Engineering New Molecular Materials

我和我的研究小组对分子材料的科学和技术有着广泛的兴趣。我们正在学习这种材料的结构和性能是如何依赖于构建它们的单个分子的，我们正在利用这种理解通过设计创造出有价值的新材料。这项工作很重要，因为未来技术中使用的先进材料必须具有纳米级精度的结构和性能。这一领域的进步需要多学科的方法，使用来自许多科学领域的工具和理解。总的来说，我们小组在最近的工作中掌握了这些技能。在小组中接受培训的个别学生发展了强大的核心技能，但他们也学会了如何跨越学科的传统界限，在其他实验室工作，并发展了说和写不同领域语言的能力。*我们之前的贡献包括(1)开发模块化方法来构建新的可预测有序材料；(2)使用模块化结构来生产多孔分子固体；(3)对表面和晶体中2D和3D分子组织的综合研究，以揭示潜在的行为模式；(4)探索“晶体工程的黑暗面”，以找到抑制结晶的方法；(5)构筑类似金刚石和石墨的晶态共价键合分子材料的策略；以及(6)控制薄膜中的分子组织，以改进太阳能电池等光电子器件。*这项工作使我们处于有利地位，可以开展一项雄心勃勃的研究计划，重点放在以下元素上：*(1)设计具有有用性质的结晶聚合物*(2)加深对结晶机理的理解*(3)通过设计制造掺杂分子材料，其中通过设计*引入缺陷*(4)利用表面二维吸附来操纵三维结晶*(5)控制薄膜中的分子组织为了提高光伏电池等光电子器件的性能*该计划有望带来基础性的科学发现和有价值的新技术。此外，它还将帮助该集团加强其在分子材料领域的国际领导地位，并将加强对高技能年轻研究人员的培训，使他们能够在一个充满活力的多学科领域工作，有许多机会在基础科学和应用科学方面取得进展。*

My research group and I are broadly interested in the science and technology of molecular materials. We are learning how the structures and properties of such materials depend on the individual molecules from which they are built, and we are using this understanding to create valuable new materials by design. This work is important because advanced materials used in future technology must have structures and properties controlled with nanometric precision. Progress in this area requires a multidisciplinary approach, using tools and understanding taken from many areas of science. Collectively, our group has mastered these skills in the course of its recent work. Individual students trained in the group develop a strong core of skills, but they also learn how to cross the conventional boundaries of disciplines, work in other laboratories, and develop an ability to speak and write the languages of different fields.***Our previous contributions have included (1) the development of modular approaches to constructing new predictably ordered materials; (2) the use of modular construction to produce porous molecular solids; (3) integrated studies of 2D and 3D molecular organization on surfaces and in crystals to reveal underlying patterns of behavior; (4) exploration of the "dark side of crystal engineering" to find ways to inhibit crystallization; (5) strategies for constructing crystalline covalently-bonded molecular materials analogous to diamond and graphite; and (6) controlling molecular organization in thin films to improve optoelectronic devices such as solar cells.***This work puts us in a strong position to undertake an ambitious program of research focusing on the following elements:*******(1) Engineering crystalline polymers with useful properties such as porosity and conductivity****(2) Developing a deeper understanding of the mechanism of crystallization***(3) Making doped molecular materials in which defects are introduced by design****(4) Using 2D adsorption on surfaces to manipulate 3D crystallization***(5) Controlling molecular organization in thin films to enhance the performance of optoelectronic devices such as photovoltaic cells*******The proposed program promises to lead to fundamental scientific discoveries and to valuable new technology. In addition, it will help the group strengthen its position of international leadership in the field of molecular materials, and it will enhance the training of highly skilled young researchers by allowing them to work in a dynamic and multidisciplinary field with many opportunities to make advances in basic and applied science.***