Functional materials used for optoelectronic applications are often employed in the solid-state regime. The properties of such solid-state materials are entirely dependent on the inter and intra molecular interactions that the molecules experience. Intermolecular interactions are interactions between two adjacent molecules and can be broken down into two subgroups: repulsive and attractive. Intramolecular interactions are interactions that occur within a molecule and include things like bonding, resonance, and electron distribution. These properties can be tuned through a number of techniques to afford desirable outcomes for various material applications. This dissertation will investigate how the tuning of the inter and intra molecular forces influence a material’s electronic and optical properties.

The dissertation will cover three projects that leverage control over hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions, and electron density to influence the optoelectronic properties of various systems. The first project attempted to increase intermolecular electronic couplings by using hydrogen bonded coproducts between an organic small molecule semiconductor and benzoic acids. Hydrogen bonding is a monodirectional interaction. The second project, in contrast, focuses on ionic interactions, which are multidirectional. These ionic interactions were investigated through the addition of a conjugated organic core to the inorganic anion in an organic inorganic hybrid material (OIHM) to improve material photoluminescence quantum yield (QY) efficiency. Additionally, alkyl substituents and anion size were changed to probe the effect of spacing on QY. In the third project of this dissertation, the focus moves from intermolecular interactions to intramolecular interactions. This project focuses on using electron donating and accepting groups to tune the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels of a metal complex to achieve more efficient deep red and near infrared (NIR) emission.

KEYWORDS: Intermolecular Interactions, Intramolecular Interactions, Optoelectronics, Organic Semiconductors, Light Emitting Materials

Functional materials used for optoelectronic applications are often employed in the solid-state regime. The properties of such solid-state materials are entirely dependent on the inter and intra molecular interactions that the molecules experience. Intermolecular interactions are interactions between two adjacent molecules and can be broken down into two subgroups: repulsive and attractive. Intramolecular interactions are interactions that occur within a molecule and include things like bonding, resonance, and electron distribution. These properties can be tuned through a number of techniques to afford desirable outcomes for various material applications. This dissertation will investigate how the tuning of the inter and intra molecular forces influence a material’s electronic and optical properties.

The dissertation will cover three projects that leverage control over hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions, and electron density to influence the optoelectronic properties of various systems. The first project attempted to increase intermolecular electronic couplings by using hydrogen bonded coproducts between an organic small molecule semiconductor and benzoic acids. Hydrogen bonding is a monodirectional interaction. The second project, in contrast, focuses on ionic interactions, which are multidirectional. These ionic interactions were investigated through the addition of a conjugated organic core to the inorganic anion in an organic inorganic hybrid material (OIHM) to improve material photoluminescence quantum yield (QY) efficiency. Additionally, alkyl substituents and anion size were changed to probe the effect of spacing on QY. In the third project of this dissertation, the focus moves from intermolecular interactions to intramolecular interactions. This project focuses on using electron donating and accepting groups to tune the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels of a metal complex to achieve more efficient deep red and near infrared (NIR) emission.

KEYWORDS: Intermolecular Interactions, Intramolecular Interactions, Optoelectronics, Organic Semiconductors, Light Emitting Materials

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The Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky organizes an annual Symposium on Chemistry and Molecular Biology. This symposium was established in honor of Anna S. Naff, a University of Kentucky graduate, through the generous support of Dr. Benton Naff of NIH. The symposium has an interdisciplinary character and is attended by students and faculty from Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Pharmacy, Engineering, Agriculture and Medicine. The symposium features renowned experts from around the world, including Nobel prize-winning scientists and is attended by faculty and students from colleges and universities in Kentucky and the contiguous states.

Details to come closer to event.

The Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky organizes an annual Symposium on Chemistry and Molecular Biology. This symposium was established in honor of Anna S. Naff, a University of Kentucky graduate, through the generous support of Dr. Benton Naff of NIH. The symposium has an interdisciplinary character and is attended by students and faculty from Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Pharmacy, Engineering, Agriculture and Medicine. The symposium features renowned experts from around the world, including Nobel prize-winning scientists and is attended by faculty and students from colleges and universities in Kentucky and the contiguous states.

