Prof. David Bucknell, Georgia Tech (PTFE)

Templating in Polymer-Fullerene Nanocomposites

COPE Seminar Series

Since their discovery in the mid 1980’s, fullerenes have been widely studied and found to possess interesting properties. It is aspects of these properties which a number of scientists are exploring as the fundamental building block to enable quantum information processing (QIP). To realize the concepts for QIP, the functional fullerenes must be arranged in a well-defined morphology, where a number of parameters such as spacing between fullerenes and orientation must be controlled over macroscopic dimensions. We are therefore exploring a number of methods to achieve these defined structures by utilizing self-assembly techniques including the use of block copolymer templating. Among a number of challenges associated with this approach is a careful control of the polymer-fullerene interactions, which have much wider implications than for purely QIP applications, particularly in areas such as the organic photovoltaic devices that utilize fullerenes in the active layer. This talk will outline the work to date on achieving templating of fullerenes in block copolymers, as well as discussing the details of the work we are conducting on understanding polymer-fullerene interaction behaviour using both experimental measurements and computational modeling.

Biography:

Dr. David G. Bucknall has broad research interests in polymer physics and physical chemistry of polymers and biomaterials. Before joining Georgia Tech he held positions most recently at the University of Oxford (1999-2004) and before that at the UK national ISIS Neutron Facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (1992-1999). At the ISIS Neutron Facility he was in the Large Scale Structures group and responsible for the neutron reflectivity instrument CRISP. During this period he collaborated with a number of international groups on aspects of polymers, biomaterials and magnetism. At the University of Oxford, he was a lecturer in the Department of Materials (Polymers and Biomaterials Group). Professor Bucknall received the King Memorial Medal for Physical Chemistry, Nottingham University, 1988 and Diploma of Imperial College, 1991. At Georgia Tech he is a Professor in the School of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering with an adjunct position in Materials Science and Engineering.

For more information contact Veronique Brédas (404-385-6052).