Academic Background

2000-2003 Visiting Scientist University of Akron, Institute of Polymer Science 2000 Dr. rer. nat. (Ph.D.) University of Hamburg, Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry 1997 Diplom (M.S.) University of Hamburg, Chemistry 1994 Vordiplom (B.S.) Martin-Luther University Halle, Chemistry

Research Interests

Controlled synthesis and characterization of novel useful materials Macromolecular engineering, material properties, new polymerization methods Thermoplastic elastomers, organic electronic materials, hybrid polyurethanes General Approach The intended research activities center around the controlled synthesis and characterization of novel, potentially useful, prototype materials - at the interface of polymer chemistry and materials science. In view of a promising target structure, elements from published synthetic approaches will be combined and/or modified as necessary, or new polymerization techniques will be explored. Once a material is synthesized, the characteristic properties will be determined to suggest its potential. Interdisciplinary co-operations will result in a deeper understanding and optimized synthetic efforts. Example Conjugated polymers for electronic and photonic applications Conjugated polymers combine the properties of inorganic semiconductors with the processing advantages of plastics. Most of the photonic phenomena observed in inorganic semiconductors have also been found in their organic counterparts. This has lead to the manufacture of polymeric high performance photonic devices, e.g., light-emitting diodes, photovoltaic cells, photodetectors, optocouplers, etc. Other potential applications in organic electronics include organic field effect transistors. Our initial focus will be on novel systems of the poly(arylene vinylene) – type, a very important material class within the conjugated polymers. The polymer backbone consists of alternating arylene and vinylene units. The electronic characteristics of a specific poly(arylene vinylene) can be influenced by chemically attaching functional units to either the arylene– or vinylene-units or by varying the polymer chain length, thus allowing the fine tuning of the band gap between HOMO and LUMO of the respective system.