SXNS17

Session

Thin films and interfaces in soft matter and materials science III

18 Jul 2024, 09:00

ESRF Auditorium

Conveners

Thin films and interfaces in soft matter and materials science III: Thin films and interfaces in soft matter and materials science III

• Bridget Murphy (Kiel University)

104. Surface X-ray Diffraction for the operando study of model catalyst surfaces at work

Uta Hejral

18/07/2024, 09:00

Invited

Catalysts are key for paving the way towards a sustainable future: they accelerate essential chemical reactions such as the conversion of CO2 into the fuel methanol in heterogeneous gas catalysis, or the splitting of water into green H2 at the solid/liquid interface using solar and wind power. To improve catalyst efficiency, the direct correlation between the catalyst structure and activity...

56. Superchaotropicity : grafted surface to probe the adsorption of nano-ions

Raimoana Frogier (CEA Marcoule, ICSM)

18/07/2024, 09:30

Oral

Nano-ions (NIs) are ionic species or clusters of nanometric size. Their low charge density and the delocalization of their charges give special properties to some of NIs belonging to chemical classes of polyoxometalates (POMs) or boron clusters (BOCs). They have the particularity of interacting non-covalently with neutral hydrated surface or interfaces such as assemblies of surface-active...

41. Impact of lipids present at the hair bio-interface on the structure of adsorbed polymer-surfactant systems

Serena Cozzolino (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden)

18/07/2024, 09:50

Oral

The hair fiber surface is normally hydrophobic as it is covered by a layer of different lipids. The most abundant lipid is 18-methyleicosanoic acid (18-MEA), which has a characteristic antepenultimate methyl branch whose role is still under study. Processes such as bleaching can damage the hair fiber, removing the lipid layer by hydrolytic and oxidative processes. The loss of lipids exposes...

55. Interrogating the kinetics of a thermoresponsive PNIPAM brush utilising neutron reflectometry

Ben Humphreys (Institut Laue-Langevin)

18/07/2024, 10:10

Oral

While it is well known that sugars play an important role in biological systems, they also act as osmolytes. For example, glucose, can destabilise bio- and synthetic macromolecules through osmolyte-type behaviour at elevated concentrations.[1] Despite the ubiquity of these molecules, there is a lack of mechanistic and structural studies of these systems. Exploring these mechanisms is crucial...

52. Polyelectrolyte brushes in hypersaline environments: Probing underscreening with neutron reflectometry

Dr Hayden Robertson (Technische Universität Darmstadt)

18/07/2024, 10:30

Oral

Electrostatics plays a fundamental role in a wide range of natural phenomena and is crucial for understanding the interactions between charges in many biological, chemical, and physical systems. Despite being poorly understood, hyper-saline environments are ubiquitous in nature and myriad technological processes. In particular, polymer morphology is critically important in these hyper-saline...