Polymers
Research topics [Complex materials]
Polymers are long-chain molecules, composed of several 100 to 1000 similar molecular units, the monomers. The thread-like shape of the polymer molecules results in the interesting physical properties of artificial and natural polymeric materials, such as modern plastics and the connective tissue of vertebrates.
We study the structures and properties of polymeric and biological materials on the nanometer scale and our interests are mainly in the spatially complex structure of these materials, dynamic processes of structure formation, nanomechanics and molecular dynamics. In addition, the dynamics of excited states such as excitons and electrons in conjugated polymers also interesting because of their great significance for applications in optoelectronics.
The following scientific groups are working in the field of polymers.