Allgemeines Physikalisches Kolloquium im Sommersemester 2013
Ort:     48149 Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 10, IG I, HS 2,
Zeit:    Donnerstag, 02.05.2013 16:00 Uhr c.t.
Kolloquiums-Kaffee ab 15:45 Uhr vor dem Hörsaal

Novel functional materials based on nanoporous metals
Prof. Dr. Jörg Weissmüller, Institut für Werkstoffphysik und -technologie, TU Hamburg-Harburg

Nanoporous metals prepared by the corrosion of an alloy can take the form of monolithic, millimeter-sized
bodies containing approximately 1015 nanoscale ligaments per cubic millimeter. Their structure size can
reach down to the very limits of stability of nanoscale objects. The prospect of using alloy corrosion as a
means of making nanomaterials for fundamental studies and functional applications has led to a revived
interest in the process. One of the distinguishing features of the materials in question is their bicontinuous
microstructure, with two contiguous and interpenetrating phases. When at least one of the phases - for
instance, a gas in the void space - allows the fast transport of a signal, then the interfaces can be
addressed and their properties manipulated. That predestines nanoporous solids as objects of study for a
new class of functional materials, in which interfacial behaviour is controlled reversibly by external
variables, and the entire material reacts. Nanoporous metal actuators or 'metallic muscles' exemplify that
concept, as do photonic metamaterials with tuneable resonances and structural materials with tuneable
strength and ductility. The quite distinct mechanical properties of nanoporous metals are of interest in
themselves, since the relevant studies probe the collective deformation behaviour of macroscopic arrays of
objects with dimensions at the lower end of the size scale.

Einladender: Prof. Dr. Guido Schmitz

Im Auftrag der Hochschullehrer des Fachbereichs Physik

Prof. Dr. Nikos Doltsinis