Research projects
Bachelor or master projects
Students with a background in chemistry or physics are encouraged to explore the possibilities of doing a Bachelor or Master research project at the Van 't Hoff Laboratory.
Below you can find a description of all the projects our PhD students & Postdocs are working on. If you are interested in a topic, do not hesitate to contact the student coordinator, Geert Schulpen.
Specific projects can be found at the links below:
Self-assembly of building blocks with conformational switches
The chemical, architectural, and size versatility of copolymers makes them ideal molecules to probe fundamental self-assembly concepts. The main aim of the project is to design and characterise polymers that exhibit conformational switches. These may be triggered by external factors such as pH or be implicit to the molecular architecture.
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James RobinsonFCC PhD
Active transport and catalytic reactions in bijels
Chemical reactions involving 2 immiscible liquid reactants and solid catalyst particles are limited in their reactivity because the catalytic sites are typically not accessible to both reactants. However, by locating the catalyst particles at the interface of two immiscible reactants, all three participants meet and the reaction can proceed swiftly. Based on this concept, we employ colloidal particles at interfaces to structure liquids into a long network composed of microscopic channels, a material known as a bijel fiber. (fig. 1A) The large surface area of a bijel enhances the reactivity because it facilitates intimate contact between reactants and catalysts. Moreover, the two interwoven channel networks of oil and water allows reactants to flow in, and products to be continuously withdrawn. This approach shows promises to introduce a new chemical technology for the synthesis of high value-added chemicals. However, before industrial implementation can be realized, several research questions still need to be investigated.
Alessio SprockelFCC PhD
To the next level of transcription: influence of the accessible genome size
Transcription is the process by which a gene segment on DNA is copied into messenger RNA. Several proteins are involved in transcription: RNA polymerase, which reads the DNA and converts that into RNA, and transcription factors, which either activate or repress the binding of RNA polymerase to DNA. A lot of progress has been made on the direct influence of transcription factors by binding to promoter regions on the genes of interest. However, these proteins also bind to other sequences of DNA and thus, the total amount of DNA available for these proteins to bind to, competes with the binding to promoter regions
Amanda van der SijsFCC PhD
Bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels (bijels) for application in water desalination
Membrane separations have been widely implemented to this end due to their high energy efficiency. One of the most important types of separation membranes are desalination membranes.
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Mariska de RuiterFCC PhD
Desalination in high-surface area membranes templated by bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels
Bijels (bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels) are formed by arresting the spinodal decomposition of two immiscible liquids with surface active nanoparticles. This results in an interwoven fluid network separated by a percolating film of nanoparticles. The percolating nanoparticle film provides the bijel with a large internal surface area and a distinct pore network with pore sizes ranging from 100 nm to 5 µm. On this internal surface, a semipermeable membrane will be synthesized to facilitate reverse osmosis and/or nanofiltration.
Henrik SiegelFCC PhD
Interfacial Catalysis within Bijels: a Sophisticated Route to Saving Energy?
In 2005 a new class of soft-materials consisting of two interpenetrating, continuous networks of immiscible liquids was introduced [1]. These rigid structures are known as bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels (bijels) which are stabilized by a jammed layer of colloidal nanoparticles (NPs). Their high surface-area porous channel network, containing both an oil- and water phase and the presence of NPs lead to potential applications in various areas like catalysis, separation mediums and sensors
Matthijs AltingFCC PhD
Mass transfer phenomena in nanostructured bijel films
The spinodal decomposition of two immiscible liquids is characterised by the emergence of an intricate
structure of continuously interwoven channels of distinct phases. This structure can be kinetically trapped
through the adsorption of nanoparticles on the interface between the different phases, effectively creating
what is known as a bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gel (bijel). The interwoven structure of the
bijel imparts it with a large internal surface area between the different phases, on which a semi-permeable
membrane can be formed. Combined with pore-sizes ranging from 100 nm to 5 μm, bijels are thus a very
promising template for high-surface area membranes suitable for nanofiltration or reverse osmosis.
Jesse SteenhoffFCC PhD
Anisotropic Bijels for Radiative Cooling
In this project we attempt to find experimental confirmation of the influence anisotropy has on the reflectance, with the aim of producing a passively cooling surface. To do so we will make anistropic bijel structures which have correlations on the length scale of visible light wavelengths.
Geert SchulpenFCC PhD
Colloidal optics for advanced nanomaterials
Light-utilizing technologies are expected to play an increasingly important role to tackle large challenges our society faces, with applications in photocatalysis, harvesting solar power, and (bio)chemical sensing. The ability to efficiently direct optical signals to and from the functional parts of the advanced materials needed for these applications is crucial for the success of these technologies. However, conventional objectives used in laboratory settings are often bulky and expensive. In our research we explore the use of colloids as additional refractive elements to deliver high optical signals to and from functional materials at the nanoscale.
Koen VermeulenFCC PhD