SFB 1552 – Defects and Defect Engineering in Soft Matter

Research Objective

Defect engineering is an established approach in hard-matter science, focusing on tailoring properties of inorganic semiconductors and organic molecular materials. However, the potential of defect control in soft matter remains underexplored.

Our collaborative research center (CRC) aims to shift this paradigm by understanding and controlling defects in polymeric, colloidal, and amphiphilic systems. We seek to establish the fundamental interplay between defects and the adaptivity and resilience of dynamic soft matter systems, enabling the development of functional units where defects control matter or charge transport.

This research will involve close collaboration among biologists, chemists, and physicists at Mainz, a renowned center of polymer and soft matter science.

| PROJECTS

In CRC1552, various projects from the fields of chemistry, physics and biosciences are working together under the premise “From Defects to Effects” to understand, control and ultimately utilize defects as functional entities in soft matter.

See all Projects

| PUBLICATIONS

“Protonation Effects in Protein-Ligand Complexes – A Case Study of Endothiapepsin and Pepstatin A with Computational and Experimental Methods” I ChemMedChem 2025, e202400953

“Photocyclization of Fluorinated Acetophenones Unlocks an Efficient Way to Solar Energy Storage” I J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 47, 32701–32707

“The C-terminal α-helix is crucial for the activity of the bacterial ABC transporter BmrA” I J. Biol. Chem. (2025) 301(2) 108098 1

“Structural basis for GTPase activity and conformational changes of the bacterial dynamin-like protein SynDLP” I Cell Reports, 43 (9), 2024, 114657

“Dual Centrifugation-Based Screening for pH-Responsive Liposomes” I ChemMedChem 2025, 20, e202400648

“Enzymatic Reaction Network-driven Polymerization-induced Transient Coacervation” I Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, e202421620

“Design and characterisation of casein coated and drug loaded magnetic nanoparticles for theranostic applications” I RSC Adv., 2024, 14, 26388-26399

“Fuel-Driven Enzymatic Reaction Networks to Program Autonomous Thiol/Disulfide Redox Systems” I J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 15, 10281–10285

“Near zero-field microwave-free magnetometry with ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond” I Phys. Rev. B 109, 224107, 2024

“Deep Learning Reaction Network: a machine learning framework for modeling time resolved data” I bioRxiv 2024.07.31.606055

“An Efficient and Accurate SCF Algorithm for Block Copolymer Films and Brushes Using Adaptive Discretizations” I Polymers 2024, 16(9), 1228

“Stability and Elasticity of Ultrathin Sphere-Patterned Block Copolymer Films” I Macromolecules 2024, 57, 9, 4629–4634

“Near-zero-field microwave-free magnetometry with nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds” I Optics Express, Vol. 32, Issue 12, pp. 21936-21945 (2024)