The research objective of this award is to develop facile methods to allow conjugated organic molecules forming a highly organized nanolayer structure. Three main tasks will be performed: 1) rationally design a head-tail structure for a conjugated molecule: the head operates as a critical component for charge conduction and the tail as an active component for layered linkage; 2) investigate the layered formation process and optimize the packing of the ordered structures: the organization depends upon many factors, such as chemical design of the head-tail structure, conformational changes after organization, and a quantified assessment of the interactions between these molecules; and 3) model the molecular packing, revealing size effect or functional group effect to a desired structure.
The ability to design, synthesize and model molecules and allow them to form rarely observed nanolayers will add significantly to the body of knowledge regarding to material design/surface engineering. If successful, the ordered film is expected to possess superior electronic properties unachievable in bulk materials. As a result, this work is expected to be of general interest to research laboratories and high-tech industries working on biological thin films, organic electronics, large-area flexible displays, mobile devices, and high-speed sensors. Graduate and undergraduate engineering students and high school teachers will benefit through classroom instruction and summer research involvement.