Lauren DePue, Ph.D., is the director of the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) at The University of Texas at Austin, the nation’s largest undergraduate research program. In this role, DePue leads efforts to immerse first-year students in authentic scientific discovery, where they engage in real-world research, use advanced instrumentation, develop technological innovations and publish in peer-reviewed journals.  

DePue earned dual bachelor's degrees in biology and chemistry from the University of Kentucky in 2004, followed by a master’s in Chemistry from Yale University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from UT Austin. From 2013 to 2023, she led an FRI chemistry research group before stepping into the director role. Her research was recognized with the 2021 Arthur E. Martell Early Career Research Author Prize for her manuscript "Visible luminescent Ln42 nanotorus coordination clusters." In 2016, she received UT Austin’s Natural Sciences Foundation Professor Award, a student-nominated teaching honor that contributed to her promotion to associate professor of practice.

Dr. Elizabeth Ferguson serves as an Army Senior Science Technical Manager and is the Lead Technical Director (TD) for the Army Installations and Operational Environment (IOE) Business Area at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in the Environmental Laboratory, Vicksburg, Mississippi.  As Lead IOE TD, Elizabeth is responsible for programmatic direction of the research areas of military Infrastructure (the built environment) and well as the natural environment in both installations and operational environments.   

Elizabeth joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1999 as an ecological and human health risk assessor for the Environmental Engineering Branch of the Louisville District, Louisville, Kentucky.  While working in Louisville, she led several large-scale, field-based ecological risk assessments for CERCLA-based cleanup activities.  In this role, Elizabeth participated in many regulatory and stakeholder workgroups addressing ecological risk assessment methods and analysis. She has been a part of many risk management technical support teams. 

Elizabeth joined the Environmental Laboratory of ERDC in 2004, as the chief of the Environmental Processes Division, Risk Assessment Branch where she led laboratory-based research and development activities in risk assessment.  In 2005 she joined the Office of Technical Directors as the Associate Technical Director with the role of the management, funding and technical direction of military-relevant environmental research at ERDC.  Starting in 2010, she assumed leadership of the Military Materials in the Environment area of the Environmental Quality and Installations RDA as Technical Director until 2016 when she was promoted to SSTM and Lead Technical Director of IOE. Elizabeth obtained her bachelor's degrees in chemistry and psychology (1991), master's degree in radio-analytical chemistry (1994), and Ph.D. (1998) in fish physiology and aquatic toxicology from the University of Kentucky.  She has authored several peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has presented at numerous conferences and symposia.

This lecture series commemorates the life and legacy of Professor Susan Odom, an energetic, productive and driven faculty member in the Department of Chemistry from 2011 to 2021. It features speakers noted for outstanding research in Professor Odom’s fields of synthetic and materials chemistry. Visit this page for more information on the Susan A. Odom lecture series.

Abstract: Organic semiconducting polymers present a versatile platform for energy conversion and storage and sensing devices due to tunable optical and transport gaps, compatibility with electrolytes, and scalability via solution processing. The Center for Soft Photoelectrochemical Systems (SPECS) is an Energy Frontier Research Center that focuses on understanding the fundamental factors that control charge and matter transport processes that underpin energy conversion and storage technologies across spatiotemporal scales in scalable, durable, π-conjugated polymer materials. Within SPECS, we aim to establish design rules for robust photocathode systems that elucidate key structure–property relationships related to charge transport, charge transfer, and operational durability.

Our initial device employs a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) strategy, combining PTB7-Th (hole transport) and N2200 (electron transport) polymers, deposited on passivated ITO and capped with a hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst (e.g., Pt or RuO₂), all immersed in an acidic electrolyte. Insights from optoelectronic analogs guide our focus toward enhancing chemical and mechanical interfacial stability and enabling selective charge extraction.

