Anna Fichtner defends her doctoral dissertation
On January 17th 2018, Anna Fichtner successfully defended her doctoral dissertation entitled "Extraction Studies of Suberin from Bark and Synthesis of Lignin Isocyanate-Free Polyurethanes: Byproducts of the Beech Wood Industry" at the Faculty for Chemistry and Pharmacy.
Before joining the Chair of Forest Biomaterials in 2013 Dr. Fichtner was trained as a chemical technician and received her Bachelor and Master degree in Chemistry (Philipps-Universität, Marburg).
The main objective of her dissertation was the synthesis of bio-based, non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) copolymers with building blocks derived from byproducts of the European beech (Fagus sylvatica) industry, so as to add further value to beech trees. In this context Anna Fichtner analyzed beech bark for potential macromonomers for polymerization focusing on aliphatic suberin and synthesized novel aromatic NIPU from organosolv beech wood lignin. Her dissertation work was in part enabled by financial support from the European Union through the project GANUBU of the Clusterinitiative Forst und Holz Baden-Württemberg.