2210586
RATIONAL DESIGN OF CONJUGATED POLYMERS WITH CLEAVABLE SIDE CHAINS TO ACHIEVE MORPHOLOGICAL STABILITY OF POLYMER SOLAR CELLS -NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE POLYMERS PROGRAM IN THE DIVISION OF MATERIALS RESEARCH, PROFESSOR WEI YOU OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL INTENDS TO EXPLORE RATIONAL DESIGN OF CONJUGATED POLYMERS WITH CLEAVABLE SIDE CHAINS, AIMING TO ENHANCE THE STABILITY OF SUCH CONJUGATED POLYMER-BASED SOLAR CELLS. THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROJECT WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNCTION OF SIDE CHAINS IN BALANCING THE SOLUBILITY OF CONJUGATED POLYMERS AND THE THERMAL STABILITY OF SUCH POLYMER-BASED SOLAR CELLS, AND RESULT IN POLYMER SOLAR CELLS OF IMPROVED THERMAL STABILITY AND HIGH EFFICIENCY. ALL PARTICIPANTS IN THIS PROJECT WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY LEARNING FROM SYNTHESIS TO DEVICE FABRICATION, AS WELL AS SOPHISTICATED CHARACTERIZATION TOOLS VIA A NUMBER OF ESTABLISHED COLLABORATIONS. THE PI'S GROUP WILL ACTIVELY RECRUIT AND TRAIN STUDENTS OF DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS, IN ADDITION TO CONDUCTING OUTREACH ACTIVITIES FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND K-12 STUDENTS. TECHNICAL SUMMARY: TYPICALLY, CONJUGATED POLYMERS USED IN HIGH EFFICIENCY SOLAR CELLS OFTEN SHOW LOW GLASS TRANSITION TEMPERATURES, LEADING TO INSTABILITY OF SUCH SOLAR CELLS DURING OPERATION BY HEAT. THERMALLY REMOVING CLEAVABLE SIDE CHAINS IS AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO OFFER THE NECESSARY SOLUBILITY OF CONJUGATED POLYMERS DURING SOLUTION PROCESSING, AND RE-GAIN THE HIGH GLASS TRANSITION TEMPERATURE OF CONJUGATED POLYMERS VIA THERMAL REMOVAL OF SIDE CHAINS AFTER THE FILM FORMATION. THE YOU GROUP RECENTLY PROPOSED A BALANCED APPROACH WHERE SOME SIDE CHAINS WOULD BE CLEAVED TO GAIN MORPHOLOGICAL STABILITY WHILE KEEPING OTHER SIDE CHAINS TO MAINTAIN THE PRE-ESTABLISHED MORPHOLOGY TO LARGELY RETAIN THE EFFICIENCY. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT ARE: (1) TO DESIGN THE SYNTHESIS OF POLY(THIOPHENE)S WITH CLEAVABLE SIDE CHAINS AND UNSUBSTITUTED THIOPHENE UNITS TO FURTHER IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY AND STABILITY, (2) TO DEVELOP MILDER METHODS FOR CLEAVING ALKYL CHAINS TO MINIMIZE THE THERMAL IMPACT ON MORPHOLOGY, (3) TO CONDUCT MORPHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS TO DEVELOP STRUCTURE-MORPHOLOGY-STABILITY-EFFICIENCY RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THESE MODEL SYSTEMS, AND (4) TO EXPLORE THE CLEAVABLE SIDE CHAINS IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE CONJUGATED POLYMERS AND SMALL MOLECULE ACCEPTORS TO ACHIEVE HIGH DEVICE EFFICIENCY AND HIGH MORPHOLOGICAL STABILITY. THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROJECT WOULD LEAD TO DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW-TEMPERATURE PROCESS TO ACHIEVE THE CLEAVAGE OF SIDE CHAINS, ACHIEVING PSCS OF HIGH MORPHOLOGICAL STABILITY AND HIGH EFFICIENCY, AND ELUCIDATING THE STRUCTURE-MORPHOLOGY-STABILITY-EFFICIENCY RELATIONSHIPS. 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.
