Ph.D. Thesis

Subject: "Automated system for combinatorial synthesis and high-throughput characterization of polymeric sensor materials"

Location: Technische Universität München, Lehrstuhl für Messsystem- und Sensortechnik, Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Lehrstuhl für Messsystem- und Sensortechnik

Supervisor: Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. A.W. Koch

Abstract: In this thesis, an automated system for combinatorial synthesis and high throughput investigation of electrical properties of conductive polymers is described. The equipment provides a polymerization of defined mixtures of monomers into a thin layer on the addressed work electrodes of a direct electrode array. It is followed by high-throughput screening of current voltage characteristics according to the developed measurement protocol. The electrodes with an interdigital configuration were specially designed for simultaneous four- and two point conductance measurements. Programmed addition of analytes provided automated investigation of influence of gases on the synthesized polymers. The results of experimental test of the system are presented with investigation of materials for gas sensors.

This equipment can be used for synthesis and electrical characterization of conductive polymers and multilayer polymer structures, for development of chemical sensors, bio-sensors, organic electronic devices and other thin film functional structures.

Keywords: electropolymerization, chemical sensors, biological sensors, organic semiconductors, combinatorial approach, high-throughput screening

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