Overview of Interdisciplinary Research Group #1 (Functional Nanocomposites)

This research group is focused on the syntheses, characterization, and modeling of functional nanocomposites comprised of inorganic and organic phases with tailored nanostructures and chemistries for enhanced energy conversion/management (e.g., for light-to-electrical conversion) and antimicrobial activity (e.g., for decontamination of fluids and surfaces). This group utilizes the integrated interdisciplinary efforts of the Sandhage (School of Materials Science & Engineering), Marder (School of Chemistry & Biochemistry), Kippelen (School of Electrical & Computer Engineering), and Kröger (School of Chemistry & Biochemistry; School of Materials Science & Engineering) groups for: tailoring inorganic and organic surfaces; developing bio-enabled and/or synthetic layer-by-layer inorganic/organic deposition processes; synthesizing modified or new functional organic dyes and organic semiconductors; and characterizing and modeling the optoelectronic and antimicrobial properties of the resulting inorganic/organic composites.

Interdisciplinary Research Group #1 Projects:

Project #1-1:   Synthesis of Chemically-Tailored, Aligned Titania Nanotube Arrays (Sandhage group)

Research Focus: This project is focused on learning how to utilize biomolecule-enabled layer-by-layer deposition processes and reaction-based approaches to enable the fabrication of organized nanotube arrays of chemically-tailored, nanostructured functional inorganic materials for use in optical, electrical, or chemical applications (e.g., solar cells, fuel cells, sensors).

Publications:

• J. D. Berrigan, T. S. Kang, Y. Cai, J. R. Deneault, M. F. Durstock, K. H. Sandhage, “Protein-Enabled Layer-by-Layer Syntheses of Aligned, Porous-Wall, High-Aspect-Ratio TiO₂ Nanotube Arrays,” Advanced Functional Materials, 32 [13] 3395-3403 (2011).
• K. H. Sandhage, “Materials ‘Alchemy’: Shape-Preserving Chemical Transformation of Solid Micro-to-Macroscopic Preforms into New Nanostructured Materials,” Journal of Metals, 62 [6] 32-43 (2010).
• S. Shian, K. H. Sandhage, “Hexagonal and Cubic TiOF₂,” Journal of Applied Crystallography, 43 [4] 757-761 (2010).
• Y. Fang, Q. Wu, M. B. Dickerson, Y. Cai, S. Shian, D. Berrigan, N. Poulsen, E. Malcolm, N. Kroger, K. H. Sandhage, “Protein-Mediated Layer-by-Layer Syntheses of Freestanding Microscale Titania Structures with Biologically-assembled 3-D Morphologies,” Chemistry of Materials, 21, 5704-5710 (2009). (also related to project #1-4)
• S. Shian, K. H. Sandhage, “A Gas-Tight, Cu Ka X-ray Transparent Reaction Chamber for High Temperature X-ray Diffraction Analyses of Halide Gas/Solid Reactions,” Review of Scientific Instruments, 80, 115108/1-115108/7 (2009).

Presentations:

