RUI: Deep Eutectic Solvents for Chiroptical Materials

在该项目中，巴特勒大学化学和生物化学系的托德·A·霍普金斯教授在化学系化学结构、动态和机理B计划的资助下，正在开发被称为深度共晶溶剂的独特溶剂作为圆偏振发光材料。深共晶溶剂非常适合这项任务，因为它有能力控制它们的性质。这个项目探索如何设计深度共晶溶剂来提高发射圆偏振光的效率。圆偏振有机发光二极管等圆偏振发光材料在量子计算、产生全息图像以及作为安全标签等方面具有潜在的应用前景。这个项目让本科生在物理化学、无机化学和材料化学的界面上进行研究，并涉及本科生研究生和参加物理化学实验室课程的学生之间的合作。从技术上讲，该项目的目标是开发基于溶解在深度共晶溶剂中的发光稀土络合物的圆偏振发光材料。深共晶溶剂是由氢键受体和供体组成的混合物，其性质可以通过选择组分来控制。因此，选择氢键受体和手性氢键供体可以生成一种深度共晶溶剂，既提供手性选择又提供电荷载体性质，以增强溶解的稀土配合物的电致发光。该项目包括：1)筛选用于形成低熔点深共晶溶剂的手性氢键施主；2)表征深共晶溶剂的物理性质；3)表征稀土络合物在成功的深共晶溶剂中的手性性质；4)在成功的深共晶溶剂/镧系中开发圆偏振有机电致发光二极管。在这个项目中，高通量筛选深度共晶溶剂性质的方法产生了大量关于深度共晶溶剂-结构性质关系的数据，这些数据将在公共数据库中共享，以帮助研究社区开发更好的预测模型。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In this project, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamic & Mechanism B Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Todd A. Hopkins of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Butler University is developing unique solvents called deep eutectic solvents as circularly polarized light emitting materials. Deep eutectic solvents are well suited to the task, because of the ability to control their properties. This project explores how to design deep eutectic solvents that improve the efficiency of emitted circularly polarized light. Circularly polarized light emitting materials, such as circularly polarized organic light emitting diodes, have potential application in quantum computing, for generating holographic images, and as security labels. This project engages undergraduate students in research at the interface of physical, inorganic, and materials chemistry, and involves collaboration between undergraduate research students and students enrolled in a physical chemistry laboratory course. More technically, the goal of this project is to develop circularly polarized light emitting materials based on luminescent lanthanide complexes dissolved in deep eutectic solvents. Deep eutectic solvents are formed from combinations of hydrogen bond acceptor and donors, whose properties can be controlled through choice of components. Therefore, the selection of hydrogen bond acceptor with chiral hydrogen bond donor can generate a deep eutectic solvent that provides both chiral selection and charge carrier properties to enhance electroluminescence of the dissolved lanthanide complexes. This project involves 1) screening chiral hydrogen bond donors for low melting point deep eutectic solvent formation; 2) characterizing the physical properties of the deep eutectic solvents; 3) characterizing the chiroptical properties of lanthanide complexes in the successful deep eutectic solvents; and 4) developing circularly polarized organic light emitting diodes out of the successful deep eutectic solvent/lanthanide systems. The high-throughput approach to screening deep eutectic solvent properties in this project yields a large amount of data on deep eutectic solvent-structure property relationships that will be shared in a public database to help the research community develop better predictive models.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.