Chemical Physics and Biophysics
Professor Robert Magerle
Chemical Physics and Biophysics 

Professor Robert Magerle

Robert Magerle

E-mail:
Phone: +49-371-531-38033
Office: C60.162

Research Interests

  • Nanobiomechanics of collagen fibrils and connective tissues
  • Chemical physics of biological and polymeric materials at surfaces and in thin films 
  • Atomic force microscopy and 3D depth profiling with atomic force microscopy
  • Multi-sensory displays for nanomedicine

Biography

  • 1985–1991: Study of physics at the University of Konstanz.
  • 1991–1997: Research Assistant at the University of Konstanz (with Prof. E. Recknagel, Nuclear Solid State Physics).
  • 1995: Doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) at the University of Konstanz.
  • 1997–1998: Postdoctoral researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science (with Prof. J. Klein, Materials and Interfaces).
  • 1998–2002: Research Assistant at the University of Bayreuth (with Prof. G. Krausch, Physical Chemistry II).
  • 2002: Habilitation in Experimental Physics and appointment as Privatdozent at the University of Bayreuth.
  • 2002–2004: Head of an independent junior research group at the University of Bayreuth (funded by the Volkswagen Foundation).
  • Since 2004: Full professor (C4) at the Chemnitz University of Technology.

Selected Publications

Full list available at ORCID ORCID iD icon0000-0001-7277-8020

  • Triacylglycerols affect the water content and cohesive strength of collagen fibrils
    M. Dehnert, T. Klose, Y. Pan, D. R. T. Zahn, M. Voigtländer, J. F. Teichert, R. Magerle
    Soft Matter (9 September 2025), DOI: 10.1039/D5SM00696A
  • Coarse-Grained MD Simulations of the Capillary Interaction between a Sphere and a Binary Fluid with Truncated Lennard-Jones Potentials
    F. Wüstemann, P. Zech, R. Magerle
    J. Phys. Chem. B 128, 10975–10985 (2024)
  • Rate-independent hysteretic energy dissipation in collagen fibrils
    R. Magerle, P. Zech, M. Dehnert, A. Bendixen, A. Otto
    Soft Matter, 20, 2831–2839 (2024); accepted manuscript: arXiv:2507.10841
  • Nanomechanical 3D Depth Profiling of Collagen Fibrils in Native Tendon
    R. Magerle, M. Dehnert, D. Voigt, A. Bernstein
    Analytical Chemistry 92, 8741–8749 (2020)
  • Liquid-Crystalline Order and Film Thickness Determine the Semicrystalline Morphology in Diketopyrrolopyrrole-Based Copolymers
    S. Vazirieh Lenjani, M. Zerson, Q. Wang, M. Sommer, R. Magerle
    ACS Macro Lett. 8, 1611–1616 (2019)
  • 3D depth profiling of the interaction between an AFM tip and fluid polymer solutions
    M. Dehnert, R. Magerle
    Nanoscale 10, 5695–5707 (2018).
  • Unraveling capillary interaction and viscoelastic response in atomic force microscopy of hydrated collagen fibrils
    M. R. Uhlig, R. Magerle
    Nanoscale 9, 1244–1256 (2017); accepted manuscript: arXiv:1910.00794
  • Subsurface Imaging of Functionalized and Polymer-Grafted Graphene Oxide
    M. Dehnert, E.-C. Spitzner, F. Beckert, C. Friedrich, R. Magerle
    Macromolecules 49, 7415–7425 (2016).
  • Nanoscale Swelling Heterogeneities in Type I Collagen Fibrils
    E.-C. Spitzner, S. Röper, M. Zerson, A. Bernstein, R. Magerle
    ACS Nano 9, 5683–5694 (2015).