Marcel Herber

Background

About Marcel Herber

In my work as a PhD student in physical chemistry at the University of Hamburg, I do research in the field of 2D nanomaterials. The focus is on the family of MXenes. MXenes are a class of two-dimensional inorganic compounds consisting of atomically thin layers of transition metal carbides, nitrides or carbonitrides. My research can be divided into two areas: In the first area, the surface chemistry of these materials is first modified, especially at the basal surfaces. Secondly, the surface chemistry of two different model materials is controlled in such a way that a heterostructure of type A-B-A is formed during self-assembly. Finally, the resulting structure is characterized by electron microscopy, and then the electronic and photocatalytic properties of these materials are investigated. In the second area, the technique of "bubble printing" is used. In this method, optically controlled microbubbles are used to print structures of colloidal particles onto substrates. These structures have a width of a few micrometers and can be printed over a large area. This method is used to print substrates that can be used as sensors (e.g. strain sensors).