Polymers, neutrons and much more: three decades together with Bernhard

Abstract

Begins are usually difficult and most of the times the first experience is crucial in determining the long-term development of an incursion in a new field. Our team had the great opportunity of meeting Bernhard Frick as local contact in our first neutron scattering experiments in the late 80’s. Since then, the collaboration with Bernhard has resulted in a plethora of exciting investigations mainly centered on polymer dynamics, but covering diverse aspects that include tunneling and rotations of methyl groups, segmental motions, local processes involved in secondary relaxations, etc. With our own ageing, the complexity of the systems investigated has also increased along these years. The joint investigations cover from homopolymers to polymer blends and, more recently, novel materials based on single-chain nanoparticles. This talk will be a journey along the main achievements of our (still living) collaboration with Bernhard.