Project Grant 2144977

This $500,000 National Science Foundation project grant supports fundamental research at Clark University to develop scalable manufacturing methods for organic semiconducting nanoparticles with applications in energy storage. Principal Investigator will investigate the interplay of aerosol formation and vapor phase chemistry to control synthetic pathways for producing highly conductive nanoparticles through aerosol-based synthesis. The research aims to achieve mechanistic understanding of polymerization kinetics at the aerosol droplet-vapor interface to design nanoparticles with long conjugation lengths, high crystallinity, and kilogram-per-day production capacity. It also examines organic-inorganic nanoparticle composites using various metal oxides to produce particles with intimate electronic contact between organic and inorganic components. The ultimate goal is to lower costs for energy storage and enable development of lightweight vehicle batteries. This work falls under the NSF Directorate for Engineering's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to foster innovation in engineering research.