Functional polymeric materials: innovation through fundamental insight

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Insight into fundamental material properties can lead to improved materials, new manufacturing processes, and new devices. The long-term vision for my program is to leverage techniques at the leading edge of Physical Chemistry, Materials Science, Electrochemistry, and Device Physics to address challenges in the development of organic electronic materials. Specifically, the long-term goals are to: a) improve our fundamental understanding of organic electronic materials, b) develop self-assembly in supercritical fluids to deposit materials with exceptional properties, and c) apply our findings from a) and b) to create innovative devices. Organic electronic materials are useful for flexible displays, printed biosensors, artificial muscles, and other cutting-edge devices. Over the next 5 years we will focus on the properties of organic electronic materials that can conduct both ions and electronic charge carriers. These materials are useful in biosensors, windows that can change colour upon the application of a voltage, light emitting devices, semiconductor logic components, artificial muscles, and flexible devices that can heat or cool a surface. Interfaces between materials and the dynamics of ion movement are crucial for the operation of these devices. When an ion moves close to an organic electronic material, it becomes charged. This process is coupled to a color change in the material that we can detect directly. In Objective 1, we will measure the rate of this colour change to understand how ions move from one material to the other and the relationship between chemical structure the speed of ion movement. Objective 2 centres on our patented process for materials deposition. The process uses the unique properties of supercritical fluids, fluids that exhibit properties intermediate to gasses and liquids. We have leveraged their ability to transition continuously from liquid-like to gas-like behavior to direct the deposition of materials that can only be processed in solution. We have achieved feature sizes 10-fold smaller than the current state-of-the-art. The technique can be further scaled down. We will investigate how finely we can control material deposition. We will also use this technique to create composite materials, focusing on metal-elastomer composites to create a stretchable metal and acrylic-ceramic composites to make toughened optical materials. The outcome of Objective 1 will aid chemists to develop better materials and applied physicists and engineers to develop better devices. We will develop new technologies to bring forth a cleaner economy, focusing on the extraction of vital minerals for batteries and water purification. The outcome of Objective 2 will result in new materials with properties difficult to achieve by other methods, offering excellent commercialization opportunities. Ultimately, the benefits to Canada include the development of superior materials, devices, and manufacturing methods for Canadian industry.