Scope of Research
My research seeks to better understand nature’s rules and to develop solutions to problems at the interface of chemistry, physics, and materials science via the tools of organic and polymer chemistry. We are particularly interested in the design and synthesis of functional organic molecules (e.g. polymers and small molecules) with enhanced properties from consideration of the specific needs of a given application. We seek to build novel molecular design principles by establishing molecular structure-property relationships and also to develop novel synthetic methodologies to make new types of organic functional molecules with enhanced properties that are not possible by existing synthetic methods.
Optical Properties of Conjugated Organic Materials
We are especially interested in the optical properties of organic materials. To control optical properties of organic materials, we try to establish novel molecular design principles to control 1) exciton formation, 2) exction relaxation and transfer, and 3) exciton recombination in organic conjugated polymers and small molecules. With the established principles, we develop novel organic conjugated molecules with enhanced optical properties which can be utilized for a variety of applications such as organic photocatalysis, organic photovoltaics (OPVs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic optical sensors, and organic plasmonics.
• Organic photocataylsis: molecular design principles of organic photocatalysts (Nat. Catal. 1, 798, 2018)
• Organic materials for perovskite solar cells: semiconducting chemical additive (Adv. Mater. accepted, 2018)
• Organic optical sensors: optical oxygen sensor (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56, 16207, 2017)
Mechanical, Electrical, and Thermal Properties of Amorphous Polymers
We are also interested in the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of organic materials, especially for mechanical, electrical and thermal conductivity of amorphous polymers. We try to find novel molecular design principles to improve mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of amorphous polymers.
Novel Synthetic Methodologies
We also seek to develop novel synthetic methodologies to make target molecules more efficiently and to obtain new types of organic functional polymers and small molecules with enhanced properties that are not possible by existing synthetic methods.
• Organic photocatalysis (e.g. organocatalyzed photo-induced ATRP, RAFT, and many organic reactions,…)
