Role of inter- versus intra-molecular disorder on the formation of deep electronic trap states in amorphous conducting polymers

Dr. Kilina’s group also studied excitonic and vibronic effects, e.g., exciton-phonon couplings, in pristine CNTs. These studies revealed a breakdown in the Franck-Condon approximation, generalized as a strong vibrational coordinate dependence in the transition dipole moment for photoexcitation in CNTs (ACS Nano 2011, 5, 5233). Their novel approach to simulations of interfaces and disordered systems allowed Dr. Kilina’s group to get understanding of the role of inter- versus intra-molecular disorder on the formation of deep electronic trap states in amorphous conducting polymers (J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2013, 4, 1453).

The obtained results is an important step in understanding new physical properties at the nanometer scale found in the presence of interactions between different components of hybrids. Dr. Kilina will further demonstrate how these new properties can be utilized in various applications to accelerate the completion of their proof-of-concept development stage and facilitate practical usage of hybrid nanomaterials to produce efficiently operating optoelectronic devices, solar cells, sensors, bio-labels, etc.