ERC grant to investigate surfactant systems
A Konstanz-based chemist Professor Dr Sebastian Polarz has obtained a European Research Council Consolidator Grant for his research project to investigate a new class of surfactant systems. The grant, worth €1.9m, will advance his pioneering work in the field of inorganic surfactants over the next five years in Germany.
The project investigating the new class of surfactants, entitled ‘Inorganic surfactants with multifunctional heads (I-SURF)’, will begin on 1 March. The I-SURF project aims to produce inorganic surfactants with a significantly extended range of properties. In this process, the organic head group of the surfactant is exchanged for an inorganic unit and is thus equipped with, for example, catalytic, special electronic, or magnetic properties.
The example of magnetic surfactants gives us an idea of how the additional long-range interactions, that do not exist in such a form in conventional surfactants, lead to the creation of new and, if applicable, emergent properties that can be managed externally. They could be managed through applying external magnetic fields.
It’s expected that the results will not only contribute to basic research, but may also be used for future material sciences technologies. Polarz will use the inorganic surfactants to create self-organising smart materials. Smart materials, also called ‘intelligent materials’, can react in different ways, depending on the external conditions.