• K. H. Sandhage (invited), “Materials “Alchemy”: Shape-Preserving Chemical Conversion of Self-Assembled Synthetic or Biological 2-D/3-D Templates into Nanostructured Catalytic, Sensor, Optical, or Electronic Materials,” Colloquium Talk presented at the University of Albany, Albany, NY, Feb. 4, 2011.
• K. H. Sandhage (invited), “Shape-preserving Chemical Conversion of Microscale and Nanostructured 3D Inorganic or Organic Templates into Functional Ceramic or Metallic Structures,” Electronic Materials and Applications Conference, Orlando, FL, Jan. 19, 2011.
• K. H. Sandhage (invited), “Bio-enabled Syntheses of Functional Coatings on Nanostructured Templates,” Exploring Biological Interfaces Workshop, San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 3-6, 2011.
• K. H. Sandhage (invited), “Materials ‘Alchemy’: Shape-Preserving Chemical Conversion of 3-D Biogenic or Synthetic Structures into Catalytic, Sensor, Electronic, or Optical Materials,” Colloquium Talk presented at Boston University, Boston, MA, March 4, 2011.
• K. H. Sandhage (invited), “‘(Bio)Materials Alchemy’: Shape-preserving Chemical Conversion of Intricate 3-D Structures into Sensor, Catalytic, or Optical Materials,” presented at the Air Force Institute of Technology for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Seminar Series, Dayton, OH, Nov. 4, 2010.
• K. H. Sandhage (invited), “Materials Alchemy: Shape-preserving Chemical Transformation of Macroscopic and Microscopic 3-D Structures,” presented to the Glass and Ceramics Department at the University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany, Oct. 1, 2010.
• Y. Fang, J. P. Vernon, S. Shian, J. D. Berrigan, Y. Cai, M. B. Dickerson, R. R. Naik, L. Mishchenko, B. Hatton, J. Aizenberg, N. Kröger, S. R. Marder, K. H. Sandhage, “Integrating Biological Self-Assembly with Synthetic Chemistry,” Central Regional American Chemical Society (CeRMACS) meeting, Dayton, OH, June 16, 2010 (invited).
• K. H. Sandhage, S. C. Davis, J. P. Vernon, A. S. Gordin, J. D. Berrigan, S. Shian, Y. Fang, Y. Cai, M. B. Dickerson, R. R. Naik, N. Kröger, S. R. Marder (invited), “Integration of Bio-Enabled and Synthetic Syntheses of Functional 3-D Nanostructured Assemblies,” CIMTEC 2010 meeting, Montecatini Terme, Italy, June 10, 2010.
• K. H. Sandhage, S. Shian, Z. Bao, S. Davis, M. R. Weatherspoon, M. B. Dickerson, M. Crne, Y. Fang, Y. Cai, G. Wang, S. C. Jones, S. R. Marder, M. Srinivasarao, “Materials ‘Alchemy’:  Changing the Chemistries, but not Shapes, of 3-D Assemblies,” Composites at Lake Louise, Lake Louise, Canada, Oct. 26, 2009 (invited).
• K. H. Sandhage, “Integration of Biological Self-Assembly with Synthetic Chemical Processing to Yield Functional Nanostructured 3-D Microassemblies,” MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 15, 2009 (invited).

Fully- or Partially-Supported Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows:

• J. Dan Berrigan (Ph.D. student, School of Materials Science and Engineering)
• Taylor McLachlan (Ph.D. student, School of Materials Science and Engineering)
• Dr. Ye Cai (Ph.D., School of Materials Science and Engineering)

Project #1-2:   Design, Syntheses, and Incorporation of Light Harvesting and Hole Transporting Organic Materials into Nanotube Arrays (Marder group)

Research Focus: This project is focused on designing, synthesizing, and purifying modified ruthenium-based or all-organic dyes, as well as hole-conducting organic materials, and learning how to incorporate such functional organic materials at high levels of loading into solar cells or other devices.

Publications:

• “A High Efficiency Panchromatic Squaraine Sensitizer for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells”. Y. Shi, R. B. M. Hill, J. –H. Yum, A. Dualeh, S. Barlow, M. Grätzel, S. R. Marder, M. K. Nazeeruddin, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2011), accepted.

Presentations:

• S. R. Marder, “Dithienopyrolle-Based Donor-Acceptor Copolymers: Low Band-Gap Materials for Transport and Photovoltaics,” presented at Pacific Polymer/DEST-ISL ICOS Conference in Cairns, Australia, December, 2009.
• S. R. Marder, “Applications of Rylene Dimide Containing Materials for Organic Solar Cell Applications,” presented at the 240^th ACS National Meeting held in Boston, MA, August 22-26, 2010.

Fully- or Partially-Supported Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows:

• Helen Westbrook (M.S. student, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry)
• Jessie Nock (M.S. student, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry)
• Marcel Said (Ph.D. student, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry)

Project #1-3:   Fabrication, Testing, and Modeling of Nanostructured Inorganic/Organic Photovoltaic Composites (Kippelen group)

Research Focus: This project is focused on developing nanostructured polymer composites and inorganic nanolaminate-based electrode materials, as well as testing and modeling the properties of such functional nanocomposite materials, for use in optical/electrical devices (e.g., solar cells, photodetectors).

