researchers working with

Rüdiger Berger

Team at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research

from left to right and up to down: Xiaomei Li is a material scientist. She is finished her PhD thesis and works as a PostDoc in the field of and drop sliding electrification within the framework of ERC DynaMo. Fiona Berner is a physicist and she is working on her PhD thesis in the field of scanning drop adhesion forces within the CRC 1194. Helma Burg supports various Scanning Force Microscope service measurements at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and takes care of the equipment laboratory 2.502. Zhongyuan Ni is working on his PhD thesis in the field of drop forces and drop sliding electrification. Zhongyuan Ni was awarded with a CSC stipend and works within the ERC. Sajjad Shumaly is a computer engineer. He is working on his PhD in the field of machine learning concepts for analysis of drop sliding behavior within the framework of ERC DynaMo. Benjamin Leibauer is a chemist. He works as a PhD student in the field of adaptive surfaces within the German Priority Programm 2171. Chirag Hinduja is a mechanical engineer and he is working on his PhD thesis in the field of drop adhesion forces and drop sliding electrification within the CRC 1194. Yuwen Ji is working in the field of adaptive surfaces and on Scanning Force Microcopy. Yuwen Ji was awarded with a CSC stipend. Me (Rüdiger). Franjo Weber is a chemist. He is working on his PhD in the field of Scanning Force Microscopy on solid state battery materials supported by MPGC. His work is co-supervised by Prof Jürgen Janek. Xiaotang Shi is a material scientist, she is working on her PhD in the field of Scanning Force Microscopy on battery materials and was awarded with a CSC stipend. Leonard Ries supports various Scanning Force Microscope service measurements at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and takes care of the equipment laboratory 2.502.


In case you are interested to join my group, please contact me. Email. --- You can perform your Bachelor, Master and PhD thesis in my group. Your application must include a CV, a specific motivation letter and your university/school certificates.

News

Bodywork for a contribution to Max Planck Research/Max-Planck Forschung

Christian Schneider wrote an contribution of our reserach on Tactile Drops (german: Tropfen mit Tastsinn).

The article required a special photo shooting that impressively depicts the contact of water with different surfaces. surfaces. Several liters of water poured over the three researchers several times - a real commitment to the Institute's public relations work of the institute. More details here: https://www.mpg.de/20899769/MPF_2023_3.





Congratulations to Chirag Hinduja

He presented his work titled "Electro Drop Friction Force Instrument" at the APS meeting March 3 - 8, 2024 in Minneapolis (US) and won the best contribution award in the session "tutorial for authors and referees for physical review journals" .







Congratulations to Franjo Weber

He won the best poster prize at the 4th World Conference on Solid Electrolytes for Advanced Applications: Garnets and Competitors (4-7 September 2023) in Tromso, Norway.

His poster contributes to understanding the evolution of lithium dendrites in garnet materials by interpreting operando KPFM measurements. Lithium dendrite growth is a major drawback hindering the development of reliable all-solid-state lithium metal batteries based on inorganic solid electrolytes. These dendrites are often found at the grain boundaries of the solid electrolyte, as observed by ex-situ post mortem measurements of battery components.However, it is not understood where do dendrites nucleate and why do they grow? To gain insight in both aspects, we performed operando Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) measurements on a Li6.25Al0.25La3Zr2O12 garnet-type solid electrolyte during charging and discharging of the battery. We show that KPFM maps the Galvani potential (inner electrostatic potential) of the solid electrolyte during operation. We measured a drop in the Galvani potential at the grain boundaries close to the lithium metal electrode during plating. We attribute the Galvani potential drop to a preferential accumulation of electrons at the grain boundaries. Based on our results, we present a mechanistic model that explains the preferential growth of lithium dendrites at grain boundaries and their penetration into inorganic solid electrolytes. The presented work partially bases on the work published by Chao Zhu, Till Fuchs, Stefan A.L. Weber, Felix. H. Richter, Gunnar Glasser, Franjo Weber, Hans-Jürgen Butt, Jürgen Janek, Rüdiger Berger, Nature Communications 14, 1300 (2023) .


Congratulations to Xiaomei Li

She won the best presentation award at the Droplet Conference 2023 in Bejjing.

Her presentation summarizes the fast-release kinetics of a pH-responsive polymer measured by dynamic contact angles. Surface adaptation is a dynamic process when a droplet is sliding over a pristine surface. Surface adaptation may lead to changes in surface energy which can be measured by contact angles. The conformation of polymers can play an important role in releasing active agents, e.g. drugs, upon an external stimulus. In this work, we investigate the fast-release kinetics of 8-hydroxyquinoline from a pH-responsive random copolymer composed of methyl methacrylate and 8-quinolinyl-sulfide-ethyl acrylate by hydrolysis. Combing dynamic contact angle measurement with the adaptation model allows exploring the release kinetics on a much shorter time scale down to µs. The presented work bases on the work published by Xiaomei Li, Krisada Auepattana-Aumrung, Hans-Jürgen Butt, Daniel Crespy, Rüdiger Berger, Chemical Physics Letters 158, 144901 (2023).


Congratulations to Xiaomei Li

She won the ECIS 2022 Posterprize for presenting: Adaptation and Recovery of PS/PAA Copolymer Surface to Water,

Her poster summarizes results on PS/PAA copolymer that adapts upon contact with water. Xiaomei used adaptations theory to describe the adapatation kinetcs. For the PS/PAA system the adaptaion time-scale is 0.2 - 2 ms. Furthermore she elucidated that water diffusion and polymer reorientation leads to adaptation of the surface. The latter was concluded from a cooperation with Mirela Encheva and Ellen Backus (University of Vienna)
This work was partially funded by the DFG within the SPP 2171 on adaptive wetting and the collaborative reserach center 1194 on wetting.


Congratulations to Benjamin Leibauer

He won the DPG 2022 Posterprize for presenting: Influence of the surface roughness and surface chemistry to understand slide electrification,

His poster summarizes his results on contact electrification between water droplets and hydrophobic surfaces. He reported that for the drop charge both parameters have an equal influence.
This work was partially funded by the DFG within the SPP 2171 on adaptive wetting and the ERC DynaMo.



Former group members