Bio-Based Humidity Sensors for Sustainable Applications

Forschungsthema/Bereich

Eco-friendly and Printed Electronics

Typ der Abschlussarbeit

Bachelor / Master

Startzeitpunkt

-

Bewerbungsschluss

31.08.2026

Dauer der Arbeit

3-6 months

Beschreibung

Flexible and printed electronics is revolutionizing healthcare, diagnostics, and environmental monitoring, driving urgent demand for biocompatible, and sustainable sensing platforms. Melanin, as a naturally derived pigment with intrinsic hygroscopic and redox-active properties offers a promising pathway toward truly sustainable electronics that can integrate seamlessly into living spaces and on human skin without toxicity concerns. Recent work has demonstrated that inkjet-printed melanin films, enhanced with biocompatible ionic additives, deliver competitive humidity. This project aims to systematically engineer melanin humidity sensors by optimizing salt chemistry to tune sensor sensitivity across specific humidity windows. The objectives focus on correlating deliquescence properties with impedance response, establishing design rules for application-specific sensors, and validating long-term stability for real-world deployment.

Key Tasks:
Formulate and optimize a systematic panel of melanin inks incorporating choline salts and biocompatible alternatives.
Fabricate the flexible humidity sensors (including the interdigitated electrodes and the sensing area using the ink-jet printing technique.
Conduct impedance spectroscopy characterization (10–80% RH) and correlate deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) with sensor sensitivity, response time, and hysteresis.
Execute humidity cycling studies; assess salt leaching, film stability, and recrystallization behavior via SEM and optical microscopy.

Voraussetzung

Voraussetzungen an Studierende

• Interest for Research on printed electronics
• Background in Physics, Chemistry, Material Science, Electrical or Mechanical Engineering

Studiengangsbereiche

• Ingenieurwissenschaften
  Materialwissenschaft & Werkstofftechnik
  Mechanical Engineering
  Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
• Naturwissenschaften und Technik
  Chemie
  Physics

Betreuung

Titel, Vorname, Name

M.Sc. Fatemeh Etehadi

Organisationseinheit

Institute for Automation and Applied Informatics (IAI)

E-Mail Adresse

Fatemeh.etehadi@kit.edu

Link zur eigenen Homepage/Personenseite

Website

Bewerbung per E-Mail

Bewerbungsunterlagen

• Anschreiben
• Lebenslauf
• Notenauszug

E-Mail Adresse für die Bewerbung
Senden Sie die oben genannten Bewerbungsunterlagen bitte per Mail an Fatemeh.etehadi@kit.edu


Zurück