These projects can be absolved within the framework of the PSI summer students program. Please see details here: How to apply | Summer Student Programme | PSI
Sample preparation of gold nanoparticles with different shapes
Controlling chemical reactions at the nanoscale is a central goal in chemistry and materials science, with significant applications in fields such as medicine, cosmetics, and a wide range of industrial and high-end products. A powerful strategy is to subject the reactant to confined environments that alter reaction conditions by restricting their movement, thus affecting both kinetics and thermodynamics. Such confined conditions are called nanoreactors 1–3.
Within this project, we will use reverse wormlike micelles (RWLMs) as nanoreactors. These are ternary systems formed by the surfactant lecithin, cyclohexane, and water. In this medium, lecithin molecules self-assemble into long and narrow water channels, creating a unique confined environment for performing reactions 6.
The goal of this project is producing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with different shapes by simply changing the of the nanoreactor, as well as the concentration of the reactants. The work is divided into four steps:
- Prepare samples with different reactants concentration using RWLMs with fixed .
- Prepare samples using RWLMs with different and fixed reactant concentration.
- Characterize the formed systems using rheology.
- Analyze the AuNPs formed using UV-vis spectroscopy.
- Data analysis to process, plot, and interpret the data.
We are seeking a motivated student with a background in Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, or Materials Science eager to work on an interdisciplinary nanoscience project.
For more details, please contact: hilda.nascimento-nogueira@psi.ch
Figure 1. A) Schematic representation of the RWLMs structuration. B) Images showing the macroscopic appearance of the AuNPs in confinement at = 3 and at = 6.
Preparation and characterisation of non-aqueous emulsions
Emulsions, consisting of one liquid phase dispersed in another, have wide-ranging applications from the kitchen to large-scale industrial processes. This makes studying of the properties of emulsions an important field, especially since (macro)emulsions are only kinetically stable and hence their properties change due to time or external forces.
In this project, we will study the stability of two non-aqueous emulsions, namely one consisting of decane in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and one with glycerol droplets in silicone oil. While the first system requires the presence of a surfactant to be stable, emulsions of glycerol in silicone oil exhibit anomalous stability even in the absence of an emulsifier. The goal of the project is to determine how the stability of these systems depends on the concentration of the dispersed phase and the presence of surfactant as an emulsifier. This will include the following tasks:
- Prepare emulsions with differing concentrations of the dispersed phase and surfactant.
- Determine the saturation adsorption of surfactant at the decane/DMSO interface using pendent drop tensiometry.
- Characterise the size distribution of emulsion droplets using optical microscopy.
We are looking for a motivated student with a background in chemistry, physics or materials science looking to gain experience preparing and characterising soft matter systems.
For more information, please contact Wouter Grünewald, wouter.gruenewald@psi.ch
Figure 1: Schematic illustrating the ripening of emulsions mediated by swollen surfactant micelles.
Micromagnetic Simulations of skyrmion dynamics and design
Project description:
Magnetic skyrmions are nanoscale spin textures that can be moved using electric currents and are promising for next-generation data storage and logic devices. This project explores skyrmion dynamics using micromagnetic simulations, with possibilities ranging from racetrack geometries (skyrmions pushed along a magnetic “wire”) to multilayer systems where chiral asymmetries may lead to “skyrmion rainbow” formation effects. You aims will be to run numerical simulations, analyse their emergent magnetic textures, and evaluate how underlying symmetry and materials parameters determine skyrmion behaviour. Work will be primarily computer-based using micromagnetic simulation software and Python for analysis.
Area of study:
Computational condensed matter physics, magnetism, materials science, computational modelling. Students should ideally have a background in physics, materials science, applied mathematics, or a related field.
Necessary background and skills:
- Basic understanding of magnetism
- Some experience in numerical computation
- Python (essential)
- Familiarity with Linux or Unix environments (helpful)
- Experience with large-scale computational packages (e.g. Mumax3, Spirit) is not required but would be a bonus
What you (the student) will learn:
- Running and interpreting micromagnetic simulations
- Modelling approaches to topological magnetic structures
- Visualisation and analysis of large simulation datasets in Python
- Understanding how material parameters and symmetry affect emergent magnetism
- Experience in computational research workflows
Contact: Samuel Moody, samuel.moody@psi.ch
Experimentally investigating magnetic skyrmion formation
This project explores how chemical substitution alters the formation and stability of magnetic skyrmions in the well-known chiral magnet Cu₂OSeO₃. The student will characterise pristine and doped samples using experimental methods including magnetometry (MPMS) and neutron scattering (SANS). Typical tasks include sample alignment, magnetic measurements, data reduction, and analysis of phase diagrams to determine whether doping enhances or suppresses the skyrmion phase. Day-to-day work will be a mix of laboratory measurements at PSI and office-based data processing.
Area of study:
Condensed matter physics, magnetism, materials science, experimental solid-state physics. Students should ideally have a background in physics, materials science, or a related field.
