 (2019) 1800334