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
- Isothermal crystallization and melting of isotactic polypropylene analyzed by time- and temperature-dependent small-angle X-ray scattering experiments
- M. Iijima, G. Strobl. Macromolecules 33, 5204-5214 (2000)
- From the melt via mesomorphic and granular crystalline layers to lamellar crystallites: A major route followed in polymer crystallization?
- G. Strobl. Eur. Phys. J. E 3, 165 (2000)
- Steps in the formation of the partially crystalline state
- Barbara Heck, Thosten Hugel, Masanori Iijima, Gert Strobl. Polymer 41, 8839-8848 (2000)
- Polymer Studies
- G. Reiter. Chapter 10 in Lecture Notes in Physics No. 58, X-Ray and Neutron Reflectivity: Principles and Applications, Eds. J. Daillant, A. Gibaud , 1999
- Morphological Pathways of Pattern Evolution and Dewetting in Thin Liquid Films
- A. Sharma, R. Khanna, R. Konnur, G. Reiter. K.L. Mittal, ed., VSP Publishers, Utrecht (1999)
- Nanometer-scale Surface Patterns with Long Range Order Created by Crystallisation of Diblock Copolymers
- G. Reiter, G. Castelein, P. Hoerner, G. Riess, A. Blumen, J.-U. Sommer. Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3844-3847 (1999)
- A Thin Film Analog of the Corneal Mucus Layer of the Tear Film: An Enigmatic Long Range Non-Classical DLVO Interaction in the Breakup of Thin Polymer Films
- A. Sharma, R. Khanna, G. Reiter. Colloids & Surfaces B 14, 223-235 (1999)
- The Strength of Long-Range Forces Across Thin Liquid Films
- G. Reiter, A. Sharma, R. Khanna, A. Casoli, M.O. David. J. Coll. Interf. Sci. 214, 126 (1999)
- Destabilising Effect of Long Range Forces in Thin Liquid Films on Wettable Substrates
- G. Reiter, A. Sharma, A. Casoli, M.-O. David, R. Khanna, P. Auroy. Europhys. Lett. 46, 512 (1999)
- Thin Film Instability Induced by Long Range Forces
- G. Reiter, A. Sharma, A. Casoli, M.O. David, R. Khanna, P. Auroy. Langmuir 15, 2551-2558 (1999)
- Network stretching, slip processes, and fragmentation of crystallites during uniaxial drawing of polyethylene and related copolymers. A comparative study
- R. Hiss, S. Hobeika, C. Lynn, G. Strobl. Macromolecules 32, 4390-4403 (1999)
- Reversible surface melting of PE and PEO crystallites indicated by TMDSC
- W.B. Hu, T. Albrecht, G. Strobl. Macromolecules 32, 7548-7554 (1999)
- A general scheme derived from video-controlled stretching tests and WAXS for describing tensile deformations of polyethylenes
- R. Hiss, S. Hobeika, C. Lynn, G. Strobl. Journal of Macromolecular Science - Physics B38, 847-858 (1999)
- Steps in the transition of an entangled polymer melt to the partially crystalline state
- B. Heck, T. Hugel, M. Iijima, E. Sadiku, G. Strobl. New Journal of Physics 1, 17 (1999).
- Building lamellae from blocks: The pathway followed in the formation of crystallites of syndiotactic polypropylene
- T. Hugel, G. Strobl, R. Thomann. Acta Polymerica, 50, 214 (1999)
- Adhesion Failure and Dewetting of Thin Liquid Films
- A. Sharma, R. Khanna and G. Reiter. Festschrift on Adhesion Science and Technology, p. 199-237, W.J. van Ooij and H.R. Anderson, eds., VSP Publishers, Utrecht (1998)
- Détermination de forces intermoléculaires par microscopie optique: effet de connecteurs polymères
- A.Casoli, G.Reiter, M.Brendlé, J. Schultz. Ouvrage des actes “Imagerie des Polymères” (Colloque international francophone, Nancy, Février 1998, (Apollor)
- Self-assembly of Crystallisable Diblock Copolymers
- G. Reiter, P. Hoerner, G. Hurtrez, G. Riess, J.-U. Sommer, J.-F. Joanny. J. Surf. Sci. Tech. 14 , 93-103 (1998)
- Role of Intermolecular Interactions in Pattern Formation in Unstable Thin Films
- A. Sharma, G. Reiter. Metals Materials and Processes 10, 287-302 (1998)
- The artistic side of intermolecular forces
- G. Reiter. Science 282, 888-889 (1998)