Necessary background and skills:
- Basic understanding of magnetism and phase diagrams
- Experience with laboratory measurement equipment (helpful)
- Python or MATLAB for data analysis (or similar)
- Ability to work carefully in a laboratory environment
- Experience interpreting large experimental datasets (advantageous)
What you will learn:
- Hands-on operation of MPMS magnetometry systems
- Neutron scattering workflows and data interpretation
- Processing and analysis of magnetic phase diagrams
- Direct experimental investigation of topological spin textures
- Experience in real-world laboratory planning, measurement, and data reporting
Contact: Samuel Moody, samuel.moody@psi.ch
Hydrogen-bonding at an interface
Interactions of materials at interfaces drives the performance of many everyday products. Soaps and shampoos interact with dirt to clean, with air to form bubbles and with oil and water to form stable emulsions. Recent works have shown that the bulk behaviour of the surfactants can be manipulated by introducing hydrogen bonding groups, enabling the formation of various micellar structures [1]. We are looking for a motivated student with a background in chemistry, physics or materials science to investigate the interaction strength of novel amino acid-based formulations. By measuring changes in surface tension and surface excess concentrations, through pendant drop tensiometry, the project aims to further quantify the strength of synergistic interactions.
In this project, you will generate surfactant concentration series' and measure their surface tensions with a custom tensiometry setup to relate changes in interfacial adsoprtion, tension, and critical micelle concentration to uncover molecular interaction strengths.
[1] Lutz-Bueno, V.; Williams, A. P. Hydrogen Bonding Exacerbates Viscoelasticity of Amino Acid– and Betaine Surfactant Self-Assemblies. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2026, 704, 139382.
Area of study: Physical chemistry / Soft Matter
For more information, please contact: Ashley Williams, ashley.williams@psi.ch
Nuclear and magnetic structure of high entropy oxides
High entropy oxides (HEOs) are promising materials for electrocatalysis and multiferroic applications. Mullite-type HEOs based on Bi2M4O9 (M = Ga, Al, Fe, Mn) are structurally complex materials, especially the magnetic structure, which changes when multiple elements are incorporated on the M site. Neutron diffraction is a suitable technique to probe the nuclear and magnetic structure of the HEOs.
Analysis of neutron diffraction data using different methods to obtain information about the long-range and local nuclear and magnetic structures will be performed. This will involve visualization of the data, finding trends, and refinements using different refinement software (e.g., FullProf, TOPAS, PDFgui).
Area of study: Materials Chemistry
Necessary background and skills:
- Inorganic chemistry (synthesis not required)
- Understanding of material characterization
- Understanding of diffraction experiments and/or refinements of diffraction data
What you will learn:
- Analysis of diffraction data and extraction of structural information
- Data reduction
- Visualization of data and crystal structures
Contact for questions: ida.nielsen@psi.ch
Stimuli-responsive nanofribillar hydrogels
Self-assembly is the essence of nature, where small molecules combine and form complex functional
units. Of particular interest are bioderived molecules that can undergo anisotropic self-assembly and
form nanostructures such as nanotubes, nanofibrils and ribbons. Glycyrrhizic acid (GA), which is derived
from licorice roots, is a common examples of self-assembling biomolecule that forms nanofibrils in
water. Owing to large range of applications as anticancer, antiviral drugs and treating skin diseases, GA
based self-assemblies are studied extensively. Interesting fact, GA is 50 times more sweet than sugar.
In this project we will be developing fibrillar hydrogels using GA. The ampiphilic nature of GA, owing
to both the hydrophilic and hydrphobic functional groups, allows it to form nanofibrils in water. With
increasing concentrations of GA, the length of nanofibrils increases, finally leading to a hydrogel network.
It has been demonstrated that the hydrogel is formed by a network of ’infinitely’ long fibrils and short
fibrils. Due to electrostatic repulsion between them, a nematic order is created by the orientation of
the long fibrils. Upon applying shear forces, the longer fibrils break into shorter ones, and reorient,
contributing to the shear-thinning properties of the gel.
The goal of this project is to induce this shear force through magnetic particles. When a magnetic field
is applied to a particle laden gel, the particles will rearrange themselves in the direction of the field,
which in turn will induce a shear in the gel. We want to investigate the effect of this shear force on the
re-orientation of the nanofibrils constituting GA hydrogels. Following will be the mains tasks for the
project:
• Prepare GA-Fe3O4 fibrillar hydrogels with varying concentrations of GA and Fe3O4 particles.
• Rheological characterization (shear-thinning and viscoelastic properties) using a rotational rheometer.
• Measure birefringence using high-speed polarization camera to analyze the orientation of fibrils
under magnetic field.
We are looking for a motivated student with background in chemistry, material science, chemical engineering
or related fields to take up this interesting project. You will be working in an international group, with
researchers from various disciplines and with common excitement for soft matter. If this project has
peaked your interest and you want to know more, please contact Somashree Mondal somashree.mondal@psi.ch
