Preparing Carbon-Rich and All-Carbon Materials Via Self-Assembly

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The Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry Program supports Professor Nancy Goroff of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, to prepare novel conjugated polymers and graphitic structures for optoelectronic applications. The focus of this work is to create new high-carbon or all-carbon materials with unusual structures that impart unique and desirable physical, chemical, and electronic properties. Careful characterization determines the molecular and supramolecular structure for each, and through collaborations with analytical and physical chemists, the electronic and optical properties and possible applications for these materials are explored. The research involves the use of poly(diiododiacetylene) as a precursor to ordered high-carbon materials, including the linear carbon allotrope carbyne. Also, the preparation of new ordered polymers from other diynes, triynes, and tetraynes. Poly(dibromodiacetylene) is a primary target for a highly planar conjugated polymer with a broader absorption spectrum and greater photostability than poly(diiododiacetylene), and as a precursor to other materials via post-polymerization modification.This research provides methods for preparing new carbon-based semiconducting materials. One application for these materials is in thin-film solar cells. A key goal is to find new carbon-based semi-conductors that can absorb a greater percentage of the visible and infrared solar spectrum, increasing the efficiency of the resulting solar cell. These materials can also be prepared completely free of toxic metal contaminants such as palladium or zinc. New materials are critical to the development of the important field of optoelectronics. A major component of the work involves collaborative research, which brings together scientists with different expertise and research focus, increasing communication across disciplinary boundaries. Graduate students and undergraduates gain experience in making new materials and studying their properties, skills that can be used in industries as varied as pharmaceuticals and electronics. Professor Goroff is deeply involved in outreach activities, notably through the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, housed in the School of Journalism at Stony Brook. She serves on the Steering Committee for the Alda Center, and acts as a judge for the Center's annual Flame Challenge, a competition that has attracted international attention and led to significant insights about how to communicate scientific ideas most effectively to children.