Theses at the IPKM

Working Area

Experimental investigation of molecular dynamics in soft matter systems and its relation to structure and inner surfaces on the meso- and nano-scale.

Projects

• Molecular dynamics of glass forming liquids in hard and soft confinement.
• Concentration fluctuations and intrinsic confinement in polymer-plasticizer systems and blends.
• Triplet-state solvation dynamics of hydrogen bonding liquids in confinement.
• Glass forming microemulsions
• Polymer-induced transient networks and dynamics in microemulsion systems.

The work is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in the framework of project no. BL923/1 and of subproject BL1192/1 of the DFG reseach unit FOR 1583

Experimental Methods

• Photon correlation spectroscopy, in particular depolarized scattering in deeply supercooled liquids and below room temperature.
• Broadband dielectric spectroscopy in frequency and time-domain, dielectric hole burning.
• Differential scanning calorimetry standard as well as temperature modulated DSC.
• Triplet-state solvation dynamics, a local probe for slow dynamics of molecules in confinement.
• Quasielastic neutron scattering, using time-of-flight and backscattering spectrometers; experiments conducted at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France.
• X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, using partially coherent synchrotron radiation; experiments performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France.
• Small-angle scattering with X-rays and neutrons (SAXS, SANS) to characterize mesoscopic structures.

Current Teaching Activities

• Head of the Basic Lab Courses in Physics
• Lecture + tutorial "Introduction to scientific writing"
• Teacher training course "Lab classes and proseminar in physics"

Selected Publications

• T. Blochowicz, S. Schramm, S. Lusceac, M. Vogel, B. Stühn, P. Gutfreund, B. Frick, Signature of a type-A glass transition and intrinsic confinement effects in a binary glass forming system, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 (2012) 035702.
• T. Blochowicz, S. A. Lusceac, S. Schramm, P. Gutfreund, B. Stühn, Two glass transitions and secondary relaxations of methyl-tetrahydrofuran in a binary mixture, J. Phys. Chem. B 115 (2011) 1623.
• S. Schramm, T. Blochowicz, E. Gouirand, R. Wipf, B. Stühn, Y. Chushkin, Concentration fluctuations in a binary glass former investigated by X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, J. Chem. Phys. 132 (2010) 224505.
• T. Blochowicz, E. Gouirand, A. Fricke, T. Spehr, B. Stühn, B. Frick, Accelerated dynamics of supercooled glycerol in soft confinement, Chem. Phys. Lett. 475 (2009) 171.
• T. Blochowicz, C. Gögelein, T. Spehr, M. Müller, B. Stühn, Polymer-induced transient networks in water-in-oil microemulsions studied by small-angle X-ray and dynamic light scattering, Phys. Rev. E 76 (2007) 041505.
• T. Blochowicz, E. A. Rössler, Non-resonant dielectric hole burning in neat and binary organic glass formers, J. Chem. Phys. 122 (2005) 224511.
• T. Blochowicz, E. Rössler, Beta relaxation versus high frequency wing in the dielectric spectra of a binary molecular glass former, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 (2004) 225701.
• T. Blochowicz, C. Tschirwitz, S. Benkhof, E. A. Rössler, Susceptibility functions for slow relaxation processes in supercooled liquids and the search for universal relaxation patterns, J. Chem. Phys. 118 (2003) 7544.