VIBRANT

Center for Applied Nanotechnology (CAN) GmbH, Hamburg, Germany

Project Leader

Dr. Theo Schotten

Centrum für Angewandte Nanotechnologie (CAN) GmbH
Grindelallee 117
20146 Hamburg
Germany
Phone: +49 40-42838-8214
Fax: +49 40-42838-5797
E-mail adress: ts@can-hamburg.de

Group Members

Dr. Frank Schröder -Oeynhausen
Dr. Thomas Frahm
Anja Hansel
Nadja Zakrzewski

Organization: The Center for Applied Nanotechnology (CAN) GmbH
CAN GmbH is a public private partnership, located in Hamburg, Germany, which offers companies and research institutions contract research and development services in the area of nanotechnology, and participates in national and international research programs. CAN GmbH is focussing the nanotechnology and nanoscience resources in the Metropolitan region Hamburg via a strong association with Hamburg’s universities and research institutions. Headed by Prof. Dr. Horst Weller (CSO and full Professor at Hamburg University) and Dr. Frank Schröder-Oeynhausen (COO and CFO), CAN GmbH has national and international collaborations with well known companies like Beiersdorf AG, Eppendorf AG, Merck KgaA or Firmenich SA, just to name a few. CAN GmbH is integrated in a close network of players that support attainment of the company’s goals, like the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, the Innovationsstiftung Hamburg, the Norgenta North German Life Science Agency and the Hamburger Sparkasse. Since its establishment in 2005 CAN GmbH has established a staff that counts 25 and has licensed and filed several patents in the field of nanoparticle synthesis und functionalization. CAN facilities are equipped with several chemical laboratories, a biosafety level 1 laboratory and a cell culture laboratory.

Key recent patents:

• Luminescent core/shell nanoparticles [WO 002004096943]
• Core/shell nanoparticles suitable for (F)RET-assays [WO 002004096944]
• Paramagnetic nanoparticles [WO 002002072154]
• Synthesis of nanoparticles [WO 002002020696]
• Method for the production of emulsions with inkjet technology (patent filed 2007)
• Reactor for the manufacture of nanoparticles (patent filed 2007)

University of Hamburg, Germany

Participant Organisation: With a total of 680 professors and 38.000 students the University of Hamburg is the fifth largest University in Germany. The Institute of Physical Chemistry has currently 4 professors, 50 scientists and 30 permanent staff members. The institute is very well equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and methods. As one of very few university institutes in Germany it was rated excellent (best grade) in the last (2007) national evaluation of the German Science Council (Wissenschaftsrat).

Institute for Physical Chemistry

Project Leader

Prof. Dr. Horst Weller

Universität Hamburg
Institut für Physikalische Chemie
Grindelallee 117
20146 Hamburg
Germany
Phone: +49 40-42838-3449
Fax: +49 40-42838-3452
E-mail adress: weller@chemie.uni-hamburg.de

Group Members

Katharina Berghöfer

Expertise: The Hamburg group led by Professor Horst Weller has been working for 25 years on the colloid-chemical preparation of a large variety of semiconductor, metal and magnetic nanoparticles and is one of the pioneering groups in the field of chemical nanosciences. The activities focused on the development of preparation techniques for samples of monodisperse particles with diameters in the 2 - 20 nm region and their characterization as well as on the investigation of their size-dependent optical, electronic, magnetic, catalytic and structural properties. The synthesis is carried out the gram scale whereby controlled surface modification, preparation of core shell systems, doping of particles and size and shape control are taken care of with special importance. The characterization is carried out via optical spectroscopy (UV-VIS, IR, fluorescence, all methods time-resolved or stationary and temperature-dependent), by electrochemical methods (CV, polarography, impedance spectroscopy), X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy (XRD, XAFS, EDX, XPS) and electron microscopy (HRTEM, HRSEM). The scientific topics include basic investigations on the nucleation and growth of nanoparticles, the 2D and 3D self-assembly of the crystallites various aspects of nanoelectronics and nano-biotechnology as well as application of nanoparticles in LEDs, solar cells and for bio-labeling. The Nanochemistry group of Prof. Weller consists of approximately 25 coworkers and has published about 200 papers in the field of nanoscience.

Key recent publication (see also Förster):

• Juarez BH, Klinke C, Kornowski A, Weller H. Quantum dot attachment and morphology control by carbon nanotubes. Nano Letters 7, 2007, 3564,
• Becker K, Lupton JM, Mueller J, Rogach AL, Talapin DV, Weller H, Feldmann J. Electrical control of Foerster energy transfer. Nature Materials 5: 777, 2006
• Talapin DV, Mekis I, Goetzinger S, Kornowski A, Benson O, Weller H.   CdSe/CdS/ZnS and CdSe/ZnSe/ZnS core-shell-shell nanocrystals. Journal of Physical Chemistry 108:18826, 2004
• Schroedter A, Weller H. Ligand design and bioconjugation of colloidal gold nanoparticles  Angewandte Chemie, Int. Edition 41: 3218, 2002

