Katharina Pfennigbauer (associated)

Functionalizing reduced graphene oxide for smell sensors (Supervisor: B. Holzer)

Short bio: Katharina Pfennigbauer Katharina received her BSc and MSc in Technical Chemistry from TU Vienna in August 2019 and February 2022, respectively. During her bachelor studies, Katharina developed new self-assembling materials for the modification of electronic devices, in particular sensors. She was able to pursue and deepen her knowledge in this scientific research field during her master studies studying addressable self-assembled monolayers to functionalize gold surfaces.

Summary of the PhD project: Within my PhD project, I aim to develop new strategies to functionalize reduced graphene oxide for smell sensors. Using either covalent or non-covalent synthetic approaches, we aim for straightforward and highly selective modification of gas sensor interfaces. Click chemistry allows us to alter the nature of these surfaces on demand.

Thoughts on TU-D: The cooperations within TU-D enable me to meet with other researchers and experts who are working on the same research topic in a laid-back atmosphere. At the same time, all of us have different scientific backgrounds, which helps us to gather new insights from different perspectives while working on the same goal as a team. I am sure that this form of exchange enables us to think out of the box and consequently come up with new and inspiring ideas for our research projects.