Chemistry Seminar Series 291 (9/1/17)

Conjugated polymer is a class of materials that possess the electrical, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of a metal or semiconductor while retaining the processability and mechanical properties associated with a conventional polymer. Electronic devices using such organic components as active layers, including solar cells, field-effect transistors or sensors, can be created via low-cost, solution-based routes. However, the performance of organic electronics is often inferior to their inorganic counterparts due to the dearth of fundamental understanding of these nascent materials. In this talk, I will discuss ( 1) my graduate work on using highly ordered oligomer crystals as model systems for deciphering the fundamental structure-property relationships of the parent conjugated polymers; (2) my postdoctoral work on high performance, strain-accommodating disordered conjugated polymers for epidermal and wearable electronic applications. I will also briefly introduce the research activities unfolding in my current group, including biomimetic assemblies, 3D printable functional polymers, and organic structural metamaterials.