CAREER: Correlating Organic Radical Structure to Electrochemical and Photophysical Properties: Evolving Energy Storage and Light-Emitting Materials

在这个由化学系化学结构、动力学机制B项目资助的CAREER项目中，德克萨斯州立大学化学和生物化学系的托德·哈德纳尔教授正在开发新的有机自由基类，这些自由基具有易于调节的电化学和物理学性质。 本研究的目的是利用这些有机自由基的特性来开发有机储能和发光材料。该项目位于有机，无机和材料化学的界面，非常适合各级科学家的教育。 化学和生物化学系的本科生和研究生将有机会与化学，工程和物理专家合作。教授托德Hudnall也做好准备，以增加学生的招聘和保留从科学，技术，工程和数学（干）的代表性不足的群体作为得克萨斯州州立大学是在得克萨斯州最大的西班牙裔服务机构之一。 Hudnall教授与当地高中和儿童博物馆的成员合作，设计科学课程，致力于通过化学和物理科学的动手实验提供基于问题的学习体验。教授托德Hudnall的研究团队和当地高中生的成员设计和实施的实验，模仿大学水平的研究人员的经验，以鼓励高中生在大学攻读科学学位。 稳定的有机自由基的独特电子构型规避了经典的量子力学限制，如泡利不相容原理，使这些分子成为下一代能量/存储器存储和有机发光二极管材料的良好候选者。自由基序衍生自单线态卡宾或卡宾激发的部分，其使得能够快速定制所得有机自由基的电化学和/或电子物理性质。 这种策略允许合成新的有机自由基架构，以开发动态的结构-性质相关性。这些研究回答了以下问题：1）卡宾的电子性质如何影响自由基的电化学和/或电子物理性质？2)对于这些系统，电化学窗口可以扩展到什么程度？3)通过还原发射性阳离子而获得的中性自由基是否也会发射？ 教授托德Hudnall还整合了教育组成部分，包括通过与当地高中，儿童博物馆和美国童子军的伙伴关系，涉及K-12学生的外展活动。

In this CAREER project funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics & Mechanism B Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Todd Hudnall of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Texas State University is developing new classes of organic radicals that feature readily tunable electrochemical and photophysical properties. The goal of this research is to exploit the characteristics of these organic radicals for the development of organic energy storage and light-emitting materials. The project lies at the interface of organic, inorganic, and materials chemistry, and is well suited for the education of scientists at all levels. Undergraduates and graduate students in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry will have opportunities to collaborate with experts from chemistry, engineering, and physics. Professor Todd Hudnall is also well poised to increase the recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as Texas State University is one of the largest Hispanic Serving Institutes in Texas. Professor Hudnall works with members of local high schools and children's museums to design science curricula dedicated to providing problem-based learning experiences through hands-on experimentation in the chemical and physical sciences. Members of Professor Todd Hudnall's research team and local high school students design and implement experiments that mimic the experiences of collegiate level researchers in order to encourage the high school students to pursue science degrees in college. The unique electronic configuration of stable organic radicals circumvents classical quantum mechanical limitations such as the Pauli Exclusion Principle, making these molecules good candidates for next generation energy/memory storage and organic light-emitting diode materials. The radical motifs are derived from singlet carbenes or carbene-inspired moieties that enables the rapid tailoring of the electrochemical and/or photophysical properties of the resultant organic radicals. This strategy allows the synthesis of novel organic radical architectures to develop a dynamic structure-property correlation. These studies answer the following questions: 1) How do the electronic properties of the carbene influence the electrochemical and/or photophysical properties of the radical? 2) To what extent can the electrochemical window be expanded for these systems? 3) Will neutral radicals obtained by reduction of emissive cations likewise be emissive? Professor Todd Hudnall also integrates an educational component inclusive of outreach activities involving K-12 students through partnerships with local high schools, children's museums, and the Boy Scouts of America.