Publications:

• H. Cheun, J. B. Kim, Y. H. Zhou, Y. Fang, A. Dindar, C. Fuentes-Hernandez, J. Shim, K. H. Sandhage, B. Kippelen, “Inverted Polymer Solar Cells with Amorphous Indium Zinc Oxide as Electron Collecting Electrode,” Optics Express. 18, A506-A512 (2010).
• Y. Zhou, H. Cheun, W. J. Potscavage Jr., C. Fuentes-Hernandez, S.-J. Kim, B. Kippelen, “Inverted Organic Solar Cells with ITO Electrodes Modified with an Ultrathin Al₂O₃ Buffer Layer Deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition,” Journal of Materials Chemistry, 20, 6189-6194  (2010).
• H. Cheun, C. Fuentes-Hernandez, Y. Zhou, W. J. Potscavage, S.-J. Kim, J. Shim, A. Dindar, B. Kippelen, “Electrical and Optical Properties of ZnO Processed by Atomic Layer Deposition in Inverted Polymer Solar Cells,” Journal of Physical Chemistry, 114, 20713-20718 (2010).
• Y. Zhou, H. Cheun, S. Choi, W.J. Potscavage Jr., C. Fuentes-Hernandez, B. Kippelen, “Indium Tin Oxide-free and Metal-free Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells,” Applied Physics Letters, 97, 153304/1-153304/3 (2010).
• Y. Zhou, H. S. Cheun, S. Choi, C. Fuentes-Hernandez, B. Kippelen, “Optimization of a Polymer Top Electrode for Inverted Semitransparent Organic Solar Cells,”  Organic Electronics, 12, 827-831 Mar. (2011).

Presentations:

• B. Kippelen (Plenary), “Organic Photonics and Electronics: Myth or Reality?,” presented at SPIE Photonics Europe, Brussels, Belgium, April 12-16, 2010.
• B. Kippelen, S. Choi, W. J. Potscavage Jr. (invited), “Modeling of Large-Area Organic Solar Cells,” presented at the 10^th International Conference on Numerical Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices, Atlanta, GA, Sep. 6-9, 2010.
• B. Kippelen (invited), “Organic Semiconductors for Photovoltaic and Light-Emitting Devices: Status and Promise,” presented at the Frontiers in Optics (FiO) Conference, Rochester, NY, Oct. 24-28, 2010.
• B. Kippelen (invited), “Organic Photovoltaics: A Myth or Reality?,” presented to the School of ECE, Seminar Series, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, Sep. 22, 2010.
• B. Kippelen (invited), “Organic Photovoltaics: Status and Promise,” presented to the Department of Materials Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, Sep. 14, 2010.
• B. Kippelen (invited), “Interfaces in Organic Photovoltaics,” presented at the conference on Sustainable Energy Future: Focus on Organic Photovoltaics, Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL), Knoxville, TN, Sep. 15-16, 2010.
• B. Kippelen (invited), “Tailoring Interfaces in Organic and Printed Electronics,” presented at the 9^th North American Organic  Electronics Association (OE-A) Working Group Meeting, Atlanta, GA, March 5, 2010.
• B. Kippelen (invited), “Organic Photovoltaics,” presented at the Energy Forum for Energy and the Environment, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, Feb. 11, 2010.
• B. Kippelen, X. H. Zhang, S.P. Tiwari, J.B. Kim, T. Sajoto, S. Barlow, S.R. Marder, D.K. Huang, C. Fuentes-Hernandez, “Recent Advances in Organic and Hybrid Transistors for Display Backplane Technology and Complementary Digital Circuits,” presented at the 8^th International Conference on Electroluminescence and Organic Electronics, Ann Arbor, MI, Oct. 17-21, 2010.
• B. Kippelen (invited), “Advancing Consumer Packaging through Printable Electronics,” IPST Executive Conference, Atlanta, GA, March 9-11 (2011).
• S. Choi, W.J. Potscavage Jr., B. Kippelen, “Area-Scaling of the Performance of Organic Solar Cells,” presented at the MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, Dec., 2009.
• Y.H. Zhou, H. Cheun, W.J. Potscavage Jr., C. Fuentes-Hernandez, S.-J. Kim, B. Kippelen, “Efficient Inverted Polymer Solar Cells Using an Ultrathin Aluminum Oxide Buffer Layer Deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition,” presented at the International Symposium on Functional-pi-Electron Systems, Atlanta, GA May 23-28, 2010.
• Y. H. Zhou, H. Cheun, W. J. Potscavage Jr., B. Kippelen,  “Metal-Free Inverted Hybrid Organic Solar Cells,” presented at SPIE, San Diego, CA, Aug. 1-5, 2010.

