Research Seminar of Prof Dai Liming fromCase Western Reserve University (CWRU)

Lecture Time: 09:30 on 28th Sept., 2016

Lecture Room: C501 of National Science Park

Lecture Title:Hybrid Optoelectronic Devices Based on Conjugated Polymers, Graphitic Carbons, and Perovskites

Liming Dai
Center of Advanced Science and Engineering for Carbon (Case4Carbon)
Departments of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, USA.

Abstract

Polymers have been traditionally used as electrically insulating materials: after all, metal wires are coated in plastics to insulate them. Variousconjugatedmacromolecules with alternating single and double bonds can now be synthesized with unusual electrical and optical properties through the p-electron delocalization along their backbones. Due to the molecular rigidity of conjugated backbones, however, most unfunctionalized conjugated polymers are intractable (i.e.,insoluble and/or infusible). Nevertheless, a number of synthetic methods have been devised to produce conjugated polymers with the processing advantages of plastics and the optoelectronic properties of inorganic semiconductors for optoelectronic device applications, including polymer photovoltaic cells and polymer light-emitting diodes [1].

Having conjugated all-carbon structures, carbon nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, and graphene-dots also possess certain similar optoelectronic characteristics as conjugated macromolecules, apart from their unique structures and associated properties (e.g., surface/size effects) [2]. With the rapid development in nanoscience and nanotechnology, various nanomaterials (e.g., nanocarbons, quantum dots, DNA, perovskites) have been playing a more and more important role in the development of efficient optoelectronics [2-4], along with energy conversion and storage devices [5-9]. The combination of the unique physicochemical properties of nanomaterials (particularly, graphitic carbon nanomaterials) with comparable optoelectronic properties of appropriate conjugated macromolecules has yielded some interesting synergetic effects.

In this talk, we will summarize our work on rational design and development of hybrid optoelectronics and energy conversion/storage devices based on conjugated polymers, graphitic carbons, and perovskites. A brief overview of this exciting field, along with some challenges and opportunities, will also be presented.

References

[1] Dai L. "Intelligent Macromolecules for Smart Devices", Springer-Verlag: Berlin, 2004.

[2] Dai L.Acc. Chem. Res.2013,46, 31.

[3] Liu J, Durstock M, Dai L.Energy & Environ. Sci.2014,7, 1297.

[4] Chen Y, Chen T, Dai L.Adv. Mater.2015,27, 1053.

[5] Gong K, Du F, Xia Z, Dustock M, Dai L.Science2009,323, 760.

[6] Dai L, Xue Y, Qu L, Choi H J, Baek J B.Chem. Rev.2015,115, 4823.

[7] Zhang J, Zhao Z, Xia Z, Dai L.Nat. Nanotechnol.2015,10, 444.

[8] Zhang J, Xia Z, Dai L.Sci. Adv.2015,1, e1500564.

[9] Zhang J, Zhao Z, Xia Z, Dai L.Nat. Commun.2015,6, 8103.

Biography

Liming Dai joined Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in fall 2009 as the Kent Hale Smith Professor in the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering. He is also director of the Center of Advanced Science and Engineering for Carbon (CASE4Carbon). Dr. Dai received a BSc degree from Zhejiang University in 1983, and a PhD from the Australian National University in 1991. He accepted a postdoctoral fellowship from the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, and two years later became a visiting fellow in Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He spent 10 years with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Melbourne, Australia. Before joining the CWRU, he was an associate professor of polymer engineering at the University of Akron and the Wright Brothers Institute Endowed Chair Professor of Nanomaterials at the University of Dayton.

Dr. Dai's expertise covers the synthesis, functionalization, and device fabrication of conjugated polymers and carbon nanomaterials for energy-related and biomedical applications. He has published more than 400 scientific papers, and held about 30 issued/applied patents. He has also published a research monograph on intelligent macromolecules (Springer), an edited book on carbon nanotechnology (Elsevier), a co-edited book on carbon nanomaterials for advanced energy systems (Wiley), and another co-edited book on carbon nanomaterials for biomedical applications (Springer). Dr. Dai serves as an Associate Editor ofNano Energy(Elsevier) and editorial board member of several international journals. He is a Highly Cited Researcher (Thomson Reuters) and has received many awards, including the 2016 CWRU Faculty Distinguished Research Award, the 2013 Zhejiang Science and Technology Award, the 2006 Ohio Outstanding Engineer and Scientist Award, and the 2006 George Noland Research Award from Sigma Xi. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).