Nanostructured materials play important roles in a wide range of advanced technology applications, stimulating interest in the ‘Internet of Things’.  In response to that interest, printed, flexible and even stretchable electronics have potential as low cost alternatives for devices in application ranging from energy to health care to security.  However, their successful commercialization relies on the design and development of sustainable, robust and reliable materials chemistries and processes.  While molecular design plays a significant role in determining materials electronic performance, molecular structure is not the only consideration. Device performance also depends critically on surfaces, interfaces and active material assembly/alignment at many length scales. This presentation will explore how surface chemistry considerations, coupled with interfaces and physical interactions can impact the design and development of advanced new materials chemistries for applications ranging from devices to energy storage and conversion.

LECTURE #2: Friday, April 5th, 9:30 AM, BH Snell Hall 213

(Refreshments at 9:00 AM)

Simultaneous enhancement of the electrical performance, mechanical stretchability, and optical transparency of conjugated polymers may significantly broaden the spectrum of realizable applications for these materials in future intelligent optoelectronics, i.e., wearable devices, electronic skin, stretchable displays, and a vast array of biomedical sensors.  The successful introduction of these devices however, relies on the design and development of sustainable, robust and reliable materials chemistries and processes.  Studies have shown that not only does device performance depend critically on semiconductor alignment at many length scales, materials’ mesostructure can be manipulated in solution prior to device fabrication.  Observations surrounding the behavior of these materials suggest that requisite macroscopic long-range order required for high performance devices may be achieved through process chemistry coupled with quantitative analysis of processed semiconducting thin film images. This approach allows development of robust materials structure-process-property relationships that can then be used to guide subsequent materials design and process approaches.