Metal-containing conjugated materials and chemical sensors

产生或相互转换化学、光学和电子信号的材料对于新的信息、传感器和能量收集技术至关重要。基于分子的材料可以通过化学合成来实现广泛的功能。这些材料的应用包括在分子水平上结合所需的特性或功能，然后组织材料，以便可以使用化学，光学或电子信号。在这项建议中，有三个主要目标：(a)提出了利用含有少量金属的塑料有效收集太阳能的新方法。这些金属聚合物可以替代目前使用的无机材料，并且可能更容易加工；例如，在柔性塑料衬底上使用金属聚合物打印太阳能电池是可能的。这些聚合物在溶液中的气泡内交联，产生小颗粒，当照射时发出波长较长的光。可以选择金属基团来阻止超过特定温度的光发射，使这些颗粒充当微小的温度计。(b)提出了新的基于分子的化学传感器，可检测几种化学污染物和毒素，包括一氧化碳和一氧化碳。这些传感器基于分子部分发出的光：发出的光的颜色和强度受到气体存在的影响。这可能会导致廉价、小型和有效的方法来检测环境中的这些物质。(c)将制备纳米材料，在有色或导电聚合物中嵌入直径小于人类头发1/1000的金属和半导体颗粒。这些小颗粒的行为与相应的大块材料不同，这使得这些混合材料有可能应用于催化剂、传感器和太阳能收集。

Materials in which chemical, optical and electronic signals are generated or interconverted are essential for new information, sensor and energy harvesting technologies.  Molecule-based materials allow a wide range of function to be built-in using chemical synthesis.  The application of these materials involves incorporating a desired property or function at the molecular level, and then organizing the material such that the chemical, optical or electronic signal may be used.  In this proposal, three major objectives are targeted: (a) New methods of efficiently harvesting solar energy using plastics containing small amounts of metals are proposed.  These metallo-polymers may provide alternatives to the currently used inorganic materials, and may be more easily processed; for example, it may be possible to print solar cells using metallo-polymers on flexible plastic substrates.  Cross-linking these polymers inside a bubble in solution gives small particles which emit longer wavelength light when irradiated.  The metal groups may be chosen to stop light emission above a specific temperature, allowing these particles to serve as tiny thermometers.   (b) New molecule-based chemical sensors allowing the detection of several chemical pollutants and toxins including carbon monoxide and sulfur monoxide are proposed.  These sensors are based on light emitted from part of the molecule:  the color and intensity of the emitted light is affected by the presence of the gas.  These may lead to cheap, small and efficient methods of detecting these substances in the environment.  (c) Nanomaterials, in which metal and semiconductor particles less than 1/1000 the diameter of a human hair in size are embedded in colored or conductive polymers will be prepared.  These small particles behave differently from the corresponding bulk materials, allowing possible application of these hybrid materials as catalysts, and in sensors and solar energy harvesting.