CAS: Designing Chemically Functionalized Polymers for Nanoscale Structures and Interfaces

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With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Todd Emrick at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will work to advance fundamental aspects of polymeric and sustainable chemistry, with focus on discovering unique combinations of polymers and semiconductor particles to achieve hybrid structures. The objective will be to build a diverse team of graduate students, undergraduate researchers, and high school interns, whose collective efforts uncover how polymers interact with electronically active surfaces and synergistically enhance the optical, electronic, and photoactive properties of the hybrid structure as a whole. The research in this project will in turn educate the participants in vital areas of chemistry where new discoveries are needed to advance the chemical sciences beyond what is known today. Direct implications of this project point towards producing advanced devices, such as solar cells, that are more efficient when the polymers synthesized in this project are used in conjunction with semiconductor particles/surfaces. Importantly, this project will enable new summer research opportunities that promote inclusion of diverse participants who are entering the formative stages of their STEM education. A seamless merger of the research with education, diversity, and gender equity objectives will contribute to our mission of ensuring that the future of U.S. global competitiveness in science and technology advances the areas of electronic and solar devices, which are key elements of clean energy and advanced technologies. Moreover, the project will couple cross-cutting educational activities with student exposure to industrial interactions, which will maintain awareness of current needs and opportunities of sustainable technologies at the forefront of the project. From a technical standpoint, this proposal will design macromolecular/nanoscale hybrid systems that are envisaged to exploit new discoveries of polymer-based ligands to promote specific surface interactions with inorganic semiconductor structures. The work will center on the synthesis of novel, ion-rich, charge-containing polymers, which will be synthesized by controlled polymerization techniques employing novel monomers. The functional groups emanating from the polymer backbone are selected specifically to promote polymer-nanoscale interfacial interactions, including non-covalent interactions that are dynamic and potentially reversible. Overall, successfully producing perovskite nanocrystal-containing polymer networks and well-defined multi-layered nanoscale structures is imperative for boosting the efficiency of absorption and emission processes needed for generating solar energy, and likewise for enhancing the brightness and sustainability (durability) of emissive devices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.