The aim of BlueMat is to develop nature-inspired, sustainable and interactive material systems that reveal their functionality in water or aqueous environments, or that derive their unique functionality from the special properties of water. Many biological materials derive their functionality from hybrid multiscale structures and interaction with water. This distinguishes them from classical engineering materials, which are based on a selection and composition of chemical elements, which are often rare and environmentally unfriendly. The website of the corresponding research initiative can be found here.
Capillary condensation of argon (triangles) and n-hexane (squares) in silicon nanopores with mean pore diameter of 8 nm as documented by a sorption isotherm measurement recorded at a temperature of 87 K and 273 K, respectively. The insets illustrate film growth at the pore walls which upon vapour pressure increase culminates in capillary condensation, the formation of liquid bridges with concave menisci in the pore centres.
Read more: Capillary Condensation and Capillary Sublimation in Meso- and Nanopores
- Molecular matter confined in nanoporous solids: From multiscale physics to designing advanced materials
- Polymers in interface-dominated geometries: Structure, dynamics and function in planar and in porous hybrid systems (Project B7 of SFB 986)
- Physics of the free surface of simple and complex liquids and solids (Microscopic Structure and Dynamics)
- Tuning the pore morphology of mesoporous solids
