In the framework of the inter-facultary Lab for Functional Soft Materials led by Prof. Sabine Ludwigs (polymer materials science and chemistry) und Prof. Holger Steeb (rheology, material modelling and simulation) we are working on intelligent adaptive materials, which are applicable in Soft Robotics and biomedical applications at the interface between human and artificial material.
We are a novel experimental platform in SimTech which works in a feedback-loop between preparation of novel multifunctional materials, (in-situ) characterization of their functional (e.g. optical and electronic) properties and their mechanical behavior, and multiscale-modelling which allows to predict material behavior based on advanced (data-integrated) numerical simulations.
Our expertise is on intelligent materials which can adapt to environmental conditions and triggered by external stimuli such as temperature, relative humidity and electric fields.
Representative projects include:
- “IntPoly: Intelligent Polymer Materials as Actuators & Sensors for Soft Robotics Applications” funded by the DFG within the SPP 2100 on Soft Material Robotics
https://www.spp2100.de/project/intpoly
- “PolySurf: Wetting on Patterned Adaptive Conducting Polymer Surfaces for Microfluidic Applications (PolySurf)” funded by the DFG within the SPP 2171 on “Dynamic Wetting of Flexible, Adaptive, and Switchable Surfaces”
https://www.uni-muenster.de/SPP2171/projects/index.html
Selected Publications
2023
- S. Pflumm, Y. Wiedemann, D. Fauser, D. Lunter, H. Steeb, and S. Ludwigs, “Autonomous adaption of intelligent humidity-controlled hydrogel patches for tunable stiffness and drug release (submitted),” 2023.
2022
- C. Dingler, R. Walter, B. Gompf, and S. Ludwigs, “In-situ Monitoring of Optical Constants, Conductivity and Swelling of PEDOT:PSS from Doped to the Fully Neutral State,” Macromolecules, vol. 55, no. 5, Art. no. 5, 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.1c02515.
- D. Fauser and H. Steeb, “Influence of humidity on the rheology of thermoresponsive shape memory polymers,” Journal of Materials Science, vol. 57, no. 20, Art. no. 20, May 2022, doi: 10.1007/s10853-022-07206-8.
2021
- C. Dingler, H. Müller, M. Wieland, D. Fauser, H. Steeb, and S. Ludwigs, “Actuators: From Understanding Mechanical Behavior to Curvature Prediction of Humidity-Triggered Bilayer Actuators (Adv. Mater. 9/2021),” Advanced Materials, vol. 33, no. 9, Art. no. 9, 2021, doi: 10.1002/adma.202170067.
- E. Ghobadi, A. Shutov, and H. Steeb, “Parameter Identification and Validation of Shape-Memory Polymers within the Framework of Finite Strain Viscoelasticity,” Materials, vol. 14, no. 8, Art. no. 8, 2021, doi: 10.3390/ma14082049.
- D. Fauser and H. Steeb, “Humidity and thermal triggered Shape Memory Effect - Rheology-based numerical modelling - Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Humidity Analysis.” DaRUS, 2021. doi: 10.18419/DARUS-2021.
- C. Dingler, H. Müller, M. Wieland, D. Fauser, H. Steeb, and S. Ludwigs, “From Understanding Mechanical Behavior to Curvature Prediction of Humidity-Triggered Bilayer Actuators,” Advanced Materials, vol. 33, no. 9, Art. no. 9, 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.1c02515.
2020
- M. Wieland, C. Dingler, R. Merkle, J. Maier, and S. Ludwigs, “Humidity-Controlled Water Uptake and Conductivities in Ion and Electron Mixed Conducting Polythiophene Films,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, vol. 12, p. 6742, 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b21181.
- D. Neusser, C. Malacrida, M. Kern, Y. Gross, J. van Slageren, and S. Ludwigs, “High Conductivities of Disordered P3HT films by an Electrochemical Doping Strategy,” Chemistry of Materials, vol. 32, no. 14, Art. no. 14, 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c01293.
