This project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, focusses on the synthesis and characterization of novel electroactive oligomers, linear polymers, and dendrimers. Organic materials that have new architectures will be designed and synthesized in this project. Professor Miller and his students at the University of Minnesota will use spectroscopic, conductivity, electrochemical, quartz crystal microbalance, impedance, differential scanning calorimetry, x-ray diffraction, and rheological measurements in this multidisciplinary work. New polymeric thin films will be prepared that are electroactive, electrical conductive, and photoconducting or electroemissive. The responsiveness of these thin films to adsorbed vapors will be characterized with the aim of developing new vapor sensors. There are many potential applications for new organic materials that are electrochemically active and that exhibit photoconduction. Professor Miller and his students at the University of Minnesota will prepare and characterize new compounds that are predicted to have these properties. A wide range of instrumental methods will be used to determine the electrochemical and photochemical activity of these new compounds. One example of a potential use for these new materials will be in preparing thin films that are sensitive to chemical vapors. New chemical sensors for vapors will be developed for compounds that possess the requisite sensitivity to target analytes.