Fully- or Partially-Supported Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows:

• William J. Potscavage, Jr. (Ph.D. student, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• Dr. Yinhua Zhou (Ph.D., School of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• Hyeunseok Cheun (Ph.D., School of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• Canek Fuentes-Hernandez (Ph.D., Research Scientist II, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Project #1-4:   Robust and Versatile Enzymatic Nanocomposites (Kröger and Sandhage groups)

Research Focus: This project is focused on learning how to utilize biomolecule-enabled layer-by-layer deposition processes to enable the fabrication of multifunctional enzyme/inorganic nanocomposites for use in (bio)chemical or electrical applications (e.g., antimicrobial coatings, fuel cells).

Publications:

• N. Kröger, K. H. Sandhage, “From Diatom Biomolecules to Bio-inspired Syntheses of Silica- and Titania-based Materials,” MRS Bull., 35 (2) 122-126 (2010).
• Y. Fang, Q. Wu, M. B. Dickerson, Y. Cai, S. Shian, D. Berrigan, N. Poulsen, E. Malcolm, N. Kröger, K. H. Sandhage, “Protein-Mediated Layer-by-Layer Syntheses of Freestanding Microscale Titania Structures with Biologically-assembled 3-D Morphologies,” Chem. Mater., 21, 5704-5710 (2009). (also related to project #1-1)

Presentations:

• N. Kröger (invited), “Diatom Silica Biomineralization as Inspiration and Tool for the Synthesis of Hierarchically Patterned Functional Materials,” NSF/DFG Workshop on “BioInspired Design and Engineering of Novel Functional Materials,” New York, NY, March 22-25, 2011.
• K. H. Sandhage (invited), “How Can Complex Synthetic Inorganic Chemistries be Integrated with Complex Biological/Biomimetic Structure Formation?” NSF/DFG Workshop on “BioInspired Design and Engineering of Novel Functional Materials,” New York, NY, March 22-25, 2011.
• N. Kröger (invited), “Diatom Silica Biomineralization as Inspiration and Tool for Enzyme Immobilization,” Institute for Biological Engineering (IBE) Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, March 3-5, 2011.
• K. H. Sandhage (invited), “Bio-enabled Syntheses of Functional 3-D Nanostructured Materials via Layer-by-Layer Deposition,” presented at PacifiChem 2010 (Area 9: Materials and Nanotechnology; Session on “Biological and Bio-Inspired Materials Synthesis and Assembly”), Honolulu, HI, Dec. 15, 2010.
• K. H. Sandhage (invited), “‘(Bio)Materials Alchemy’: Shape-preserving Chemical Conversion of Intricate 3-D Structures into Sensor, Catalytic, or Optical Materials,” presented at the U.S.-Israeli Biotechnology Discussions Workshop, Boston, MA, Dec. 2-3, 2010.
• N. Kröger, “How to Build a Glass House: New Insight into the Mechanism of Diatom Silica Formation,” Max-Bergmann-Lecture, Technical University Dresden, October 18, 2010 (invited).
• N. Kröger, “Silica Biomineralization in Diatoms – From Molecular Mechanism to Nanotechnology,” Symposium of the Max-Planck Society (MPG) on “Molecular Bionics – From Biomineralization to Functional Materials,” Schloss Ringberg, Tegernsee, Germany, October 4^th, 2010.
• A. Scheffel, S. Shian, N. Poulsen, N. Kröger, “Nanopatterned Protein Microrings from the Diatom T. pseudonana that Direct Silica Morphogenesis,” Poster at the Gordon Research Conference on Biomineralization, Colby Sawyer College, New London, NH, August 15-20, 2010.
• N. Kröger, “Materials Chemistry Meets Genome Biology: Molecular Principles of Bio-enabled Mineral Formation,” MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 15, 2009 (invited).
• N. Kröger, “Genome Biology Meets Materials Chemistry: Lessons from and for Diatom Silica Biomineralization,” Composites at Lake Louise, Lake Louise, Canada, Oct. 25, 2009 (invited).
• K. H. Sandhage, Z. Bao, S. Davis, S. Shian, M. Weatherspoon, M. Dickerson, E. Malcolm, M. Crne, Y. Fang, Y. Cai, G. Wang, S. Jones, M. Srinivasarao, S. Marder, N. Poulsen, N. Kröger, “Bio-Enabled Assembly of Functional Three-Dimensional Nanostructures,” 17^th American Conference on Crystal Growth and Epitaxy, Lake Geneva, WI, Aug. 12, 2009 (invited).

Supported Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows:

• Nicholas Haase (Ph.D. student, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry)
• Dr. Samuel Shian (School of Materials Science and Engineering; School of Chemistry and Biochemistry), now at Harvard University.

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