Research Topics

Self-Organisation of a Dichloromethane Droplet on the Surface of a Surfactant-containing Aqueous Solution

A Chemo-Hydrodynamical Effect in a closed Ferroin-catalyzed Belousov Zhabotinsky Oscillator

A Biophysical Model on the Biogenesis of Lipid Droplets

Current Research

Self-Organisation of a Dichloromethane Droplet on the Surface of a Tensio-actif Containing Aqueous Solution

At the moment I am investiging for my PhD the complex dissolution process of a dichloromethane droplet in a surfactant-containing aqueous solution.
The motility of an solvant drop on the surface of an aqueous solution can be induced and controlled by the mass-transfer of the surfactants contained in the aqueous solution. But not only - it depends also on the solubility and volatility of the solvent drop.

The work consists firstly in the detailed investigation and understanding of this phenomena and secondly in a possible application of this phenomena to spontaneously form polymers.

Dynamic of the dichloromethane droplet on the surface of a surfactant-containing aqueous solution (CTAB solution). The dichloromethane droplet shows three distinct forms, which are controlled by the concentration of the surfactant in the aqueous solution (corresponding videos here)

Literature

A Chemo-Hydrodynamical Effect in a Closed
Ferroin-catalysed Belousov Zhabotinsky Oscillator

The recently by us discovered effect, which is induced by a limited stirring phase, is the topic of this research (details at www.ilsr.at/research.htm). To our current understanding this effect arises due to the complex interplay between the chemical reactions and hydrodynamics, specially diffusion and convection.

Our current research results were presented at the European Conference on Complex Systems (ECCS'13) in Barcelona and also at the Workshop on Patterns and Hydrodynamic Instabilities in Reactive Systems in Brussels. We found that the stirring time can be understood as bifurcation parameter (details see figure below).

The figure shows the effect of a limited stirring phase in a closed
ferroin-catalysed Belousov Zhabotinsky reqction system. C: No stirring at all. B: Stirring for 30 min.
A: Stirring for 60 min (all measurements where carried out at 30°C)

Literature

Effect of Limited Stirring on the Belousov Zhabotinsky Reaction

http://www.springer.com/physics/complexity/book/978-3-319-00394-8

Role of the reagents consumption in the chaotic dynamics of the Belousov–Zhabotinsky oscillator in closed unstirred reactors

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2010, 12, 11062–11069 11062–11069

Chaotic dynamics in an unstirred ferroin catalyzed Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

Chemical Physics Letters, 2009, 480, 322-326

Evidence of a chaotic transient in a closed unstirred cerium catalyzed Belousov-Zhabotinsky system

Chemical Physics Letters, 1996, 263, 429-434

Периодически действующая реакция и ее механизм. (the periodic reaction and its mechanism)

Химия и жизнь №7 за 1982

Периодический процесс окисления малоновой кислоты растворе (исследование кинетики реакции Белоусова) (The periodical evolution of the oxidation of malonic acid (research on the kinetics of Belousov's reaction))

A Biophysical Model of the Biogenesis of Lipid Droplets

For my Diploma thesis I was investigating the biogenesis of lipid droplets. Lipid droplets are dynamic organelles that are found in nearly all mammalian cells, and serve a particularly vital function in adipocytes where they hold the body’s major energy reserves as triacylglycerols.

We developped an elastomechanical model and where also investigating the influence of the phospholipid composition of the biological membrane on the biogenesis of lipid droplets. Details on the model suggested by the biologist in Sally Martin and Robert G. Parton, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 7, 373-378, 2006

Bild aus:
Lipid droplets: a unified view of a dynamic organelle
Sally Martin and Robert G. Parton
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 7, 373-378 (May 2006)