Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

As the technological demands of our country continue to evolve, so does the need for new and readily-accessible functional materials that will help to address these challenges. The proposed research program will produce luminescent and semiconducting molecular, polymeric, and self-assembled materials for use in a variety of organic electronics (e.g., sensors, memory devices, light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, and solar cells). We will employ our expertise in the creation of novel hybrid architectures that take advantage of the best traits of purely organic materials in combination with the required functionality of inorganic elements through the use of nitrogen-based ligands derived from formazans and hydrazones. Our program embraces the discovery' theme of this flagship NSERC program, as it offers a broad scope of potentially transformative ideas and a calculated balance of high risk, high reward ventures that will place us at the forefront of our field. We believe that the elements of risk that feature throughout the proposal are justified based on our demonstrated ability to address similar ambitious research challenges, our careful design of the molecular and polymeric targets, and the potential impact that the research outcomes will have on the functional synthetic materials and organic electronics fields. Furthermore, our unique expertise and local infrastructure are ideally suited to the proposed research. Without fundamental advances such as those proposed, innovation and development of future generations of functional materials and organic electronics will simply not be possible. The proposed program is both multidisciplinary and collaborative. It will provide an excellent training ground for highly qualified personnel (HQP) at the BSc, MSc, and PhD levels. They will work toward the development of guiding principles for the synthesis of hybrid materials, the establishment of detailed structure-property relationships for the luminescent and semiconducting hybrid materials that they produce, and self-assembly protocols that will transform the way materials scientists approach the design of semiconducting polymers. These initiatives will provide a platform for new and continued collaborations with Canadian industry that will directly involve HQP, further increasing the impact of the training experiences created. HQP will graduate with skill sets ideally suited to the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Sector of the Canadian economy and academia.