Institute for Physical Chemistry - and Macromolecular Chemistry

Project Leader

Prof. Dr. Stephan Förster

Universität Hamburg
Institut für Physikalische Chemie
Grindelallee 117
20146 Hamburg
Germany
Phone: +49 40-42838-3460
Fax: +49 40-42838-3452
E-mail adress: forster@chemie.uni-hamburg.de

Group Members

Stephanie Domes
Jasmin Nitsche

Expertise: The Förster group has a long experience in the synthesis of biofunctional block copolymers using living polymerization techniques. The group has developed a basic understanding to tune the self-assembly of block copolymers into micellar and vesicular structures with tailored size and biochemical functionality. The related publications have each been cited several hundred times. All instrumentation necessary to characterize the chemical structure of the block copolymers and the structure and functionality of the micelles and vesicles are located in-house. For state-of-the-art structural characterization the group has regularly beam time at synchrotron and neutron sources in Hamburg (DESY) and Grenoble (ILL, ESRF).

Key recent publication:

• Hauschild S, Borchert U, Lipprandt U, Rank A, Schubert R, Förster S. Direct preparation and loading of small monodisperse vesicles using inkjet printers. Small 1: 1177, 2005
• Tromsdorf UI, Bigall NC, Kaul MG, Bruns OT, Nikolic MS, Mollwitz B, Sperling RA, Reimer R, Hohenberg H, Parak WJ, Förster S, Beisiegel U, Adam G, Weller H. Size and surface effects on the MRI relaxivity of manganese ferrite nanoparticle constrast agents. Nano Lett. 7: 2422, 2007
• Förster S, Timmann A, Schellbach C, Frömsdorf A, Kornowski A, Weller H, Roth SV, Lindner P. Order causes secondary Bragg peaks in soft materials. Nature Mater. 6: 888, 2007
• Krack M, Hohenberg H, Kornowski A, Lindner P, Weller H, Förster S. Nanoparticle loaded magnetophoretic vesicles. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130:8572, 2008

Institute of Organic Chemistry

Project Leader

Prof. Dr. Joachim Thiem

Universität Hamburg
Institut für Organische Chemie
Martin-Luther-King-Platz 6
20146 Hamburg
Germany
Phone: +49 40 42838 4241
Fax: +49 40 42838 4325
E-mail adress: thiem@chemie.uni-hamburg.de

Group Members

Dr. Julian Thimm
Daniel Waschke

Expertise: Prof. Dr. J. Thiem and his group have published more than 400 peer reviewed journal articles in glycoside synthesis, preparative studies of antibiotic and cytostatic oligosaccharides, synthesis of complex saccharide conjugates, preparations of carbohydrate mimetics, photochemical transformation of carbohydrate derivatives, glycopolymers and pioneered the application of chemoenzymatic synthesis. As initiator and then “Speaker” of the Collaborative Research Grant (SFB 470) "Glycostructures in Biosystems - Synthesis and Impact" which runs since 1997 he and his group have a long standing expertise regarding structural considerations linked to the study of disease patterns.

Recent key publication:

• B. Neubacher, S. Scheid, S. Kelm, A. C. Frasch, B. Meyer, J. Thiem
  ChemBioChem 2006, 7,  896-899.
• J. Neumann, S. Weingarten, J. Thiem Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2007, 1130-1144.
• A. Schroven, S. Meinke, P. Ziegelmüller, J. Thiem Chem. Eur. J. 2007, 13, 9012-9021.
• S. Meinke, J. Thiem Carbohydr. Res., 2008, 343, 1824-1829.
• W.Herdering, J. Thiem, S. I. Goodman, D. M. Koeller, K. Ullrich, T. Braulke, C. Mühlhausen
  Biochim. Biophys. Acta, Molecular Basis of Disease 2008, 1782, 385-390.
• A. Steinmann, J. Thimm, N. Wollik, J. Thiem,  Curr. Org. Chem. 2008, 12, 1010-1020.
• A. Steinmann, J. Thimm, J. Thiem, Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2007, 33, 5506-5513.
• K. Dierck, K. Machida, A. Voigt, J. Thimm, M. Horstmann, W. Fiedler, B.J. Mayer and P. Nollau, Nature Methods 2006, 3, 737-744.
• J. Thimm, A. Mechler, H. Lin, S. Rhee, R. Lal, J. Biol. Chem. 2005, 280, 10646-10654.
• V. Makrides, T.E. Shen, J. Thimm, B.L. Smith, R. Bhatia, R. Lal, and S.C. Feinstein
  J. Biol. Chem. 2003, 237, 33298-33304 (Cover).
• J. Thiem, E. Wieczorek, J. Thimm., Glycoteam GmbH. (2000) “Synthesis of rare C7   carbohydrates”   (unpublished results).
• A. Schaefer, D. Henkensmeier, L. Kroeger, J. Thiem
  Tetrahedron: Asymmetry 20, 902-909 (2009)