Soft matter and biointerfaces

Research interests: 

Soft matter and biointerfaces

The interface between soft materials and liquids is particularly interesting because the liquid can affect the shape and the properties (e.g. mechanical) of the soft solid. Such systems often exhibit a sizeable mutual effect of the solid and the liquid on each other at the interface.Many examples of such systems can be found in biology: the folding and function of a protein or the integrity of a biomembranes crucially depends on the surrounding solution. Reciprocally, biomolecules and membranes often finely tune the network of water and ions at their surface to enhance their respective tasks.Here our goal is to use simple, relatively well-controlled systems such as lipid bilayers to study the interplay between water, ions and the membrane at the interface. Even the simplest systems can show a remarkably complex behaviour due to the finite size of ions and water molecules.An additional advantage of using lipid bilayers is the ability to control the system complexity, for example by mixing different types of lipids or adding peptides and proteins to better mimic real biomembranes