Establishing a Molecular Interaction Framework to Design and Predict Modern Polymer Semiconductor Assembly

Project Personnel

Natalie Stingelin

Principal Investigator

Georgia Institute of Technology

Email

Brendan O’Connor

Co-PI

North Carolina State University

Harald Ade

Co-PI

North Carolina State University

Seung Soon

Co-PI

Georgia Institute of Technology

Dean DeLongchamp

Co-PI

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Peter Beaucage

Co-PI

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Subhrangsu Mukherjee

Co-PI

North Carolina State University

Funding Divisions

Division of Materials Research (DMR), Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA)

Electronic materials based on plastics possess unique optoelectronic and processing properties that provide exceptional opportunities for large-area lighting applications, novel versatile solar-energy harvesting platforms, next-generation sensors, future computing options, and beyond. If the development of plastic electronics systems can be accelerated, step changes will be achieved. For instance, new sustainable technologies may be produced that, e.g., integrate semi-transparent solar cells with greenhouses to yield a new class of sustainable, zero-energy, controlled-environment agriculture; assist with smart and controllable heat management for cars and office buildings; and/or allow the design of novel health-care devices. Despite extensive past efforts to further advance these materials and technology platforms, design- and processing- protocols remain based on trial-and-error methods, hampered by the highly intricate structure of plastic semiconductors, including complex structural dynamics. The critical bottleneck is that structure-function relations cannot be understood and categorized with classic nomenclature and classic approaches. New polymer physics and multi-disciplinary ML/AI approaches are proposed to be introduced to accelerate materials development.

Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)