[Seminar] Leveraging Supramolecular Chemistry in Organic Electronics - Prof. Bob C. Schroeder (UCL)
Date
Monday, July 7, 2025 - 10:30 to 11:30
Location
Seminar Room L4E48
Description
"Leveraging Supramolecular Chemistry in Organic Electronics"
Speaker:
Associate Professor
University College London, UK
Abstract:
Material degradation represents a significant challenge for both material scientists and engineers, with consequences extending beyond simple failure to include expensive repair requirements. As a result, there is considerable interest in developing self-healing materials to minimise the need for maintenance. Unlike their inorganic semiconductor counterparts, organic semiconducting materials possess notably low Young’s moduli, making them particularly well-suited for wearable electronic devices designed for direct application to human skin [1]. However, wearable electronics are especially susceptible to a range of environmental stressors, including mechanical wear, chemical exposure, temperature variations, and radiation. These persistent stressors can degrade the chemical structure, ultimately compromising the material’s physical properties.
In this presentation, we will explore our approach to mitigating property loss through the development of intrinsically self-healing polymers. This has been achieved by leveraging the principles of supramolecular chemistry, particularly through the incorporation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds [2-4]. To examine the influence of hydrogen bonding on the viscoelastic and electrical properties of organic semiconductors, we synthesised two distinct material systems: a conjugated polymer with hydrogen-bonding functionality, and a composite material comprising a conjugated polymer embedded within a self-healing polysiloxane matrix.
Our discussion will highlight the effects of these different strategies on charge transport and self-healing performance. Additionally, we will demonstrate how the observed variations can be harnessed to tailor the electronic, mechanical, and self-healing properties of the materials, optimising them for specific applications and their unique requirements.
[1] J. Y. Oh & Z. Bao, Adv. Sci., 6, 1900186 (2019).
[2] J. Y. Oh et al., Nature, 539, 411-415 (2016, 539).
[3] A. Gasperini et al., Macromolecules, 52, 2476-2486 (2019).
[4] J. Ma et al., Nature Comm., 12, 5210 (2021).
Short-Bio:
Bob C. Schroeder, born in Luxembourg, obtained his BSc (2008) and MSc (2010) in Chemistry from the Free University of Brussels (ULB) under the supervision of Prof. Yves Geerts. He then moved to Imperial College London for his doctoral studies under Prof. Iain McCulloch, where he focused on synthesizing and studying pi-conjugated materials and polymers for organic electronic devices such as organic photovoltaics, organic field effect transistors, and organic light emitting diodes. After completing his PhD (2013), Bob undertook a six-month EPSRC-sponsored postdoctoral stay at Imperial College London to develop tellurium-containing polymers for organic spin transport electronics and explored their commercialisation feasibility. Subsequently, he joined Stanford University's Department of Chemical Engineering (2014) as a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Prof. Zhenan Bao, working on self-healing conjugated polymers for stretchable electronics and synthesising high-performing semiconducting polymers for large area device fabrication.
In Spring 2016, Bob became an Academic Fellow and Principal Investigator at Queen Mary University of London's Materials Research Institute and School of Biological and Chemical Sciences. In early 2018, he relocated to University College London's Department of Chemistry as a Lecturer, and is now a Professor of Organic Materials and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow. His current research focuses on developing organic materials for biological interfacing and examining supramolecular interactions in conjugated polymers.
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