Stephan Roth is Lead Scientist for functionalised bio-based polymer materials at DESY and Professor for Scattering-based Characterisation Techniques in Fiber and Polymer Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. His research in sustainability includes the development of hybrid materials from renewable resources for flexible electronics and photovoltaics, the development of green processes in thin-film technology using the principles of green chemistry and the application of machine learning for advanced data analysis. One aim of his activities is to develop new hybrid materials for a circular bioeconomy and sustainable energy generation. The starting materials for this are often wood components such as lignin and cellulose. These new hybrid materials can be used in a wide range of applications: optoelectronic applications, flexible solar cells, sustainable thermoelectrics, actuators, advanced biosensors, (bio)polymer–inorganic colloid hybrid materials as well as lithography and 3D printing.

Stephan Roth investigates new methods for the production of metal cluster polymer nanocomposites and integrates novel, bio-based polymer colloids with customised chemical properties into the hybrid materials.

Structure formation through self-organisation on the nanoscale plays a decisive role in the production of all these hybrid materials. Therefore, Stephan Roth uses the excellent possibilities for in situ and operando experiments at DESY and at large research facilities worldwide, including complementary neutron scattering, to investigate the influence of the nanostructure on the physical properties. The fabrication methods for thin-film technology that are investigated in situ range from spray coating of liquid phases to physical vapour deposition of metals on polymer layers.

Academic career