Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Materials:

Investigators: Bard, Barbara, Dodabalapur, Ferreira, Korgel, Stevenson, Vanden Bout, Willets

Organic and hybrid inorganic/organic composites are emerging as important classes of materials for new electronic and optical applications due to their potential for low cost manufacturing and structural flexibility. One example of this combination is organic and hybrid light emitting diodes and photovoltaics. In these technologies, charge separation/recombination and charge transport determine device efficiencies. A relatively poor understanding of how to rationally control and optimize these materials properties has hampered progress in the area, which is due in large part to the challenge of understanding the structure-function relationship in these heterogeneous materials. The material properties, especially in the case of hybrid composites, are dominated by the interfaces and varied morphologies requiring both microscopic and macroscopic characterization.