Project Details
Projekt
P5: Advanced (ultrafast) X-ray spectroscopy on stimulus responsive luminescent coordination compounds and materials
Applicant
Professor Dr. Matthias Bauer
Subject Area
Physical Chemistry of Solids and Surfaces, Material Characterisation
Term
since 2025
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 535200000
The properties of novel molecular stimuli-responsive materials are critically dependent on their molecular structure and how it changes in response to stimuli. A thorough understanding of the geometric and electronic structure of a metal complex under various stimuli is essential for developing optically functional systems in applications such as photonic sensors, optoelectronics, anticounterfeiting, data storage, data processing, logic operations, and photonic switches. The project aims to uncover the structural origins of stimuli-responsive behavior by exploring different chemical states, including crystalline and non-crystalline powders (Po), various sample environments such as solutions (S) and MOFs, and different stimuli types, such as isotropic pressure, anisotropic stress (P), unidirectional forces or strain (F), and the presence of energy acceptors (A) or radicals ®. This will be achieved through the use, development, and refinement of X-ray spectroscopic techniques, including XAS (XANES and EXAFS), XES (CtC- and VtC), and HERFD-XANES. These methods will be applied to stimuli responsive materials provided by the Steffen group (P1), the Strassert group, and the Heinze group. The complex multi-chemical and multi-parameter space offers insights across all levels necessary to understand the molecular basis of stimuli-responsive materials. Interpreting results from X-ray spectroscopic experiments will require theoretical calculations, including (TD-)DFT and multiplet methods, which will be conducted by the Bauer group. Additionally, the project’s inherent calculations and the comparison of results across different environments and stimuli require close collaboration and information exchange with other spectroscopy and theory projects: Doltsinis group, Vöhringer group, and Bannwarth group.
DFG Programme
Research Units
