Dr. Ingo Lieberwirth
Ingo Lieberwirth studied physics at the TU Dortmund and received his Ph.D. from the Technische Universität Eindhoven for his work on the crystallization of polymers. Subsequently, he joined the group of Prof. Wegner at the MPI-P where he became head of the electron microscopy core facility group in 2006. In addition to his work in electron microscopy, where he develops methods for the correlation of light and electron microscopy, he has worked in various research fields like polymer-controlled crystallization of inorganic minerals and structure formation of self-assembled polyelectrolytes in aqueous solution. His current areas of research include the interaction of nanoparticles with cells, visualization of proteins on surfaces and crystallization of precision polymers.
Research Interests
Correlative microscopy uses the advantages and the information content of different methods to achieve an additional profit from their combination. For example, confocal laser scanning microscopy can be used to visualize specific molecules or proteins but does not achieve the resolution of an electron microscope. We work in this field of research and develop methods to localize fluorescent nanoparticles or proteins microscopically with high resolution. To this end, we are researching methods to correlate light and electron microscopy for molecular identification in cells.
Another field of research is the crystallization of precisely synthesized polymers. By incorporating defects at a defined distance into the main chain, it is possible to arrange these defects precisely on the surface of the resulting polymer crystal. The aim of the research work is to control the arrangement of various defects and then to exploit their chemical properties.