RSA CE&C 2015-2021 Group descriptions

Molecular Systems and Materials Chemistry (MSMC) 73 4. Valorization through tools . The group has developed and implemented several dedicated setups for our research on (bioinspired) antifreezes. We regularly host (inter)national visitors for research and training purposes to access the equipment for their research and implement the tools in their home laboratories. We regularly organize one-day, hands-on workshops and training weeks to educate PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in the latest advances in the field of e.g., small-angle X-ray scattering, including experimental design and quantitative data analysis. The group’s pioneering work in soft matter nanoscopy using e.g., iPAINT is being adopted by the wider soft matter research community to visualize submicron structures in aqueous, organic and aqueous-organic media with minimal perturbation and chemical specificity. Research facilities The laboratory of Self-Organizing Soft Matter is embedded locally in the Molecular Science and Technology Laboratories and the Institute for Complex Molecules Systems. The available infrastructure includes facilities for protein, (macro)organic and colloid synthesis, purification and characterization, as well as a variety of state-of-the-art instruments for spectroscopy (NMR, UV-vis FT-IR, CD), microscopy (fluorescence, confocal, AFM, POM, TEM, super-resolution microscopy), scattering (light, X-ray, DWS), calorimetry (DSC, ITC), mass spectrometry, quartz crystal microbalance and ellipsometry. The laboratory is extremely well-equipped to study the (spatiotemporal evolution of the) structure and dynamics of self-organized soft matter across orders of magnitude in length and timescales (milliseconds up to days; ångströms up to centimeters) in all concentration regimes (i.e., from the dilute to the concentrated regime) with one of the best-equipped laboratories worldwide for the mesoscopic characterization of supramolecular soft materials through scattering and (super-resolution) microscopy. There are extensive facilities for conventional and cutting-edge scattering experiments (including state-of-the-art small and wide-angle X-ray scattering and DWS setups), high-speed confocal microscopy and several dedicated microscopes for super-resolution microscopy (SMLM, STED). Furthermore, the group regularly performs synchrotron X-ray and neutron scattering experiments at large-scale European facilities, such as ESRF, ISIS and FRMII. The facilities are accessible to TU/e researchers and (inter)national collaborators. Access for academic researchers is arranged within the framework of research collaborations. Companies are offered access through customized servicing which is typically coordinated by the liaison officer of the ICMS Industrial Consortium. The group further profits from integration in several (inter)national research (training) networks, such as LARMOR (three academic partners), SuperCol (17 public/private partners), SOMATAI (17 public/private partners) and the European SoftComp Network of Excellence (20 academic and four industrial partners). In addition, it has (bilateral) collaborations with partners in European Soft Matter Infrastructure (EUSMI), which provides the community of European soft matter researchers with an open-access infrastructure and many (inter)national laboratories. These existing networks and collaborations ensure further (inter)disciplinary support and cross- fertilization, complement the experimental soft matter research of the group with theory and/or simulations and facilitate the valorization and translation of research output into other science domains and application areas and to private partners.