PhD student Nonlinear molecular spectroscopy of elastic water

Work Activities
Hydrogels form a special class of form-stable, elastic materials that consist of a (polymer) network and a large amount of water. In this project you will use advanced nonlinear spectroscopic techniques to study biological hydrogels and supramolecular hydrogels. Biological hydrogels have a network formed by protein-polysaccharide chains, and typically contain 90-99% water. These hydrogels are ubiquitous in nature and perform important biological functions. Supramolecular hydrogels contain relatively small molecular components that reversibly assemble via hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions into fibrils or bundels. Supramolecular hydrogels can already be form-stable and elastic while containing an astonishingly large amount (>99.9%) of water. As a result of the non-covalent nature of these interactions, supramolecular hydrogels are highly responsive to external stimuli like changes in temperature, pH, and exposure to light, thus allowing an easy contro...