September/October 2010
Neutron spin echo studies on the dynamics of polymers and alkanes confined in silicon nanochannels (published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters and in Macromolecules) indicate sticky boundary layers and anisotropic self-diffusion dynamics.
19./21./23.07.2010
Patrick mastered a three-stage disputation marathon within one week - Matthias and Simon successfully finished their PhD!
Matthias Wolff, René Berwanger, and Simon Gruener (f.l.t.r.) proudly present their mortarboards from their PhD graduation. Congratulations!
Theses and disputation talks are available online!
08.04.2010
Pure alcohol (ethanol) exhibits polymorphism: Depending on the cooling rate it solidifies in a crystalline, orientational glass or structural glass state. As we report in Philosophical Magazine Letters this polymorphism is conserved upon geometric nano-confinement in tiny channels, a few nanometers across. However, the critical cooling rates, necessary in order to achieve the glassy phases, are two orders of magnitude smaller than in the bulk state. A pdf-copy of the manuscript can be found here.
11.05.2010
Homepage of TemplDisco, a project directed towards an understanding of template confinement effects on discotic liquid crystals, went live.
27.04.2010
Impressions from our most recent experimental synchrotron run at ESRF, Grenoble.