High conductivity and efficient charge injection into organic layers could lead to the design of more efficient organic solar cells and molecular electronics, especially light emitting diodes. Most organic materials are however insulators and only few exhibit high conducting properties. Nebraska MRSEC researchers in collaboration with their colleagues at University of Puerto Rico have discovered that zwitterion molecules of the p-benzoquinonemonoimine type are different from being a standard insulator.

Photovoltaics is a method of converting solar radiation into electricity.  Some semiconducting materials exhibit a property known as the photoelectric effect that causes them to absorb light and release electrons. In addition to the semiconductors, ferroelectric materials have been employed to create ferroelectric-photovoltaic devices. In these devices, a ferroelectric thin film is used as a light absorbing layer and the electric field created by ferroelectric polarization is the driving force for the photocurrent.

To change the magnetization of a ferromagnet usually requires a magnetic field.  So, for example, if we put a compass needle into the high field of an MRI machine, we can no longer trust it to swivel to the North.  Similarly, the magnetic stripes on credit cards and key cards can be destroyed in high magnetic fields.  Electric fields don’t have the same effect on magnetic materials, which is just as well for everyday applications.

The detection of noxious gases or bio-agents is important for various environmental and security needs. High sensitivity, sufficient selectivity and molecular recognition are key characteristics for such sensing. Nebraska MRSEC researchers have developed a scheme for molecular sensing using magnetic tracer particles and a microcantilever torsional magnetometer. An example of using this system with a detection process is illustrated in the Figure below.

Luping Yu, Dmitri Talapin and collaborators from the University of Chicago MRSEC are working to develop highly efficient bulk heterojunction organic solar cells.  They have recently created composite polymer solar cells from a combination of the semiconducting polymer, PTB7, PC71BM, and doped multiwall carbon nanotubes (MCNT--these MCNT are doped with N (nitrogen), 

An international team studying the motion of  both bacteria and similar-sized artificial  catalytic nanomotors has found that they transfer momentum to their surroundings in a  similar way, despite their very different  propulsion mechanisms.

Polymer gels undergoing a self-oscillating chemical reaction have been previously shown to pulsate autonomously while exhibiting periodic color changes. Van Vliet and Balazs have now demonstrated that a non-oscillating, quiescent gel can be “resuscitated” by applying mechanical pressure to the material. By varying the conditions of the reaction, the amplitude and frequency of the mechanically resuscitated oscillations can be tuned. Further, it was demonstrated that gel-to-gel communication occurs when the gels are

      Nanoionic composites have the potential to dramatically enhance the ionic conductivity of solid state electrolytes that are critical to  numerous devices including fuel cells, electrochromic windows, and thin film batteries.