Jana Struck

In my research I am focusing on the synthesis of titania nanoplates (TNPs), their self-assembly into supraparticles via emulsion-based techniques and their subsequent encapsulation within a polymer shell. The oleyl amine stabilized TNPs can be synthesized via a seeded growth approach. One part of my work is the optimization of the synthesis parameter in order to understand the influencing factors on the edge length and thickness of the TNPs. The synthesized TNPs are then self-assembled into spherical supraparticles via evaporation induced self-assembly. To further stabilize these three-dimensional assemblies, they are encapsulated within a polymer shell. This is doable by using a novel photoinitiated surface-grafted polymerization approach. I am currently investigating the tunability of the thickness of the polymer shell. Additionally, the influence of varying monomer amounts, different TNP sizes, as well as the encapsulation of other titania nanoparticle shapes are currently under investigation.