Publications
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Recent Publications
Anmol Arya, Solomon L. Joseph, Francois Vonau, Jean-Luc Bubendorff, Silvia Siegenführ, Laurent Simon, Günter Reiter. J. Phys. Chem. C, published online
In the course of electrospraying in a vacuum, polymers acquire electric charges, which are distributed along their backbone. Here, we demonstrate that these charges have a strong impact on the molecular ordering and spectroscopic properties of conjugated polymers when deposited on substrates with an insulating oxide layer. To this end, we electrosprayed varying amounts of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) onto silicon substrates with oxide layers of different thickness. The resulting morphologies were explored by atomic force microscopy. The corresponding spectroscopic properties, including their changes in time upon illumination, were derived from photoluminescence (PL) measurements. On insulating substrates, charges were retained on the polymer chains, causing long-range electrostatic repulsion and the formation of largely separated droplet-like objects containing multiple chains. These objects exhibited significant PL intensities for photons with a wavelength (λ) less than ca. 600 nm, suggesting the lack of π–π stacking interactions between P3HT chains. (more...)
Reversible Metamorphosis of a Conjugated Polymer Induced by Photoexcitation
Solomon Joseph, Anmol Arya, Günter Reiter. Advanced Photonics Research 7 (2026) e202500311
Optoelectronic properties of materials are frequently examined through spectroscopic tools based on the absorption and emission of (visible) photons. Typically, one assumes that these transient characterization processes do not cause observable change of these properties because of the low power of the employed light sources. However, for flexible conjugated polymers in a medium of low viscosity, it is decidedly unclear whether photoexcitation of electrons on the backbone of a long polymer chain has an influence on macromolecular conformations and the corresponding intermolecular interactions. Here, we provide clear experimental evidence that continuous absorption of photons progressively causes persistent changes in the spectroscopic properties of conjugated polymers, accompanied by microscopically observable changes in their spatial distribution within a low-viscosity matrix. By contrast, all these changes were completely absent in nonilluminated parts of the same sample.(more...)
Temperature dependence of crystal – melt coexistence for supported polyethylene filaments
Da Huang, Thorsten Hugel, Bizan N. Balzer, Günter Reiter. Nature Communications 16 (2025) 11127
The broken symmetry of molecular interactions at interfaces is causing that crystals are often covered by a thin liquid layer of their own melt. Such crystal–melt coexistence can be related to phenomena of surface premelting, secondary nucleation and melting point depression, particularly important for small systems. Here, we employed intermittent-contact mode atomic force microscopy imaging on nanoscopic semi-cylindrical filaments of polyethylene on a substrate to observe that these filaments contained a crystalline core bounded by molten regions of rather uniform width, W_soft= (9 ± 2) nm at room temperature, which increased reversibly with temperature T. Filaments smaller than ca. 2∙W_soft (T) were completely molten. The values of W_soft (T) compared favorably with theoretically predicted characteristic length scales in the context of nucleation, surface premelting and the melting point depression of finite size crystals. Altogether, we show that these three phenomena are related and dominated by the intermolecular forces acting at crystal surfaces.(more...)
List of Publications
- Characterisation of Polymer Surfaces and Interfaces by Reflectivity and Interference Techniques
- M. Stamm, G. Reiter, M. Foster, H. Motschmann, S.Hüttenbach, C. Toprakcioglu. Sci. and Eng., ACS/PMSE 62, 843 (1990)
- Interfacial Mixing of Polymers as Investigated by X-ray and Neutron Reflectometry
- M. Stamm, G. Reiter, S. Hüttenbach, M. Foster. ACS Polymer preprints 31, 73 (1990)
- X-ray Reflectometer for Study of Polymer Thin Films and Interfaces
- M. Foster, M. Stamm, G. Reiter, S. Hüttenbach. Vacuum, 41, 1441-1444 (1990)
- Positron Lifetime Investigations on Linear Polyethylene Compared to Branched Polyethylene
- G. Reiter, P. Kindl. phys. stat. sol. (a) 118, 161-168 (1990)
- Concentration-Dependence of the Flory-Huggins Interaction Parameter of a Polymer Blend as Determined by Small-Angle X-Ray-Scattering Experiments
- T. Koch, G.R. Strobl. Journal of Polymer Science B - Polymer Physics 28, 343-353 (1990)
- Positron Lifetime Investigations on Polymethylmethacrylate
- P. Kindl, G. Reiter. In: Positron Annihilation, Ed. L. Dorikens-Vanpraet, M. Dorikens, and D. Segers, World Scientific, Singapore 1989 (p.806)
- A Neutron Reflectometer for the Investigation of Solid and Liquid Interfaces
- M. Stamm, G. Reiter, S. Hüttenbach. Physica B 156, 564-566 (1989)
- Kinetics of Relaxation and Unmixing in Polymer Blends as Studied by X-Ray-Scattering
- G. Strobl. Makromolekulare Chemie - Macromolecular Symposia 26, 413-429 (1989)
- X-Ray-Scattering Study of Molecular Order in a Liquid Crystal-Side Group Polysiloxane
- W. Hotz, G. Strobl. Colloid and Polymer Science 267, 889-898 (1989)
- Interdiffusion in the Partially Miscible Polymer Blend of Deuterated Polystyrene and Poly(styrene-co-bromostyrene)
- F. Bruder, R. Brenn, B. Stühn, G.R. Strobl. Macromolecules 22, 4434-4437 (1989)
- Structure Relaxation after Temperature Jumps in Homogeneous Polystyrene Poly(styrene-co-bromostyrene) Blends
- G.R. Strobl, G. Urban. Colloid and Polymer Science 266, 398-404 (1988)
- Soliton dynamics and impurities in the Pariser-Parr-Pople model of alternating trans-polyacetylen
- R. Markus, W. Förner, J. Ladik. Solid States Communications 68, 135-138 (1988)
- Investigations on Low Temperature Transitions and Time Effects of Branched Polyethylene by the Positron Lifetime Technique
- P. Kindl, G. Reiter. phys. stat. sol. (a) 104, 707 (1987)
- Small-Angle X-Ray-Scattering Study of Spinodal Decomposition in Polystyrene Poly(styrene-co-bromostyrene) Blends
- H. Meier, G.R. Strobl. Macromolecules 20, 649-654 (1987)
- Surface Melting in Melt-Crystallized Linear Polyethylene
- Y. Tanabe, G.R. Strobl, E.W. Fischer. Polymer 27, 1147-1153 (1986)
- Thermally Reversible Phase Separation in Polystyrene Poly(styrene-co-4-bromostyrene) Blends
- G.R. Strobl, J.T. Bendler, R.P. Kampour, A.R. Shultz. Macromolecules 19, 2683-2689 (1986)
- Structure Evolution during Spinodal Decomposition of Polymer Blends
- G.R. Strobl. Macromolecules 18, 558-563 (1985)
- Dielectric Relaxation of Liquid Crystalline Polyacrylates and Polymethacrylates
- R. Zentel, G.R. Strobl, H. Ringsdorf. Macromolecules 18, 960-965 (1985)
- Structures of Liquid Crystalline Side Group Polymers Oriented by Drawing
- R. Zentel, G.R. Strobl. Makromolekulare Chemie - Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics 185, 2669-2676 (1984)
- Molecular-Motion, Defect Structures and Phase-Transitions in Oligomer Crystals
- G.R. Strobl, H. Schwickert, T. Trzebiatowski. Berichte der Bunsen-Gesellschaft - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 87, 274-279 (1983)