Intermediate states in bivalent ion induced shrinking of polyacrylate coils on surfaces and in solution [Elektronische Ressource] / von Prashant Sinha

Intermediate states in bivalent ion induced shrinking of polyacrylate coils on surfaces and in solution D I S S E R T A T I O N zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.) vorgelegt am Fachbereich Chemie der Fakultät Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften der Technischen Universität Dresden von Prashant Sinha geboren am 14.09.1978 in Lucknow, Indien Gutachter: Prof. Dr. M. Stamm Prof. Dr. K.-F. Arndt Eingereicht am: 20.05.2009 Tag der Verteidigung: 09.07.2009 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Prof. Dr. Manfred Stamm for accepting to guide me during the course of this work. His vast experience and knowledge was something I always banked upon. His invaluable suggestions gave my work a direction which has reached fruition with this thesis report. It is difficult to overstate my gratefulness to my thesis advisor, Dr. Anton Kiriy. I will always remember our adjacent offices separated by a single door which was never closed. Many a new ideas came up here and were diligently followed up. I have been lucky to be a part of a collaborative effort involving working groups from Dresden, Paderborn and Düsseldorf. All my meetings, email exchanges and telephonic conversations with Prof. Dr. Klaus Huber (Paderborn), Prof. Dr. Hartmut Löwen (Düsseldorf) and Dr.