|
Nature is full of inspiring structures like bone, enamel and mollusk shells which gain their remarkable properties by combining organic and inorganic components. The mineral provides the stiffness, whereas organics such as e.g. proteins or chitin ensure a sufficient toughness and also play an important role in controlling the nucleation and growth of the mineral. Besides modulating the outer shape, size and arrangement of biogenic mineral crystals, the organic molecules can even get incorporated into the mineral crystals thereby causing substantial distortions of the mineral lattice structure.
The research group “Bio-inspired Hybrid Materials and Synchrotron Research” investigates physical and physicochemical aspects of the interplay between organic molecules and minerals with the aim of gaining new knowledge on the formation mechanisms, structure and properties of hybrid materials and organic-inorganic composites. Our focus lies on exploring how organic molecules affect the structure and properties of minerals on the size level of nanometers and below. This task is addressed by investigating both, biominerals as well as bio-inspired materials. Additionally, the group holds the responsibility of maintaining the MPI’s experimental stage at the synchrotron radiation facility BESSY II, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. We aim to continuously enhance the in-situ and scanning SAXS/WAXD (+XRF) setups for the characterization of biomaterials.
A short introduction to the µ-Spot Beamline can be downloaded here.
|
Top