Prof. Helmut C？lfen from Department of Chemistry at University of Konstanz was invited to visit Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on October 8. Prof. C？lfen was honored as CAS Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists in 2014. 

Prof. Helmut C？lfen presented a lecture titled “Bio-Inspired Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Materials”. In his lecture, Prof. C？lfen summarized his work on biominerals which are an intense subject of research to reveal the design principles of advanced materials. The lecture was chaired by Prof. JIANG Heqing, the group leader of Membrane Separation and Catalysis Group of QIBEBT.  

The lecture was begun with self-assembled hierarchical layered materials from anisotropic nanoparticles aligned by modified self-assembling polyoxazoline polymers with mesogens forming liquid crystals as driving force towards crystallization. Furthermore, an attempt towards combination of several advantageous biomineral properties, namely the fracture resistance of Nacre, the wear resistance of chiton teeth and the magnetic properties of magnetotactic bacteria, was reported. At last, a non-classical crystallization pathway to synthesize bio-inspired elastic cement was also introduced.  

After the lecture, Prof. Helmut C？lfen visited Membrane Separation and Catalysis Group for in-depth discussion. These communications laid a good foundation for further collaboration between University of Konstanz and QIBEBT.