Publications
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Recent Publications
Anmol Arya, Solomon L. Joseph, Francois Vonau, Jean-Luc Bubendorff, Silvia Siegenführ, Laurent Simon, Günter Reiter. J. Phys. Chem. C, published online
In the course of electrospraying in a vacuum, polymers acquire electric charges, which are distributed along their backbone. Here, we demonstrate that these charges have a strong impact on the molecular ordering and spectroscopic properties of conjugated polymers when deposited on substrates with an insulating oxide layer. To this end, we electrosprayed varying amounts of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) onto silicon substrates with oxide layers of different thickness. The resulting morphologies were explored by atomic force microscopy. The corresponding spectroscopic properties, including their changes in time upon illumination, were derived from photoluminescence (PL) measurements. On insulating substrates, charges were retained on the polymer chains, causing long-range electrostatic repulsion and the formation of largely separated droplet-like objects containing multiple chains. These objects exhibited significant PL intensities for photons with a wavelength (λ) less than ca. 600 nm, suggesting the lack of π–π stacking interactions between P3HT chains. (more...)
Reversible Metamorphosis of a Conjugated Polymer Induced by Photoexcitation
Solomon Joseph, Anmol Arya, Günter Reiter. Advanced Photonics Research 7 (2026) e202500311
Optoelectronic properties of materials are frequently examined through spectroscopic tools based on the absorption and emission of (visible) photons. Typically, one assumes that these transient characterization processes do not cause observable change of these properties because of the low power of the employed light sources. However, for flexible conjugated polymers in a medium of low viscosity, it is decidedly unclear whether photoexcitation of electrons on the backbone of a long polymer chain has an influence on macromolecular conformations and the corresponding intermolecular interactions. Here, we provide clear experimental evidence that continuous absorption of photons progressively causes persistent changes in the spectroscopic properties of conjugated polymers, accompanied by microscopically observable changes in their spatial distribution within a low-viscosity matrix. By contrast, all these changes were completely absent in nonilluminated parts of the same sample.(more...)
Temperature dependence of crystal – melt coexistence for supported polyethylene filaments
Da Huang, Thorsten Hugel, Bizan N. Balzer, Günter Reiter. Nature Communications 16 (2025) 11127
The broken symmetry of molecular interactions at interfaces is causing that crystals are often covered by a thin liquid layer of their own melt. Such crystal–melt coexistence can be related to phenomena of surface premelting, secondary nucleation and melting point depression, particularly important for small systems. Here, we employed intermittent-contact mode atomic force microscopy imaging on nanoscopic semi-cylindrical filaments of polyethylene on a substrate to observe that these filaments contained a crystalline core bounded by molten regions of rather uniform width, W_soft= (9 ± 2) nm at room temperature, which increased reversibly with temperature T. Filaments smaller than ca. 2∙W_soft (T) were completely molten. The values of W_soft (T) compared favorably with theoretically predicted characteristic length scales in the context of nucleation, surface premelting and the melting point depression of finite size crystals. Altogether, we show that these three phenomena are related and dominated by the intermolecular forces acting at crystal surfaces.(more...)
List of Publications
- Model treatment of tensile deformation of semicrystalline polymers: Static elastic moduli and creep parameters derived for a sample of polyethylene
- Ke Hong, Ankur Rastogi, Gert Strobl. Macromolecules 37, 10174-10179 (2004)
- Equations describing lamellar structure parameters and melting points of polyethylene-co-(butene/octene)s
- Tai-Yon Cho, Barbara Heck, Gert Strobl. Coll. Polym. Science 282, 825-832 (2004)
- A model treating tensile deformation of semi-crystalline polymers: Quasi-static stress-strain relationship and viscous stress determined for a sample of polyethylene
- K. Hong, A. Rastogi and G. Strobl. Macromolecules 37, 10165 (2004)
- Crystallization of s-polypropylene: a qualitative change in the kinetics induced by the temperature of the melt
- Barbara Heck, Gert Strobl. Coll. Polym. Science 282, 511-513 (2004)
- Summary and conclusions: Progress in our understanding of instabilities in thin films
- G. Reiter. Eur. Phys. J. E, 12, 465 –468 (2003)
- Self-Assembly of CoPt3 Nanoparticle Rings Based on Phase-Separated Hexadecylamine Droplet Structure
- Leonid V. Govor, Gottfried H. Bauer, Günter Reiter, Elena Shevchenko, Horst Weller, Jürgen Parisi. Langmuir 19, 9573-9576 (2003)
- Dewetting near the Glass Transition: Transition from a Capillary Force Dominated to a Dissipation Dominated Regime
- Pascal Damman, Nancy Baudelet, Günter Reiter Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 216101 (2003)
- Model Experiments for a Molecular Understanding of Polymer Crystallization
- G. Reiter. J. Polym. Sci. Part B Polym. Phys. 41, 1869-1877 (2003)
- Chances and Challenges in Europe
- G. Reiter, N. Hadjichristidis, M. Möller. Nature Materials 2, 67-69 (2003)
- Effet autophobe et démouillage des couches minces de polymères
- G. Reiter. L’Actualité Chimique, Janvier 2003, p. 12-17
- Polymer Crystallization on Pre-patterned Substrates
- G. Dorenbos, J.-U. Sommer, G. Reiter. J. Chem. Phys. 118, 784-791 (2003)
- Thermodynamics of Formation, Reorganization and Melting of Confined Nanometer-sized Polymer Crystals
- Andreas Röttele,Thomas Thurn-Albrecht, Jens-Uwe Sommer, Günter Reiter. Macromolecules 36, 1257-1260 (2003)
- Outlook and open questions: A personal view
- Günter Reiter and Jens-Uwe Sommer. In Lecture Notes in Physics: "Polymer Crystallization: Observations, Concepts and Interpretations". Eds. Jens-Uwe Sommer and Günter Reiter, p.378-382, 2003
- A Generic Model for Growth and Morphogenesis of Polymer Crystals in Two Dimensions
- Jens-Uwe Sommer and Günter Reiter. In Lecture Notes in Physics: "Polymer Crystallization: Observations, Concepts and Interpretations". Eds. Jens-Uwe Sommer and Günter Reiter, p.153-176, 2003
- Crystallization of Polymers in Thin Films: Model experiments
- Günter Reiter, Gilles Castelein and Jens-Uwe Sommer. In Lecture Notes in Physics: "Polymer Crystallization: Observations, Concepts and Interpretations". Eds. Jens-Uwe Sommer and Günter Reiter, p.131-152, 2003
- Polymer Crystallization: Obervations, Concepts and Interpretations
- Editors: Jens-Uwe Sommer and Günter Reiter. Lecture Notes in Physics 606 (2003), Springer Berlin/Heidelberg, ISSN 1616-6361
- Dewetting of thin polymer films at temperatures close to the glass transition
- G. Reiter, M. Sferrazza, P. Damman. Eur. Phys. J. E 12, 133–138 (2003)
- Editorial on "Focus point": Unstable thin films
- A.M. Donald, J.F. Joanny,M. Moller,G. Reiter. Eur. Phys. J. E 12, 359-360 (2003)
- Crystal growth rates of diblock copolymers in thin films: Influence of film thickness
- G.Reiter, L.Vidal. Eur. Phys. J. E 12, 497-505 (2003)
- Self-destruction and dewetting of thin polymer films: the role of interfacial tensions
- G. Reiter, R. Khanna, A. Sharma. J. Phys. Condensed Matter 15 (2003) S331-S336