CAREER: CAS: A Building Block Approach to Study Charge Transport: From Single-Molecule to Bulk

通过这个由化学系化学结构、动力学机制B项目支持的职业项目，南加州大学（USC）化学系的Michael Inkpen寻求开发综合方法，探索电荷如何在不同长度范围内（从单分子到大块）穿过材料。所提出的方法从用于构建导电和永久多孔有序聚合物（OP）的化学构建块和连接中汲取灵感。该项目的主要目标是对这些分子结构的原子细节如何影响其电子功能提供更深入的基本理解，并评估化学上可比较的单分子和散装材料之间电荷传输的可能相关性。这项研究的最终目的是揭示分子级器件的新设计原理，如电线和开关，这些器件接近计算和数据存储中使用的电子电路小型化的极限。我们的目标是确定最有前途的分子构建模块，用于构建具有能量储存，能量转换或传感潜在应用的功能性OP。同时，Inkpen博士和他的研究团队将利用一个新的学术搜索数据库的开发，通过改善南加州大学及以后的分子纳米科学教学，并通过实施虚拟，异步夏季研讨会，以达到学生谁不能很容易地亲自参加外展活动。领域的分子电子学和导电有序聚合物（OP）每一个都是针对理解和操纵通过分子定义明确的系统的电荷传输，但在这些研究领域的努力很少协调。桥接这些研究领域，这项建议的目的是探索基本的结构，电子性质的关系，通过研究模型单分子，扩展的低聚物，和散装材料使用的组合，基于扫描隧道显微镜的断裂结（STM-BJ），导电探针原子力显微镜（CP-AFM），和4点探针方法。量子干涉（QI），d-π共轭和氧化还原效应将在新的分子器件家族中进行探索，这些分子器件受到二维和三维OP中使用的多主题和含金属结构的启发。在结构类似的散装材料的单分子电导和带传输之间的可能趋势将被评估为一种手段，以选择特定的构建块的扩展有序系统的建设与目标的电子性能。将开发新的合成策略，目标是构建具有可比结晶度和缺陷浓度的组成不同的OP。这种模型扩展材料的研究，在表面和散装，有可能提高结构性能的比较，并允许从业者建立新的纳米尺度到散装运输propertycorrelations.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

With this CAREER project, supported by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics & Mechanisms B Program of the Chemistry Division, Michael Inkpen of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Southern California (USC) seeks to develop integrated methods that explore how electrical charges move through materials across different length scales (from single-molecule to bulk). The proposed approach draws inspiration from the chemical building blocks and linkages used to build conducting and permanently porous ordered polymers (OPs). The key goals of this project are to provide a deeper fundamental understanding of how the atomic details of these molecular structures influence their electronic function(s), and to evaluate possible correlations between charge transport through chemically comparable single-molecule and bulk materials. This research ultimately aims to expose new design principles for molecular-scale devices, such as wires and switches, that approach the limit of miniaturization for electronic circuits used in computation and data storage. The goal is to identify the most promising molecular building blocks for constructing functional OPs with potential applications in energy storage, energy conversion, or sensing. Concurrently, Dr. Inkpen and his research team will leverage development of a new academic search database to engage underrepresented 1st and 2nd year undergraduate students, by improving the teaching of molecular nanoscience at USC and beyond, and by implementing a virtual, asynchronous summer workshop to reach students who cannot easily attend in person outreach activities.The fields of molecular electronics and conducting ordered polymers (OPs) each are directed at the understanding and manipulation of charge transport through molecularly well-defined systems, yet efforts in these research domains are rarely coordinated. Bridging these research areas, this proposal aims to explore fundamental structure-electronic property relationships across different length scales by studying model single-molecule, extended oligomeric, and bulk materials using a combination of scanning tunneling microscope-based break junction (STM-BJ), conducting-probe atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM), and 4-point probe methods. Quantum interference (QI), d-π conjugation, and redox effects will be probed in new families of molecular devices inspired by the multi-topic and metal-containing structures used in two-dimensional and three-dimensional OPs. Possible trends between single molecule conductance and band transport in structurally analogous bulk materials will be evaluated as a means to select specific building blocks for the construction of extended ordered systems with targeted electronic properties. New synthetic strategies will be developed that target the construction of compositionally distinct OPs with comparable crystallinity and defect concentrations. Studies of such model extended materials, on surfaces and in bulk, have the potential to improve structure-property comparisons and to allow practitioners to build new nanoscale-to-bulk transport property correlations.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.