Prof. Dr. Tobias Unruh

Nanomaterial Characterization – Research Area A2

Tobias Unruh joined the FAU as W2 Professor for Nanomaterials Characterization at the Chair of Crystallography and Structural Physics in November 2010. In Erlangen, he heads the Scattering Methods division of the Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy. His research is focused on structural properties of nanoscaled organic and inorganic materials as well as on relaxation processes of complex systems. The experimental methods used (SAXS, SANS, GISAXS, GIXD) are best suited for in-situ measurements of native samples with time resolutions ranging from microseconds to hours allowing for kinetic studies. Detailed insights into molecular dynamics on a subpico- to nanosecond time range is achieved by quasielastic and inelastic neutronscattering (QENS, INS) and MD simulations. Current research topics are structure formation of printed organic solar cells during the drying process, formation and aging of ZnO quantum dots in solution, studies of the complex structure of dispersions of organic nanoparticles for pharmaceutical applications, and studies for the understanding of the diffusion mechanism of short polymers in the melt. Tobias Unruh was awarded a PhD by Saarland University in Saarbrücken for his study of the structural properties of hydrogen intercalates of transition metal oxides. He continued his work on the structural property relations of materials at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena as a post-doc and scientific assistant at the Chair of Pharmaceutical Technology. During this time he studied dispersions of organic colloids mainly by small-angle X-ray, neutron and light scattering and calorimetry. After moving to the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 2001, he managed the construction, commissioning, and the user operation of the neutron time-of-flight spectrometer TOFTOF at the research neutron source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz in Garching. He also established a research group to study the picosecond dynamics of molecular liquids, phospholipid membranes, and the mesoscopic structure of colloidal dispersions at the TOFTOF facility.