dr. S.J.A. de Beer (Sissi)

Brushes

Polymers

Friction

Water

Atomic Force Microscopy

Liquids

Brushes

Damping

Faculty of Science and Technology (TNW), Materials Science and Technology of Polymers (MTP)

In my research, I translate fundamental polymer physics models to technological applications. My students and I study the tribo-mechnical behavior of polymer brushes in liquid and air to develop low-friction coatings that can be employed on bio-medical devices. Moreover, we characterize the interaction and inclusion of nanoparticles in polymer brushes to develop polymer-brush-based sensors and / or effective medication.

Kim, K. S., Trajanoski, D., Ho, K., Gilburd, L., Maiti, A., van der Velden, L., ... Walker, G. C. (2017). The Effect of Adjacent Materials on the Propagation of Phonon Polaritons in Hexagonal Boron Nitride. Journal of physical chemistry letters, 8(13), 2902–2908. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b01048

Oyarte Galvez, L., de Beer, S., van der Meer, D., & Pons, A. (2017). Dramatic effect of fluid chemistry on cornstarch suspensions: Linking particle interactions to macroscopic rheology. Physical review E: covering statistical, nonlinear, biological, and soft matter physics, 95(3), [030602]. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.95.030602

Gilburd, L., Kim, K. S., Ho, K., Trajanoski, D., Maiti, A., Halverson, D., ... Walker, G. C. (2017). Hexagonal Boron Nitride Self-Launches Hyperbolic Phonon Polaritons. Journal of physical chemistry letters, 8(10), 2158–2162 . DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b00748

Yu, Y., Vancso, J., & de Beer, S. (2017). Substantially enhanced stability against degrafting of zwitterionic PMPC brushes by utilizing PGMA-linked initiators. European polymer journal, 89, 221–229. DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2017.02.033

Yu, Y., Lopez de la Cruz, R. A., Kieviet, B. D., Gojzewski, H., Pons, A. C., Vancso, J., & de Beer, S. (2017). Pick up, move and release of nanoparticles utilizing co-non-solvency of PNIPAM brushes. Nanoscale, 9(4), 1670-1675. DOI: 10.1039/C6NR09245D

Yu, Y., Cirelli, M., Kieviet, B. D., Kooij, E. S., Vancso, G. J., & de Beer, S. (2016). Tunable Friction by Employment of Co-Non-Solvency of PNIPAM Brushes. Polymer, 102, 372-378. DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2016.08.029

de Beer, S., Mensink, L. I. S., & Kieviet, B. D. (2016). Geometry-Dependent Insertion Forces on Particles in Swollen Polymer Brushes. Macromolecules, 49(3), 1070-1078. DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5b01960

Dos Ramos, L., Lajoinie, G. P. R., Kieviet, B. D., de Beer, S., Versluis, M., Hempenius, M. A., & Vancso, G. J. (2016). Redox control of capillary filling speed in poly(ferrocenylsilane)-modified microfluidic channels for switchable delay valves. European polymer journal, 83, 507-516. DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2016.06.002

Gilburd, L., Xu, X. G., de Beer, S., Bando, Y., Golberg, D., & Walker, G. C. (2016). Surface phonon coupling within boron nitride resolved by a novel near-field infrared pump-probe imaging technique. In SPIE 9925, 99250L (pp. -). DOI: 10.1117/12.2237901

Cumurcu, A., Diaz, J., Lindsay, I. D., de Beer, S., Duvigneau, J., Schön, P. M., & Vancso, G. J. (2015). Optical imaging beyond the diffraction limit by SNEM: Effects of AFM tip modifications with thiol monolayers on imaging quality. Ultramicroscopy, 150, 79-87. DOI: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2014.12.001

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It is my personal goal to help students in their development to become excellent researchers. I attempt to achieve this by lecturing, tutoring and mentoring students in the bachelor or master program of Applied Physics, Chemical Engineering and Advanced Technology. I am involved in several courses, such as Statistical Physics (B-TN), Polymer Physics (M-CHE) and Physical Modeling (B-TN and B-AT).