Design of nanostructured organic films
This project is aimed at the development of new methodologies for fabrication and characterisation of highly ordered films of known and controllable structure. Generally the films of interest are organic films containing functional molecules such as porphyrins and other highly conjugated materials. The control of the structure of thin films at a molecular level is essential for light harvesting applications in such devices as solar cells. Porphyrins and related conjugated systems such as phthalocyanines are ideal for the formation of functional films as thin as a single molecular layer.
In this project we are applying novel methods to construct, by way of an organic linker layer directly onto a silicon substrate, highly ordered films of porphyrin derivatives. Our expertise in characterisation methods (X-ray reflectivity, synchrotron grazing incidence diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) is heavily used to demonstrate that the desired assembly has been achieved. Films produced in this way have applications in photonics, molecular electronics, molecular recognition and catalysis.
