Organizing and Optimizing Electronic Materials with Liquid Crystals

其目的是生产出具有新的化学和物理特性的新型电子材料。将开发方法来创建精确组织的材料，允许对其基本特性进行详细研究，以及在电子，显示，光伏和传感器技术中产生具有卓越性能的材料。要研究的主题包括能量迁移和聚合物低维导电网络的形成。前者利用液晶诱导序的作用来延长激子扩散长度，从而提高光伏器件的效率。后者将涉及在离子液晶等有组织介质中的新聚合方法。从事这项工作的学生将接受多元化的跨学科教育，并将精通有机合成，材料科学和器件工程。这种教育将使学生在对美国未来经济至关重要的新兴行业中获得成功的职业生涯。液晶可以使分子在宏观距离上自发组织（排列）。该方案寻求使用特殊设计的材料来创建具有电子和光学特性的新型材料结构。这些有组织的材料将有助于理解这些材料的物理性质，并使新一代分子电子器件的形成成为可能，这些器件可用于制造晶体管、显示器、光伏器件或化学传感器。这类有机器件作为廉价的一次性电子产品在消费品、能源技术和国土安全方面有许多应用。从事这项工作的学生将接受多元化的跨学科教育，并将精通有机合成，材料科学和器件工程。这种教育将使学生在对美国未来经济至关重要的新兴行业中获得成功的职业生涯。

This aims to producing new classes of electronic materials that exhibit new chemical and physical properties. Methods will be developed to create precisely organized materials that allow for detailed studies of their fundamental properties, as well as generating materials with superior performance in electronic, display, photovoltaics, and sensor technologies. Topics to be studied include energy migration and the formation of low dimensional conductive networks of polymers. In the former, the role of the liquid crystal induced order will be used to extend the exciton diffusion lengths, and hence improve the efficiency of photovoltaic devices. The latter will involve new polymerization methods in organized media such as ionic liquid crystals. Students engaged in this work will receive a diverse interdisciplinary education and will become proficient in organic synthesis, materials science, and device engineering. This education will empower students to launch successful careers in emerging industries that are critical to the future economy of the United States.%%%Liquid crystals enable the spontaneous organization (alignment) of molecules over macroscopic distances. This proposal seeks to use specially designed materials to create novel structures of materials with electronic and optical properties. These organized materials will assist in the understanding of the physics of these materials and enable the formation of new generations of molecular electronic devices that can be used to create transistors, displays, photovoltaic devices or chemical sensors. These classes of organic devices have many applications as inexpensive disposable electronics for use in consumer goods, energy technologies, and homeland security. Students engaged in this work will receive a diverse interdisciplinary education and will become proficient in organic synthesis, materials science, and device engineering. This education will empower students to launch successful careers in emerging industries that are critical to the future economy of the United States.