Organic conductive polymers and oligomers having extensive p-conjugation along their backbones are unique semiconducting materials that have demonstrated interesting transistor, photovoltaic, electroluminescent and display properties. The structural versatility coupled with easily tunable electronic properties of these low-band gap electro- and photoactive materials make them particularly attractive candidates as active components for the construction of minuscule molecular-scale electronic devices.

Our research efforts are directed toward the molecular design, synthesis, physical characterization, and fabrication of a broad class of architecturally new functional organic materials. The range of materials to be investigated includes, but is not limited to, structurally well-defined p-conjugated oligomers, their polymeric and dendritic analogues, as well as organic/inorganic hybrid systems. These electro- and photoactive materials will be evaluated for their light-emitting, photovoltaic, photochromic as well as transistor action effects. Synthetic chemistry plays a vital role in furnishing a diverse array of advanced custom-made structures to enable useful structure/property relationships to be elucidated. Extensive physical studies are performed to examine the fundamental optical, electronic, redox, photophysical, structural, morphological, and self-assembling properties of these advanced materials, as well as the electrical behavior of solid-state device test-structures fabricated from them.

Currently we are pursuing projects in following research areas:

• Development and Applications of Surface-Initiated Polymerization (SIP) Methodology for In-situ Synthesis and Fabrication of Semiconducting Organic Polymers on Conductive Surfaces.
• Synthesis and Studies of Functional Dendritic Oligomers Assembly Exhibiting High Sensitivity towards External Stimuli.
• Synthesis and Studies of Solution-Processable ROMP-based Polymers Functionalized with Electronically Active Oligothiophene Side Groups for Solar Energy Conversion.
• Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Highly Planar, Extensively Conjugated Organic Semiconductor Materials for Applications in Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFET) and Photovoltaic (PV) Cells.
• Development of New Backbone Photochromic Conjugated Polymers, Dendrimers, and Oligomers for Optical Switching Applications.

If you are interested in or would like to join us in working on any of these projects, please send an email to Dr. Man Kit Ng at any time.