German Conference for Research with Synchrotron Radiation, Neutrons and Ion Beams at Large Facilities

Soft X-ray analysis of microgels and polymer-based microcontainers in aqueous environment

17 Sept 2018, 16:30

1h 30m

Fakultät für Maschinenwesen der Technischen Universität München

Poster P8 Functional materials and materials science Poster session 1

Speaker

Rainer H. Fink (Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lehrstuhl für Physikalische Chemie II and ICMM, Erlangen, Germany)

Description

Polymer-based microgel and core-shell particles are versatile containers for the transport of drugs, theranostic gases or catalytically active molecules. They are in many cases biodegradable and fully compatible to in-vivo applications. During recent years we have investigated a broad range of such hybrid materials ranging from gas filled microballoons and thermoresponsible microgel networks to magnetoresponsive particles with embedded iron nanoparticles and core-shell systems filled with theranostic gases or catalytically active fluids (e.g., ionic liquids). Soft X-ray microscopy is an excellent tool to study those systems in-situ in aqueous matrix with high-resolution and chemical sensitivity. We have analyzed shell thicknesses, swelling behaviors and temperature response to contribute better understanding on release mechanisms and have developed procedures to derive high-resolution 3D representations of the particles from 2D transmission X-ray micrographs. The project is funded by the BMBF (05K16WED).