microscopy, thus enabling new insights into the role of nanostructure formation
in multiphase polymers and blends. Surfaces and interfaces were studied not only
in macromolecular, but also in inorganic crystalline systems. Besides model polymers,
stereocomplexes and amphiphilic block copolymers, thermoreversible elastomers
containing cellulose and donor-acceptor groups were synthesized, and their structure–
property interplay studied. In cooperation with colleagues in the “regio basiliensis,”
Cantow started the regio symposia and founded the “Graduiertenkolleg Polymerwissenschaften” (Graduate Training Program in Polymer Sciences). He was assisted
by Hans-Adam Schneider and Wolfram Gronski. In 1974, Gerhard Wegner
followed Elfriede Husemann, shifting the focus of the Freiburg polymer research
from carbohydrate chemistry towards self-assembly of functional macromolecular
materials, conducting polymers, hairy rod polymers, formation of ultrathin layers,
and topochemical polymerization in single crystals [25]. This marked the beginning of
the new age of advanced macromolecular materials and systems.
After Gerhard Wegner had left Freiburg to become the co-founder and director
of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Heino Finkelmann
joined the Institute in 1984. In his research, Heino Finkelmann successfully combined the anisotropy of liquid crystals with the viscoelasticity of polymers
[26]. This led him to the discovery of new generations of liquid crystalline elastomers, tunable lasers, and stimuli-responsive “smart” macromolecular materials.
In view of the increasing demand for advanced polymeric materials and bioengineering in regenerative medicine, Prasad Shastri from Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, USA, followed Heino Finkelmann in 2010 as director of the Institute,
professor of biofunctional macromolecular chemistry and cell signaling environments, established jointly with the Center for Biological Signalling Studies
(BIOSS). In the emerging field of health sciences and nanomedicine, his research
focus is placed upon bioactive macromolecular systems and bioengineering.
In 1990, initiated by Hans-Joachim Cantow, the Freiburg Materials Research
Center (FMF; Fig. 7) was founded as a resource center of the University of
Freiburg, serving as a highly dynamic platform for interdisciplinary and
interfaculty research on new materials, technologies, and advanced systems. In
the FMF, research groups from chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental sciences, medicine, and microsystems engineering work together. The FMF
technology laboratories substantially expanded the Freiburg polymer research in
the field of functional processing and technology, ranging from extrusion and
injection molding to 3D printing and scale-up of specialty polymers. In 1989,
Rolf Mu ¨lhaupt, who for several years had worked in industry at Du Pont/USA
and Ciba-Geigy AG/Switzerland, joined the University as professor for macromolecular chemistry and followed Cantow in 1992 as director of the Institute of
Macromolecular Chemistry and as the managing director of the Freiburg Materials
Research Center. In his research, Rolf Mu ¨lhaupt combined polymer chemistry and
polymerization catalysis with polymer processing and polymer technology. Under
the roof of the FMF, jointly with the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, a team
of scientists from different faculties has built the Freiburg chain of knowledge
34
H.-J. Cantow and R. Mu ¨lhaupt
in multiphase polymers and blends. Surfaces and interfaces were studied not only
in macromolecular, but also in inorganic crystalline systems. Besides model polymers,
stereocomplexes and amphiphilic block copolymers, thermoreversible elastomers
containing cellulose and donor-acceptor groups were synthesized, and their structure–
property interplay studied. In cooperation with colleagues in the “regio basiliensis,”
Cantow started the regio symposia and founded the “Graduiertenkolleg Polymerwissenschaften” (Graduate Training Program in Polymer Sciences). He was assisted
by Hans-Adam Schneider and Wolfram Gronski. In 1974, Gerhard Wegner
followed Elfriede Husemann, shifting the focus of the Freiburg polymer research
from carbohydrate chemistry towards self-assembly of functional macromolecular
materials, conducting polymers, hairy rod polymers, formation of ultrathin layers,
and topochemical polymerization in single crystals [25]. This marked the beginning of
the new age of advanced macromolecular materials and systems.
After Gerhard Wegner had left Freiburg to become the co-founder and director
of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Heino Finkelmann
joined the Institute in 1984. In his research, Heino Finkelmann successfully combined the anisotropy of liquid crystals with the viscoelasticity of polymers
[26]. This led him to the discovery of new generations of liquid crystalline elastomers, tunable lasers, and stimuli-responsive “smart” macromolecular materials.
In view of the increasing demand for advanced polymeric materials and bioengineering in regenerative medicine, Prasad Shastri from Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, USA, followed Heino Finkelmann in 2010 as director of the Institute,
professor of biofunctional macromolecular chemistry and cell signaling environments, established jointly with the Center for Biological Signalling Studies
(BIOSS). In the emerging field of health sciences and nanomedicine, his research
focus is placed upon bioactive macromolecular systems and bioengineering.
In 1990, initiated by Hans-Joachim Cantow, the Freiburg Materials Research
Center (FMF; Fig. 7) was founded as a resource center of the University of
Freiburg, serving as a highly dynamic platform for interdisciplinary and
interfaculty research on new materials, technologies, and advanced systems. In
the FMF, research groups from chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental sciences, medicine, and microsystems engineering work together. The FMF
technology laboratories substantially expanded the Freiburg polymer research in
the field of functional processing and technology, ranging from extrusion and
injection molding to 3D printing and scale-up of specialty polymers. In 1989,
Rolf Mu ¨lhaupt, who for several years had worked in industry at Du Pont/USA
and Ciba-Geigy AG/Switzerland, joined the University as professor for macromolecular chemistry and followed Cantow in 1992 as director of the Institute of
Macromolecular Chemistry and as the managing director of the Freiburg Materials
Research Center. In his research, Rolf Mu ¨lhaupt combined polymer chemistry and
polymerization catalysis with polymer processing and polymer technology. Under
the roof of the FMF, jointly with the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, a team
of scientists from different faculties has built the Freiburg chain of knowledge
34
H.-J. Cantow and R. Mu ¨lhaupt