Christian Joins TEM Team
Starting April 1st, Dr. Christian Rossner joins our work group around Prof. Gerald Kothleitner focusing on analytical high resolution TEM. In the course of his research project Christian concentrates on nanohybrid materials, eg. gold-polymer nanocomposites. He gained his PhD in chemistry at the University of Göttingen where he worked in the group for Macromolecular Chemistry headed by Prof. Dr. Philipp Vana.
Supported by the Leopoldina Fellowship Programme, Christian plans to reveal the structural identity of RAFT co-polymers on nanoparticle surfaces. The project aims at analysing compositional variations of co-monomers along the polymeric backbone. For this purpose the RAFT co-polymers will be aligned by grafting them onto the surfaces of inorganic (gold) particles. Synthesised materials are going to be analysed in a next step by means of transmission electron microscopy to gain a deep insight into the mechanisms of how co-polymers are being created. We expect that compositional variations along the polymeric mainchain can be visualised by means of this analytical approach.
DF electron micrograph (a) of gold nanoparticles with a shell of RAFT polymer and results from EELS and spectrum imaging (b,c). The core-shell structure is evident from the elemental distribution of carbon (b). The co-localization of sulfur with the lateral position of the gold cores (c) is a result of the affinity of the sulfur-containing RAFT polymer end group toward gold surfaces. (Adapted from DOI: 10.1002/marc.201600480.)
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Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Institute of Physical Chemistry: work group Macromolecular Chemistry
Support by the Leopoldina Fellowship Programme, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Rossner, C.; Tang, Q.; Glatter, O.; Müller, M.; Vana, P.: Uniform Distance Scaling Behavior of Planet-Satellite Nanostructures Made by Star Polymers. Langmuir 2017, 33, 2017–2026. DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b04473.
Rossner, C.; Roddatis, V.; Lopatin, S.; Vana, P.: Functionalization of Planet-Satellite Nanostructures Revealed by Nanoscopic Localization of Distinct Macromolecular Species. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 2016, 37, 1742–1747. DOI: 10.1002/marc.201600480.
Rossner, C.; Vana, P.: Planet–satellite nanostructures made to order by RAFT star polymers. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 12639–12642. (selected as hot paper) DOI: 10.1002/anie.201406854.