Efforts that will be described in this talk include multiple spectroelectrochemical methods and theoretical efforts to reveal the impact of electrochemical doping and ultimately serve as signatures to drive charge transfer reactions such as solar fuel production. Other highlights will include opportunities to functionalize various interfaces to increase rates of hydrogen evolution. 

Bio: Erin L. Ratcliff is a full professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering and the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds a joint appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.  She earned a B.A. in chemistry, mathematics,and statistics in 2003 from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Iowa State University in 2007. After completing a postdoc at the University of Arizona (2007 – 2009), she served as a research scientist and research professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2009 – 2014). She was previously an assistant and associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Arizona (2014 – 2024). She joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2024. 

Her group, Laboratory for Interface Science for Printable Electronic Materials, uses a combination of electrochemistry, spectroscopies, microscopies and synchrotron-based techniques to understand fundamental structure-property relationships of next-generation materials for energy conversion and storage and biosensing. Materials of interest include metal halide perovskites, π-conjugated materials, colloidal quantum dots and metal oxides. Current research is focused on mechanisms of electron transfer and transport across interfaces, including semiconductor-electrolyte interfaces and durability of printable electronic materials.

Ratliff was also the director of the funded Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) titled Center for Soft PhotoElectroChemical Systems (SPECS) and is currently the associate director of scientific cContinuity for SPECS. She has received several awards for her research and teaching, including the 2023 Da Vinci Fellow and the 2022 College of Engineering Researcher of the Year award at UArizona, The Ten at Ten People of Energy Frontier Research Centers DOE Basic Energy Sciences award in 2019, and Senior Summer Faculty Research Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory (2020, 2021, and 2024). Her research program has been funded by the Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences, the Solar Energy Technology Office, Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation and the Nano Bio Materials Consortium.

This lecture series commemorates the life and legacy of Professor Susan Odom, an energetic, productive and driven faculty member in the Department of Chemistry from 2011 to 2021. It features speakers noted for outstanding research in Professor Odom’s fields of synthetic and materials chemistry. Visit this page for more information on the Susan A. Odom lecture series.

Abstract: Organic semiconducting polymers present a versatile platform for energy conversion and storage and sensing devices due to tunable optical and transport gaps, compatibility with electrolytes, and scalability via solution processing. The Center for Soft Photoelectrochemical Systems (SPECS) is an Energy Frontier Research Center that focuses on understanding the fundamental factors that control charge and matter transport processes that underpin energy conversion and storage technologies across spatiotemporal scales in scalable, durable, π-conjugated polymer materials. Within SPECS, we aim to establish design rules for robust photocathode systems that elucidate key structure–property relationships related to charge transport, charge transfer, and operational durability.

Our initial device employs a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) strategy, combining PTB7-Th (hole transport) and N2200 (electron transport) polymers, deposited on passivated ITO and capped with a hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst (e.g., Pt or RuO₂), all immersed in an acidic electrolyte. Insights from optoelectronic analogs guide our focus toward enhancing chemical and mechanical interfacial stability and enabling selective charge extraction.

Efforts that will be described in this talk include multiple spectroelectrochemical methods and theoretical efforts to reveal the impact of electrochemical doping and ultimately serve as signatures to drive charge transfer reactions such as solar fuel production. Other highlights will include opportunities to functionalize various interfaces to increase rates of hydrogen evolution. 

Bio: Erin L. Ratcliff is a full professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering and the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds a joint appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.  She earned a B.A. in chemistry, mathematics,and statistics in 2003 from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Iowa State University in 2007. After completing a postdoc at the University of Arizona (2007 – 2009), she served as a research scientist and research professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2009 – 2014). She was previously an assistant and associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Arizona (2014 – 2024). She joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2024. 

