CAREER: Liquid Crystal Imprinting

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This Faculty Early Career Development Program award to Dr. David Patrick of Western Washington University is supported by the Advanced Materials and Processing Program in the Chemistry Division. The focus of the research will be the use of thermotrophic liquid crystal solvents to prepare organic thin films with tailored and oriented building blocks. This liquid crystal imprinting will also be used to prepare two component re-writable composite films with tailored alignments of building blocks in the films. The technology has potential applications in re-writable films controlled by lasers, and magnetic and electric fields. Part of the educational plan is to revise and modernize undergraduate analytical chemistry curriculum with active participation of selected undergraduate students in part time research during the academic year and full time during the summer. Students will have opportunity to publish and present their findings.Thin films with ordered and oriented functional groups will be prepared and characterized under this research. These materials with electrooptic and thermal properties will have applications in re-writable memory and storage devices. In addition, the interdisciplinary approaches of the project will provide knowledge and training to undergraduate students from the undergraduate university in materials synthesis, processing and applications.