Conducting Polymer Nanostructures for Functional Organic Electronics
We develop vapor phase deposition strategies to produce bulk quantities of low dimensional nanostructured conducting polymers. Our lab probes nucleation mechanisms and reaction kinetics during polymer growth in order to design robust synthetic protocols that access target structures and stable semiconducting properties. Our aims are to control evolution of nanoscale morphologies from the vapor phase utilizing synthetic variables such as pressure, shear flow, vapor concentration, carrier gas, and temperature.
Energy Storage
We develop fundamental connections between chemistry and engineering principles in conducting polymer-based redox pseudocapacitors and supercapacitors by synthesizing nanostructured materials that directly enhance the performance of energy storage devices.Our research efforts aim to control polymer structure, charge transport and semiconducting properties of conjugated polymers in order to advance the state-of-the-art in electrochemical capacitors. The D’Arcy lab produces electroactive electrodes characterized by nanostructured coatings of high surface area via vapor deposition strategies that afford in-situ patterning and conformal deposition for facile device fabrication.
Iron Hydrolysis
We study one-step processes that simultaneously control both solution-based hydrolysis of iron salts and vapor phase polymerization for in situ deposition of redox-active nanostructured conducting polymers. Our work advances the state-of-the-art in synthesis of functional nanomaterials using hybrid manufacturing strategies that result in inorganic-organic core-shell nanostructures of low dimensionality and high aspect ratio. Moreover, high surface area capacitive electrodes comprised of 1D nanofibers, 2D nanoplates or 3D nanoflowers are engineered into electrochemical capacitors.