Electron Donor Acceptor Nanocomposites with High Mechanical Strengh

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Dirk M. Guldi; Professor Dr. Norbert Jux
• Subject Area: Physical Chemistry of Solids and Surfaces, Material Characterisation ; Organic Molecular Chemistry - Synthesis and Characterisation
• Term: from 2005 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 13165918

The scope of the current proposal is to devise new Electron Donor Acceptor Nanocomposites that will lead to significant improvements in energy conversion and transport via the biomimetic organization of electro- and photoactive ensembles electrostatically assembled to carbon nanotubes (CNT). On the basis of available experimental results the proposed nanoscale systems promise to be extremely valuable to solar energy conversion ¿ specifically to novel chemical and light driven systems ¿ and high mechanical strength materials. The basic rationales are the electron acceptor features of CNT. Structural design of new ¿molecular¿ carbon nanostructures, which are soluble in condensed media, emerge as powerful means to control/modify energy conversion and transport. Tuning of the interactions can satisfy a variety of purposes that range from the preparation of electron donor-acceptor nanocomposites to augmented strength materials. The long-term objective is generation and characterization of reactive intermediates following light-induced reactions in order to probe the electron and energy storage properties of CNT in i) homogeneous organic media and ii) thin films at ITO electrodes. The ultimate goal of the integrated project is, through the use of models, to develop relationships between chemical / physical / photophysical properties and the introduction of specific functionalities.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants