Chiral supramolecular materials: From fundamentals to application
Marco Preuss defended his PhD thesis at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry on March 22nd.
Supramolecular chemistry bridges the gap between the molecular and macroscopic length scales, through linking molecular properties, supramolecular morphologies, and macroscopic functionality. However, the transition to integrating these materials into complex devices remains an ongoing challenge. For his PhD thesis, Marco Preuss combines efforts in transitioning from fundamental studies and morphological control in functional supramolecular systems in solution towards the application of supramolecular materials in bulk.
Supramolecular chemistry has great application potential in material science, especially in conjunction with chirality. Advances in the fundamental understanding of supramolecular polymer chemistry in solution have helped to push the field towards creating functional materials.
However, the transition to integrating these materials into complex devices remains an ongoing challenge. The research presented in the PhD thesis of Marco Preuss aims to progress the field by going all the way, starting from a fundamental understanding of molecular interactions and morphological control over structures in solution, towards functional materials and their application.
In his research, Preuss explores how control over chiral morphologies is of paramount importance. This provides a means towards elucidating fundamental aspects of supramolecular polymerizations or to add novel functionality in systems and materials.
By establishing an in-depth understanding of interactions at the molecular scale, Preuss and his colleagues have been able to relate and optimize material properties at the macroscopic scale.
Title of PhD thesis: Chiral Supramolecular Materials: From fundamentals to application. Supervisors: Bert Meijer and Ghislaine Vantomme.