Ronja Thümmler has successfully defended her doctoral thesis titled "Defined Conjugated Nanostructures through Self-Assembly", supervised by Prof. Brigitte Voit and Prof. Franziska Lissel. Her research focused on the integration of functional units into organic semiconductors, employing sustainable green chemistry approaches in both small molecule and polymeric systems.

The work explores the role of supramolecular interactions in material design and processing. In Ronja's first project, dicarboxylated oligothiophenes were shown to exhibit exceptionally strong and thermally stable hydrogen bonding, which influenced their processability and applicability. Importantly, this also enabled material recycling in thin-film device applications.

The second project introduced maleic anhydride groups into a fully conjugated backbone. These functional units were applied to develop materials for colorimetric amine sensing, showcasing their potential in practical applications. Ronja’s research emphasizes the critical relationship between molecular structure and the processing and performance of organic semiconductor materials.

The thesis was reviewed by Prof. Brigitte Voit and Prof. Michael Sommer.

Examination Committee:

• Chair: Prof. Thomas Simat
• Prof. Brigitte Voit
• Prof. Andreas Fery
• Prof. Inez Weidinger