Design, Synthesis, and Properties of Open-Shell Organic Semiconductors

埃默里大学的Eilaf Egap教授在化学系的大分子、超分子和纳米化学(MSN)计划的支持下，开发了开放壳层共轭低聚物和聚合物的制备和研究策略。研究了这些材料的化学和物理化学性质以及它们在与光相互作用时的响应方式。其目标是了解并能够操纵影响其有机半导体性能的因素。有机半导体被用于发光二极管、传感器、光伏和集成电路等一系列技术中。预计这一研究项目的结果将通过降低功耗、提高灵敏度以及增强数据和能量存储来直接影响这些技术。在开展该项目的过程中，来自少数族裔的学生和来自当地历史黑人高校的本科生参与了与该项目相关的科学研究活动。这是通过为期八周的夏季研究和指导计划以及物理化学和材料化学领域的联合研讨会系列来实现的。学生们积极参与研究和计划系列研讨会，以保持他们对STEM领域的兴趣和充分参与。这项研究计划提出了基于聚噻吩和藜芦醇骨架的有机开壳共轭低聚和聚合物半导体材料的合成和表征策略，并包括稳定的长寿命自由基作为自旋资源。研究了这些材料的化学和光物理性质，包括分子堆积和电子自旋的动力学和动力学。使用各种技术对材料进行了表征，包括超快瞬变光谱和扫描探针显微镜。这个项目的一个重要目标是了解控制光致自旋排列和自旋极化的结构和物理因素，并确定影响有机齐聚物/聚合物半导体杂化态和自旋交换的分子堆积、结构取向和拓扑因素。另一个目标是理解和建立用于调制和预测激发态能级的设计规则。理论计算和计算模型被用来帮助指导靶的选择，并支持自旋极化和激发态的研究。

Professor Eilaf Egap of Emory University is supported by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry (MSN) Program in the Division of Chemistry to develop strategies for the preparation and investigation of open-shell conjugated oligomers and polymers. The chemical and physiochemical properties of these materials and the way they respond upon interactions with light are investigated. The goal is to understand and be able to manipulate the factors that influence their organic semiconducting properties. Organic semiconductors are used in a range of technologies such as light-emitting diodes, sensors, photovoltaics and integrated electronic circuits. The results of this research project are expected to directly impact these technologies by reducing power consumption, improving sensitivity, and enhancing data and energy storage. During the course of conducting this project, students from underrepresented minorities and undergraduate students from local historically-black colleges and universities are involved in science research activities related to this project. This is accomplished through an eight-week summer research and mentoring program and a joint seminar series in the areas of physical and materials chemistry. The students are actively involved in research and in planning the seminar series as a motivation to keep them interested and fully engaged in STEM areas.This research program advances strategies for the synthesis and characterization of organic open-shell conjugated oligomeric and polymeric semiconductor materials based on polythiophene and quinoidal backbones, and including stable long-lived radicals as spin resources. The chemical and photophysical properties of these materials, including molecular packing and the dynamics and kinetics of electron spins, are investigated. The materials are characterized using a variety of techniques, including ultrafast transient spectroscopy and scanning probe microscopy. An important goal of this project is to understand the structural and physical factors that control photo-induced spin-alignment and spin-polarization and to determine the molecular packing, structural orientation and topology factors which influence hybrid states and spin-exchange in organic oligomer/polymer semiconductors. Another goal is to understand and establish design rules for modulating and predicting excited-states energy levels. Theoretical calculations and computational modelling are used to help guide the choice of targets and to support the spin polarization and the excited states studies.