Research page of Chase Broedersz








   I'm a PhD student in the
   MacKintosh group at the
   VU university in Amsterdam.

   Contact Information

drs. C.P. Broedersz
Theoretical physics
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Email: broeders@nat.vu.nl
Phone: (31)20 598-7905
Fax: (31)20 598-7992
Vrije Universiteit
De Boelelaan 1081
NL-1081 HV Amsterdam
THE NETHERLANDS


   Research Statement

The physics of cytoskeletal networks

- Mechanics and dynamics of polymer networks
- (Non)-Equilibrium statistical mechanics of cytoskeletal networks
- Nonlinear elastic behavior of composite stiff polymer networks with highly flexible cross-linkers
- Mechanics and phase behavior of loosely cross-linked semiflexible polymer networks


Living cells possess some pretty amazing mechanical properties. One example is their stiffness, which they can vary over orders of magnitude. The mechanics of cells depends largely on their cytoskeleton, a complex assembly of stiff biopolymers along with various associated proteins for cross-linking and force generation. We work together closely with experimentalists who reconstruct purified modules of the cytoskeleton in the lab to study the basic underlying physics.



Schematic figure of a flexibly cross-linked stiff polymer network


Publications

R. Gremaud, C.P. Broedersz, A. Borgschulte, M.J. van Setten , H. Schreuders, M. Slaman , B. Dam, R. Griessen, Hydrogenography of MgyNi1-yHx gradient thin films: Interplay between the thermodynamics and kinetics of hydrogenation. Acta Mater (2009)

C. P. Broedersz, C. Storm, F.C. MacKintosh, Effective medium approach for stiff polymer networks with flexible cross-links, Phys. Rev. E 79, 061914 (2009)

J. Liu, K.E. Kasza, G.H. Koenderink, D. Vader, C. P. Broedersz, F.C. MacKintosh, D.A. Weitz, Microscopic origins of nonlinear elasticity of biopolymer networks (preprint).

K.E. Kasza, G.H. Koenderink, Y.C. Lin, C. P. Broedersz, W. Messner, F. Nakamura, T.P. Stossel, F.C. MacKintosh, D.A. Weitz, Nonlinear elasticity of stiff biopolymers connected by flexible linkers, Phys. Rev. E 79, 041928 (2009) .

C. P. Broedersz, C. Storm, F.C. MacKintosh, Nonlinear elasticity of composite networks of stiff biopolymers with flexible linkers, Physical Review Letters, 101: 118103 (2008)

C. P. Broedersz, R. Gremaud, B. Dam, R. Griessen and O.M. Løvvik, The highly destabilized Mg-Ti-Ni-H system investigated by density functional calculations and hydrogenography experiments, Phys. Rev. B77 024204 (2008)

R. Gremaud,C. P. Broedersz, D. Borsa, A. Borgschulte, P. Mauron, H. Schreuders, J. H. Rector, B Dam. R. Griessen, Highly destabilized Mg-based hydrogen storage materials identified through combinatorial screening, Avanced Materials, 19, 2813 - 2817 (2007)

B. Dam, R. Gremaud, C. Broedersz and R. Griessen, Combinatorial thin film methods for the search of new light-weight metal-hydrides, Scripta Materialia 56 (2007) 853-858

R.J. Westerwaal, C.P. Broedersz, R. Gremaud, M. Slaman, A. Borgschulte, W. Lohstroh, K.G. Tschersich, H.P. Fleischhauer, B. Dam R. Griessen, Tuning the electrical, structural and optical properties of in-situ grown MgH2 thin films by activated reactive evaporation, Thin Solid Films 516 4351-4359 (2008)

R.J. Westerwaal, M. Slaman, A. Borgschulte, C.P. Broedersz, D.M. Borsa, W.Lohstroh, B. Kooi, G.ten Brink, K.G.Tschersich, H.P.Fleischhauer, B.Dam, R. Griessen,Optical, structural, and electrical properties of Mg2NiH4 thin films in-situ grown by activated reactive evaporation, J. Appl. Phys. 100, (2006) 063518



   Curriculum Vitae


   Links

MacKintosh group

Complex Systems group, VU Amsterdam

Theoretical Biophysics group, Leiden University

Experimental Biological Soft Matter group, Amolf

Weitzlab, Harvard

Kees Storm from Eindhoven university



   Old Research

Experimental

I co-developed and applied Hydrogenography, which is a new method to study the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of hydrogen storage materials. Hydrogenography is a high-throughput combinatorial approach to measure optically the metal-to-hydride phase transition upon hydrogen absorption. I was able to measure the enthalpies of formation of a large range of alloy compositions of Mg-Ti-Ni with this new technique. This work was done under supervision of prof. dr. R. Griessen.

Theoretical

I have performed density functional theory calculations to calculate the band structure and enthalpy of formation of the metal hydrides I studied experimentally. These calculations are done using the VASP ab initio code. I did these calculations at the University of Oslo in Norway under supervision of dr. O.M. Løvvik.



Master Thesis The Mg-Ti-Ni-H system studied by hydrogenography experiments and density functional calculations (2007)