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Recent Publications


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

reiter-2024-05.jpgRecent biotechnological advancements in protein production and development of biomimetic spinning procedures make artificial spider silk a promising alternative to petroleum-based fibers. To enhance the competitiveness of artificial silk in terms of mechanical properties, refining the spinning techniques is imperative. One potential strategy involves the integration of post-spin stretching, known to improve fiber strength and stiffness while potentially offering additional advantages. Here, we demonstrate that post-spin stretching not only enhances the mechanical properties of artificial silk fibers but also restores a higher and more uniform alignment of the protein chains, leading to a higher fiber toughness. (more...)
 


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

sommer.jpgSterically distorted donor-acceptor p‑systems, termed DA springs, can be progressively planarized under mechanical load causing a bathochromic shift of the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. By combining theory and experiment, we here use a simple linear force calibration for two different conformational mechanochromophores to determine molecular forces in polymers from the mechanochromic shift in PL wavelength during multiple uniaxial tensile tests. Two systems are used, i) a highly entangled linear glassy polyphenylene and ii) a covalent elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane network. The mean forces estimated by this method are validated using known threshold forces for the mechanochemical ring-opening reactions of two different spiropyran force probes. The agreement between both approaches underlines that these DA springs provide the unique opportunity for the online monitoring of local molecular forces present in diverse polymer matrices.(more...)


"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

tianyu.jpgPolymer single crystals are composed of well-ordered polymer chains and possess a characteristic symmetric shape. If one can precisely control the microregional morphology, polymer single crystals have the potential to be used as functional templates for applications like information storage or cell culture. However, with current experimental approaches, it is rather difficult to generate predictable structures of defined size within polymer single crystals. Here, we propose a research strategy based on a combination of fluorescence labeling and microregional heating by irradiation with focused red light. This approach enabled us to locally heat single crystals while simultaneously following the thereby induced changes via fluorescence imaging with a micrometer lateral resolution. We found that polymers diffused out of the heated region within a stacked single crystal and thereby produced a hole at the irradiated location. (more...)


Mechanism for the Formation of Millimeter-Long Solid Filaments by Spin Coating Dilute Solutions of a Crystallizable Polymer

Da Huang, Thorsten Hugel, and Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 2024, 57, 3696–3705

huang.jpgWe 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. Caused by a Plateau–Rayleigh-type instability of a liquid coating on a solid filament and due to crystallization, these filaments were decorated with various small-scale structures. (more...

 

List of Publications

Role of the entangled amorphous network in tensile deformation of semicrystalline polymers
Y. F. Men, J. Rieger, G. Strobl. Physical Review Letters 91, 095502 (2003)
Photonic defect modes in cholesteric liquid crystal films
J. Schmidtke and W. Stille. Eur. Phys. J. E 12, 553 (2003)
Characteristic variations in the effect of diluents on polymer crystallization and melting observed for a sample of poly (ethylene-co-octene)
Barbara Heck, Gert Strobl, Michael Grasruck. Eur. Phys. J. E 11, 117-130 (2003)
Editorial: Special issue on Properties of Thin Polymer Films
Günter Reiter (Editor) and James Forrest (Guest Editor). Eur. Phys. J. E 8, 101 (2002)
Morphological Phase Transitions in Spontaneous Dewetting of Thin Films on Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Surfaces
A. Sharma, G. Reiter. Phase Transitions 75, 377-399 (2002)
Pattern formation and ordering in thin films of crystallisable block copolymers
Günter Reiter, Gilles Castelein, Jens-Uwe Sommer. Macromol. Symp. 183, 173–178 (2002)
Some relevant parameters affecting the glass transition of supported ultra-thin polymer films
Y. Grohens, L. Hamon, G. Reiter, A. Soldera, Y. Holl. Eur. Phys. J. E 8, 217-224 (2002)
Are changes in morphology clear indicators for the glass transition in thin polymer films? Tentative ideas
Günter Reiter. Eur. Phys. J. E 8, 251-255 (2002)
The melting line, the crystallization line, and the equilibrium melting temperature of isotactic polystyrene
M. Al-Hussein, G. Strobl. Macromolecules 35, 1672-1676 (2002)
From crystalline block slips to dominance of network stretching - Mechanisms of tensile deformation in semi-crystalline polymers
Yongfeng Men, Gert Strobl. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science 20, 161-170 (2002)
Role and importance of radius of gyration of chains in the melt in the crystalization of poly(1-butene)
Qiang Fu, Gert Strobl. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science 20, 143-154 (2002)
Evidence for a mechanically active high temperature relaxation process in syndiotactic polypropylene
Yongfeng Men, Gert Strobl. Polymer 43, 2761-2768 (2002)
Strain-controlled tensile deformation behavior of isotactic poly(1-butene) and its ethylene copolymers
M. Al-Hussein, G. Strobl. Macromolecules 35, 8515-8520 (2002)
Change of modulus and yielding properties of syndiotactic polypropylene with the glass transition
Y.F. Men, G. Strobl, P. Wette. E-Polymers, 040 (2002)
Morphological basis for the complex melting behaviour of isotactic polystyrene
M. Al-Hussein, G. Strobl. E-Polymers, 038 (2002)
Physik kondensierter Materie. Kristalle, Flüssigkeiten, Flüssigkristalle und Polymere
Gert Strobl. Springer 2002, ISBN 978-3540432173
Negative cooperativity and aggregation in biphasic binding of Mastoporan X Peptide to membranes with acidic lipids
G. Schwarz, R. Reiter. Biophysical Chemistry 90, 269-277 (2001)
Call for papers Special issue on "Properties of thin polymer films"
Günter Reiter (Editor) and James Forrest (Guest Editor) Eur. Phys. J. E 5, 389 (2001)
Mission accomplished??
A.M. Donald, J.-F. Joanny, M. Möller and G. Reiter (Editors-in-Chief). Eur. Phys. J. E 4, 3 (2001)
Direct visualization of random crystallization and melting in arrays of nanometer-sized polymer crystals
G. Reiter, G. Castelein, J.-U. Sommer, A. Röttele, T. Thurn-Albrecht. Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 226101 (2001)
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