The Effect of Intramolecular Interactions on the Mechanical Properties of Organic -Conjugated Semiconducting Polymers
Standing
Undergraduate
Type of Proposal
Oral Research Presentation
Challenges Theme
Open Challenge
Faculty
Faculty of Science
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Simon Rondeau-Gagné
Proposal
The next generation of electronics is heading towards the integration of devices onto the human person through wearable electronics on both skin and clothing. Classical electronics are traditionally built with silicon, since its highly crystalline and periodic morphology results in outstanding electronic properties. However, silicon is a brittle material and therefore its lack of mechanical compliance make it a poor candidate moving forward with wearable technology and bioelectronics. To address this challenge, the use of organic pi-conjugated semi-conducting polymers has shown a lot of promise for the development of next generation electronics and these materials are solution processable, mechanically compliant and synthetically tunable.
Recently, our group has been investigating the effect of intra-molecular interactions on the mechanical properties of semi-conducting polymers. Through the addition of dynamic hydrogen bonding to the polymer, we have been able to significantly impact the stretchability and flexibility of the material to more closely match the elastic modulus of human skin; a requirement for moving forward with the design and construction of wearable bioelectronics. Our design exploits the dynamic nature of hydrogen bonding to facilitate strain dissipation throughout the material. Interestingly, the introduction of hydrogen bonds can also improve the conductivity of the material by improving the crystallinity of the polymer chains, while maintaining good mechanical properties.
This presentation will cover our strategy for incorporating dynamic intra-molecular interactions into polymer backbones to increase the mechanical properties of semi-conducting materials. Design and characterization of the new materials will be discussed, as well as future applications in electronics.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Special Considerations
N/A
The Effect of Intramolecular Interactions on the Mechanical Properties of Organic -Conjugated Semiconducting Polymers
The next generation of electronics is heading towards the integration of devices onto the human person through wearable electronics on both skin and clothing. Classical electronics are traditionally built with silicon, since its highly crystalline and periodic morphology results in outstanding electronic properties. However, silicon is a brittle material and therefore its lack of mechanical compliance make it a poor candidate moving forward with wearable technology and bioelectronics. To address this challenge, the use of organic pi-conjugated semi-conducting polymers has shown a lot of promise for the development of next generation electronics and these materials are solution processable, mechanically compliant and synthetically tunable.
Recently, our group has been investigating the effect of intra-molecular interactions on the mechanical properties of semi-conducting polymers. Through the addition of dynamic hydrogen bonding to the polymer, we have been able to significantly impact the stretchability and flexibility of the material to more closely match the elastic modulus of human skin; a requirement for moving forward with the design and construction of wearable bioelectronics. Our design exploits the dynamic nature of hydrogen bonding to facilitate strain dissipation throughout the material. Interestingly, the introduction of hydrogen bonds can also improve the conductivity of the material by improving the crystallinity of the polymer chains, while maintaining good mechanical properties.
This presentation will cover our strategy for incorporating dynamic intra-molecular interactions into polymer backbones to increase the mechanical properties of semi-conducting materials. Design and characterization of the new materials will be discussed, as well as future applications in electronics.