University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill
Project Grant
$568.0k 6/1/22 8/4/23 2326807
2023 CRYSTAL GROWTH AND ASSEMBLY GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE AND GORDON RESEARCH SEMINAR -NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY THE 2023 GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE (GRC) ON CRYSTAL GROWTH AND ASSEMBLY: MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE GROWTH AND ASSEMBLY OF ORDERED MATERIALS, AND THE 2023 GORDON RESEARCH SEMINAR (GRS) ON CRYSTAL GROWTH AND ASSEMBLY ARE BEING HELD AT SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIVERSITY ON JUNE 18-23 AND JUNE 17-18, 2023, RESPECTIVELY. OUR SOCIETY CONTINUOUSLY BENE?TS FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WIDE RANGE OF ADVANCED MATERIALS TO SOLVE TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES IN APPLICATIONS RANGING FROM SOLAR CELLS, ?EXIBLE ELECTRONICS AND CATALYSTS TO NEW THERAPEUTICS FOR HUMAN DISEASES SUCH AS MALARIA. SUCH MATERIALS ARE DEVELOPED BY SCIENTISTS WITH DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS INCLUDING CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, MATERIALS SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING. NOVEL MATERIALS ARE OFTEN DEVELOPED AT THE BOUNDARIES OF THESE DISCIPLINES AND THE AIM OF THE GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE ON CRYSTAL GROWTH & ASSEMBLY IS TO BRING TOGETHER LEADING SCIENTISTS FROM THESE DI?ERENT BACKGROUNDS TO STIMULATE CROSS-FERTILIZATION. TO PROMOTE BROADER IMPACT, THE FORMAT OF THE MEETING EMPHASIZES INTERACTION WITH AND ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF YOUNG SCIENTISTS, I.E., STUDENTS AND POST-DOCS, TO EDUCATE A NEW GENERATION OF RESEARCHERS THAT WILL HAVE TO MEET FUTURE MATERIALS CHALLENGES IN A CHANGING WORLD WHERE (SOME) RESOURCES BECOME INCREASINGLY SCARCE. NSF'S SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS CHEMISTRY PROGRAM AND THE CONDENSED MATTER AND MATERIALS THEORY PROGRAM, BOTH IN THE DIVISION OF MATERIALS RESEARCH, SUPPORT STIPENDS FOR REGISTRATION FEE AND/OR TRAVEL SUPPORT FOR SOME EARLY-CAREER PARTICIPANTS AT THIS CONFERENCE BECAUSE OF ITS RELEVANCE TO THEIR RESPECTIVE PROGRAMMATIC SCOPE. TECHNICAL SUMMARY THE CRYSTAL GROWTH AND ASSEMBLY GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE AND SEMINAR ARE DEDICATED TO THE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNDAMENTAL ATOMIC AND NANOSCALE PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY THAT ARE CENTRAL TO THE NUCLEATION AND GROWTH OF CRYSTALS, AS WELL AS THEIR ASSEMBLY INTO ORDERED MATERIALS FOR A WIDE ARRAY OF TECHNOLOGIES. SUCH KNOWLEDGE IS NEEDED TO DEVELOP ADVANCED MATERIALS FOR A DIVERSE RANGE OF APPLICATIONS. THE 2023 GRC CONFERENCE HAS A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON THE INTEGRATION OF THEORY AND EXPERIMENT TO PREDICT AND UNDERSTAND CRYSTAL GROWTH AND ASSEMBLY. THIS CONFERENCE, WITH SUPPORT FROM NSF'S SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS CHEMISTRY PROGRAM AND THE CONDENSED MATTER AND MATERIALS THEORY PROGRAM, BOTH IN THE DIVISION OF MATERIALS RESEARCH, GATHERS LEADING SCIENTISTS REPRESENTING THE MAJOR AREAS IN CRYSTALLIZATION AND ASSEMBLY, AND BRINGS THEM INTO CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, WITH THE NEXT GENERATION OF RESEARCHERS TO PROMOTE BROADER OUTREACH WITHIN THE CRYSTAL GROWTH COMMUNITY. WITH RESPECT TO THIS LARGER GOAL, THE MEETING SEEKS TO PROVIDE A COMMON LANGUAGE FOR OUR DIVERSE STUDENT BODY; TO RAISE THE COMFORT-LEVEL OF OUR STUDENT/POSTDOC PARTICIPANTS; AND, THROUGH THESE E?ORTS, TO DEVELOP A TIGHTLY WOVEN COMMUNITY HELD TOGETHER BY A COMMON INTEREST IN THE PRINCIPLES OF MATERIALS ASSEMBLY. THE ACCOMPANYING GORDON RESEARCH SEMINAR THAT IS DEDICATED TO AND ORGANIZED BY GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHERS AIDS IN THE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF THIS NEW GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS. 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.
Gordon Research Conferences
Project Grant
$10.0k 6/1/23 5/16/23 2152369
This $161,434 National Science Foundation project grant supports research and education activities at the University of Nevada, Reno from August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2025. The grant funds an integrated computational and experimental approach to identify and quantify micromechanical metrics governing fatigue microcracking in metallic materials. Specifically, the university researchers will study strain localization effects on surface deformation, subsurface deformation drivers, and microcracking at persistent slip band-matrix interfaces in coarse-grained face centered cubic metals. Insights aim to improve fatigue life predictions for large-grained metal structural components and thin film devices undergoing cyclic stresses. Additionally, the university will develop educational materials and simulations to inspire K-12 students to pursue materials science and engineering degrees. This award advances the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to strengthen the scientific enterprise through increased fundamental knowledge and understanding of major national problems.
Board Of Regents Of The Nevada System Of Higher ED
Project Grant
$161.4k 8/1/22 3/17/22