CAREER: Driving the Development of Functional Polymeric Materials with Innovative Chemical Synthesis: Creating New Opportunities in Research and Education

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

With this CAREER award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program is supporting the research and educational goals of Professor Christopher W. Bielawski of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Using multitopic carbenes as building blocks, Professor Bielawski will develop conductive polymers with stimuli-responsive characteristics. The research objective of this project is to integrate useful electronic properties into stimuli-responsive, structurally dynamic polymers. Adding an electronic component to such functional materials is a fundamental challenge that will contribute to current knowledge of molecular structure and bonding, chemical reactivity, and polymer synthesis. This challenge will be addressed by adapting multitopic carbenes capable of forming reversible adducts with organic and inorganic substrates into new polymerization reactions. The designed approach has an added benefit of enriching the chemistry of carbenes while opening a new dimension in macromolecular science. With the support of this CAREER award from the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program, Professor Bielwski will develop materials with properties that are expected to find a number of practical applications in electronic components and devices. For example, self-healing electronic circuits, reconfigurable electronic systems capable of rewiring themselves in response to externally applied stimuli, and new chemical methods for establishing electronic connections in molecular-scale circuits are anticipated results from this project. Inherent to the multidisciplinary nature of the proposed research, students working on this project will gain experience in a wide range of scientific concepts and techniques. Professor Bielawski is also actively involved in educational programs designed to train undergraduate and graduate students in organic, organometallic, and polymer chemistry. He will develop complimentary lecture and laboratory courses on the subject of macromolecular chemistry, and engage pre-college students from the state of Texas in polymer-related summer research programs.