Supramolecular Assemblies of Organic Paramagnetic Semiconductors

在化学系化学结构、动力学和机理计划(CSDM)的支持下，范德比尔特大学的Piotr Kaszynski教授将开发一种新的潜在的广泛的有机分子顺磁半导体，具有高分子和超分子结构多样性，用于电子应用，如太阳能收集。分子设计的核心是稳定的杂环自由基，它被促进分子自组织成层或柱并形成液晶相的基团所取代。这些分子材料的磁性和光伏性能将被研究，其中电荷传输与未配对电子的磁性相耦合。该项目是跨学科的，涉及合成、广泛的表征、对结构-性质关系(分子和超分子)的理解以及对新材料的理论分析。所获得的知识将为微调材料的热、光、电和可能的磁性提供工具，用于能量收集等应用。这项工作将对现代化学的几个领域产生广泛影响，并将打开一种潜在的大而多用途的史无前例的液晶的途径，作为在分子电子学和能量转换方面具有潜在应用的材料，科学界和工业界越来越感兴趣。该项目的实现还将通过多样化的教育经验影响劳动力的教育和科学培训。卡辛斯基教授成功地吸引了女性和少数族裔学生加入他的研究小组，他保持了一个创造性和支持性的环境，促进了许多科学和医学职业的发展。

With the support of the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanism Program (CSDM) in the Chemistry Division, Professor Piotr Kaszynski of Vanderbilt University will be developing a new and potentially broad class of organic molecular paramagnetic semiconductors with high molecular and supramolecular structural diversity for electronic applications, such as solar energy harvesting. The centerpiece of the molecular design is a stable heterocyclic radical, which is substituted with groups that promote self-organization of the molecules into layers or columns and formation of liquid crystalline phases. These molecular materials will be investigated for magnetic and photovoltaic properties in which the charge transport is coupled with the magnetic properties of the unpaired electron. The project is interdisciplinary and involves synthesis, extensive characterization, understanding of structure-property relationships (both molecular and supramolecular), and theoretical analysis of new materials. The acquired knowledge will provide tools for fine-tuning of thermal, optical, electronic and possibly magnetic properties of the proposed materials for applications such as energy harvesting.The work will have a broad impact on several fields of modern chemistry, and will open up access to a potentially large and versatile class of unprecedented liquid crystals, that are of increasing interest to the scientific community and industry as materials with potential applications in molecular electronics and energy conversion. Realization of the project will also impact education and scientific training of the workforce through a diverse educational experience. Professor Kaszynski has been successful in attracting women and minority students to his research group by maintaining a creative and supportive environment that has fostered many careers in science and medicine.