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The Center for Materials Research

Welcome to the web sites of the Center for Materials Research

Welcome to the web sites of the Center for Materials Research!

The Center for Materials Research is an interdisciplinary university research center at JLU.
It is dedicated to the implementation of joint research projects, the support of the study courses in materials science and it promotes scientific qualification in materials research.

An overview of our scientific team is available under 
Team & Topics.

The center provides the participating research groups with central experimental resources in its
Method Platforms.

The ZfM coordinates the JLU research profile area ("area of potential") 
Material and Energy (focus: storage materials). 

Further information on our tasks can be found under
About us.

September

Picture of the Month - September 2026

Through Stronger Hinderance to Higher Reactivity: Real-time XPS-measurements on the Activation Energy of Ether Cleavage on Silicon

Reactivity in surface chemistry is often discussed in terms of the interaction between surface states and the functional groups of the reacting molecule. Comparing diethyl ether and butyl methyl ether, which exhibit the same functional group but differ in the length of the alkyl chains, we could demonstrate that these seemingly innocent side chains can also play a decisive role. By means of real-time XPS-measurements at the synchrotron SOLEIL, of which the experimental hall at sun set is depicted in the background of our picture, we could directly compare the activation energies for ether cleavage for the two molecules on Si(001). In contrast to a simple expectation, the in general stronger steric hindrance of butyl methyl ether leads to a lower activation energy for ether cleavage on Si(001) when compared to diethyl ether. DFT calculations reproduced the experimental findings when taking into account a finite submonolayer surface coverage leading to different degrees of destabilization of the precursor and the transition state depending on the length of the alkyl chains involved (compare schematic energy curve and ball-and-stick models at different coverage). Given the fact that for almost all technologically relevant processes surface coverage is typically above the isolated-molecule limit, these findings are of general importance for surface functionalization and can help to properly design future experiments. 

Publication: T. Glaser, G. F. Nolte, T. Bohamud, P. Keller, M. G. Silly, H. Weiske, R. Tonner-Zech, M. Dürr, Through Stronger Hinderance to Higher Reactivity: Influence of the Alkyl Chains on the Activation Energy of Ether Cleavage on Silicon, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 65, e19990 (2026). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202519990

This picture was submitted by Prof. Dr. Michael Dürr.

Further insights into the research activities of the ZfM groups can be found in the Gallery.

Portlet links engl.

Management of the Center

Study Programs in Materials' Science

 
News (in German)
Neuigkeiten aus dem Zentrum und aus den Fachgebieten
Exzellenzcluster POLiS verlängert
Master-Studiengang "Advanced Materials" startet zum Wintersemester 2025/26
EFRE-Förderung für energieeffiziente und ressourcenschonende Technologien - Innovationslabor Prozessdiagnostik
ZfM and CELEST strengthen cooperation on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding
DFG-Forschungsgruppe FOR MOST auf YouTube
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Events (in German)
Termine
Materialforschungstag Mittelhessen 2026
gemeinsame Veranstaltung der Universitäten Gießen und Marburg sowie der THM
Sep 29, 2026 09:00
Podcast

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