The course offers an overview of the remarkable properties of polymer materials. We will learn what makes macromolecules special and different from both inorganic and small-molecule organic materials and will understand these differences as a consequence of their high molecular weight. We will become interested in the molecular composition and architecture of macromolecules and will learn how to trace macroscopic properties to the molecular nature of the material. We will then move into properties of polymeric materials and explore the rich variety of mechanical properties – which span the hole range from your elastic spandex pants to bullet proof vests. We will see how the properties of a polymeric material can be enforced by blending different polymers or adding inorganic materials. The lecture will finish with an overview of applications of different polymers, both in daily life and in modern academic research areas.

Fundamentals-Lecture for students of Advanced Materials and Processes, open for guests

The course provides an overview of fundamental properties of nanomaterials. We start by discussing general concepts, definitions and size-dependent properties of nanoscale materials and systems and introduce fundamental structure-property and process-structure relationsships. The next part of the lecture will deal with the mechanical properties of materials with nanoscale structure and composite materials. We then discuss properties of nanoparticulate systems with a special emphasis on optical and magnetic effects on both the single particle level and of ensembles of nanoparticles such as thin films.

Lecture for students of Advanced Materials and Processes, open for guests

The course provides a broad overview of the field of polymers, including aspects of chemistry, physics, material properties and processing. We will appreciate the wide range of applications and properties of polymers and understand that these properties can be tailored by their molecular properties, such as the chemical identity of the monomer(s), the chain length, conformation as well as the interaction between individual segments and chains. We will introduce fundamental techniques to synthesize macromolecules and discuss their differences in reaction mechanism and kinetics and discuss suitable strategies for different monomers and desired polymer architectures. We will move into advanced polymerization techniques such as living polymerization and will see how such techniques offer more control over the polymer composition and architecture. We will discuss properties of special polymer architectures such as stimuli-resonsponsive and block-copolymers. We will then move into technological aspects of polymer synthesis and discuss homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis for the formation of polymers as well as emulsion polymerization techniques. Finally, we will get an overview of different possibilities to process polymers in industrial settings and discuss different fields of applications.

Wahlpflichfach Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBI), Life Science Engineering (LSE), Chemical Engineering (CEN), Chemistry; open for guests

This course gives a broad overview on the self-assembly of building blocks into complex materials. We start with molecular self-assembly and learn how surfactants form micelles, why block copolymers create nanoscale patterns and what a liquid crystal is. We then continue to discuss the self-assembly of particles that can form ordered structures in two- and three dimensional systems. We highlight how such materials occur in nature and find applications in technology before discussing active systems able to form out-of-equilibrium structures.

Wahlpflichtfach Chemical and Biological Engineering

This course focuses on interfaces in materials and process technologies. With examples from nature and technology, we will learn that a lot of phenomena and properties are governed by the interfaces of materials. We start with a discussion of liquid interfaces with a focus on surface tension, surfactants, wetting phenomena and capillary effects. We continue with solid interfaces, their characterization, functionalization and properties. We then proceed into the fundamental forces acting between molecules and macroscopic objects. Finally, we focus on particulate systems and discuss nucleation and growths of such particles as well as the forces acting between them.

Pflichtfach, Bachelor Chemical and Biological engineering; taught in German