Profil

The self-organization of single shape persistent polymers and colloids into well-defined supramolecular structures is studied. The future goal is the development of hierarchies of structure formation up to nanostructured materials by combination of synthesis, characterization and theory. The major synthetic challenge is to chemically encode macromolecular objects (rods, spheres, discs) in order to create inter- and intramolecular interaction forces of variable strength and range. Concomitantly, the development of analytical techniques aim at the visualization of the structures and at the quantification of subtle interaction forces within single molecules or within single supramolecular assemblies. The major part of the theoretical work consists of computer simulations, which provide insight into the molecular mechanism of structure formation of macromolecular systems at surfaces and in bulk.