Her group, Laboratory for Interface Science for Printable Electronic Materials, uses a combination of electrochemistry, spectroscopies, microscopies and synchrotron-based techniques to understand fundamental structure-property relationships of next-generation materials for energy conversion and storage and biosensing. Materials of interest include metal halide perovskites, π-conjugated materials, colloidal quantum dots and metal oxides. Current research is focused on mechanisms of electron transfer and transport across interfaces, including semiconductor-electrolyte interfaces and durability of printable electronic materials.

Ratliff was also the director of the funded Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) titled Center for Soft PhotoElectroChemical Systems (SPECS) and is currently the associate director of scientific cContinuity for SPECS. She has received several awards for her research and teaching, including the 2023 Da Vinci Fellow and the 2022 College of Engineering Researcher of the Year award at UArizona, The Ten at Ten People of Energy Frontier Research Centers DOE Basic Energy Sciences award in 2019, and Senior Summer Faculty Research Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory (2020, 2021, and 2024). Her research program has been funded by the Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences, the Solar Energy Technology Office, Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation and the Nano Bio Materials Consortium.

Abstract: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is the primary research and development organization for the United States Department of the Air Force. Our team is developing new materials and manufacturing approaches to enable the next generation of electronic and optoelectronic devices that are critical for national security. Technologies such as integrated photonics, photodetectors, optically activated switches, and electro-optic modulators demand materials with electrical and optical properties that can be precisely tuned. One promising strategy is to combine organic and inorganic components in hybrid material systems, where carefully engineered interfaces can yield properties that are not possible in either component alone.

In this presentation, I will highlight three material platforms under development in the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate at AFRL where these hybrid interfaces play a central role: transition metal dichalcogenides for optical scattering, MXenes for electromagnetic interference shielding, and organic metal halide perovskites for detecting and generating polarized light. In each case, advances in synthesis, processing, and nanoscale to microscale characterization of the organic/inorganic interfaces are key to achieving the desired performance.

Bio: Dr. Joshua Kennedy received his B.Sc. in Physics from the College of Charleston and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Utah. Before joining the Air Force Research Laboratory in 2014, he worked at the University of Texas at Dallas and at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. He is now a Senior Research Physicist at AFRL, where he leads the Agile Electronic Materials and Processes Research Team in the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Abstract: The Periodic Table is a cornerstone of chemistry, but its validity is challenged by the extreme properties of superheavy elements (SHEs, Z ≥ 104) and actinides (Z > 88). Relativistic effects, stemming from their large nuclear masses, significantly alter their chemical behaviors, potentially limiting the predictive power of the Periodic Table. Recent breakthroughs have provided insights into the chemistry of these elements, including the direct identification of molecular species formed by actinium (Ac, Z = 89) and nobelium (No, Z = 102) ions.

Using a cutting-edge, atom-at-a-time technique at the 88-Inch Cyclotron Facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, we have synthesized and characterized molecular species produced by these ions in reactions with H2O and N2. Our findings underscore the importance of direct identification in SHE chemistry experiments and offer new perspectives on the chemical properties of these enigmatic elements.

This presentation will explore the current state of superheavy element chemistry research, highlighting recent advances and future directions for unraveling the mysteries of SHE chemistry. By pushing the boundaries of our understanding, we aim to shed light on the chemical behaviors of these extraordinary elements and challenge our current understanding of the Periodic Table.

Bio: Jennifer Pore leads an innovative gas phase chemistry program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she investigates the fundamental properties of superheavy elements, examining them one atom at a time. A San Francisco native, she earned her Bachelor of Science at Mills College, a women's college in Oakland, CA. She then moved to Canada to complete her Master’s and Ph.D. in nuclear science before returning to California and joining the Lawrence Berkeley team. Her primary research interest focuses on probing the chemical properties of superheavy elements to explore whether the periodic table should be reorganized. Jennifer has recently received a DOE Early Career Award to further investigate the chemistry of superheavy elements.