Helmuth Hoffmann was born in Gmünd, Austria, in 1958. He attended the Vienna University of Technology (VUT) from 1976 until 1986, where he received his Diploma and Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Ulrich Mayer. Helmuth has been retired since 2023.

After a three-year postdoctoral stay at University of California, Riverside, with Prof. Peter R. Griffiths and Prof. Francisco Zaera he returned to Austria and joined the research group of Prof. Ulrich Mayer. He became Associate Professor in 1996 at VUT and he is currently Professor of Surface Chemistry at the Institute of Applied Synthetic Chemistry (VUT). He is author of over 60 research publications in peer-reviewed journals (h-index 28).

The expertise of the group of Helmuth Hoffmann is centered around the chemical modification of solid surfaces, the preparation and characterization of nanostructured surfaces and the development of infrared surface characterization techniques. Our work is based mostly on silicon and silicon oxide substrates of different morphologies (flat, powdered or nanostructured), which are modified with organic monolayer films using self-assembly techniques in combination with surface click chemistry in order to tune and optimize the surface properties for specific applications. Examples include the preparation of “self-cleaning”, liquid-repellant surfaces, of biorecognition surfaces and of novel catalytic support materials based on surface confined ionic liquid films (SILP). These materials are investigated by a range of surface analytical techniques including IR spectroscopy, ellipsometry, optical reflectance, contact angle measure­ments, electron microscopy and BET surface area measurements.

Researcher Profile

ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6949-1731
(http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6949-1731)

SCOPUS ID: 7401864014
(https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?origin=resultslist&authorId=7401864014&zone=)

Google Scholar Profile
(https://scholar.google.at/citations?user=-OhqqKkAAAAJ&hl=de&oi=ao)

ACADEMIC RECORD

65 Publications in peer-reviewed journals (h-index 28, citations: ~3500; number of citations/paper: 51), 4 Book Chapters
>70 Lectures and Conference Contributions 

SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS

Since 1992 8 Ph.D. students

ALUMNI

PhD Students (Helmuth Hoffmann)

• BRUNNER Helmut “Strukturelle und kinetische Untersuchungen der Adsorption von Alkylsiloxan-Monoschichten auf hydroxilierten Oberflächen“
• KATTNER Jürgen “In-Situ Ellipsometry of Thin Films at Solid/Liquid Interfaces”
• VALLANT Thomas „Formation and Structure of Ultrathin Films Prepared by Molecular Self-Assembling at Solid/Liquid Interfaces
• SZCZYGIEL Agnieszka „Adsorption and Reactions of Self-Assembled Monolayers on Germanium and Silicon Surfaces“
• LEITNER Thomas „Chemische Modifizierung von Graphit mittels chemisorbierter Mono­schichten“
• LUMMERSTORFER Thomas “IR-spektroskopische Charakterisierung der Struktur und Reaktivität chemisorbierter Monoschichten”
• HENRIKSSON Anders “From Silicon Wafers to Silicon Nanowires: Chemical Modification of 2D and 3D Silicon Surfaces”
• BITTNER Roland “Liquid-Repellent Surfaces based on Nanostructured Silicon Surfaces”