2016

Felix Rechberger and Prof. Markus Niederberger publish a review article on aerogels which is featured on the inside front cover of Nanoscale Horizons and is highlighted in the series 'Under the Covers' by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The Department of Materials is happy to announce that the Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology has appointed Markus Niederberger, currently Accociate Professor, as Full Professor of Multifunctional Materials.

A team that includes scientists from the Laboratory for Nanometallurgy is the first to use materials with a network-like structure to create a full spectrum of intense colours. The principle has long existed in nature: for example, in the colourful plumage of a particular species of bird in South America.

Prof. Laura Heyderman, Chair of Mesoscopic Systems, would like to use the Swiss Free Electron Laser (SwissFEL) to study ultra-fast processes in magnets on the micrometer and nanometer scale and get to the bottom of phenomena that occur during phase transitions.

The ETH Zurich’s student association (VSETH) has selected Walter R. Caseri, titular professor at the Laboratory for Multifunctional Materials, as a recipient of the “Goldene Eule”.

Researchers from the Complex Materials group have used an additive manufacturing process to print an extremely porous ceramic component. Manufacturing a material of this kind with a 3D printer is a considerable achievement.

Prof. Nicola Spaldin, Chair of Materials Theory, has been selected as the 2017 L’Oréal-UNESCO “For Women in Science” Laureate for Europe. This award recognizes her groundbreaking multidisciplinary work predicting, describing and creating new materials that have switchable magnetic and ferroelectric properties.

During the recent Biomaterials 2016 conference at ETH, Joanna Aizenberg, Dave Mooney and Simon Hoerstrup were interviewed about their views on biointerface research, translation and other important issues. These interviews are available now.

Jörg F. Löffler has been awarded the DGM "Breakthrough" Prize 2016 of the German Society of Materials. This award is "bestowed on an excellent scientist in the middle of his/her research career for outstanding scientific achievements which represent a breakthrough in materials science and/or for initiating a new research field".

Topological effects by cyclic polymers are enhanced in the confinement of a flat surface: a research team led by Dr. Edmondo M. Benetti have demonstrated that cyclic polyoxazoline brushes provide higher steric stabilization with respect to their linear analogues, and display super-lubricious behavior in water.