Colorado State University NSF-REU Summer
Program in Materials Chemistry Research:
Synthesis, Characterization, and Device Fabrication
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C.
Michael Elliott
For
more information, visit our group webpage…
A general theme of the research
program in the Elliott group is the interaction of light and mater at the
molecular level and in materials.
Specific areas in which undergraduates participate are the synthesis and
study of molecular assemblies designed to address problems in intramolecular
electron and energy transfer. These studies include: (1) fundamental problems
in electron transfer; and (2) assemblies designed to produce long-lived charge
separated states upon photoexcitation.
Each problem requires different types of molecular systems. When addressing fundamental questions,
chemical systems should be structurally very well defined as donor/acceptor
coupling depends on the number of parameters, including distance, orbital
orientation, and bond connectivity.
Molecules designed to address point two should be flexible - a property
that enables them to efficiently form the charge-separated state. In each aspect, synthetic alterations
are made in the structure (e.g., the length and chemical nature of the connecting
bridges) that affect the various relevant parameters. Related work on dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) probes
light-induced charge separation between a dye molecule and a nanoscopic
particle onto which it is adsorbed, focused on systems that mediate electron
transfer across the cell from the dye-coated photo-anode to the cathode. Certain cobalt complexes can be
efficient electron-transport mediators in DSSCs. Ligands bound to the cobalt are synthetically modify to
change redox properties (e.g., fluorine for hydrogen substitution) and/or their
steric requirements (e.g., bulky alkyl groups). REU students will participate in synthesizing new ligands
for preparing mediators.
Supported by
NSF-REU
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