Carmen Eger

Project

Surface-bound Polymer Layers by C,H-insertion for Sustainable Materials
The biological model for my project is the pinecone. Pinecones open in response to dry conditions and close in response to wet conditions. This mechanism works through a two-layer-system, in which one layer swells (and thus expands) with increasing humidity more strongly than the other. In my project, I am investigating an artificial two-layer system consisting of a polymer film and a hydrogel as an actuator: This system, similar to the seed scales of the pinecone, reacts to changing humidity by bending. Since the swelling of the material is the main driving force of this reaction, my work focuses on this phenomena and all its related parameters.

First supervisor

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rühe

Publications in livMatS

• The Structural and Mechanical Basis for Passive-Hydraulic Pine Cone Actuation*
  Eger, C. J., Horstmann, M., Poppinga, S., Sachse, R., Thierer, R., Nestle, N., Bruchmann, B., Speck, T., Bischoff, M., & Rühe, J. (2022). The Structural and Mechanical Basis for Passive‐Hydraulic Pine Cone Actuation. Advanced Science, 2200458. doi: 10.1002/advs.202200458
  
  
  * Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy – EXC-2193/1 – 390951807