This talk covers my recent work inthe synthesis and structural design of functional materials. We further demonstrate the use of these functional materials for optoelectronic and energy applications, such as lithium battery, supercapacitor, photovoltaic cell, LED, electrochromic, memory device, and fuel cells (membrane or catalysis).
The first part of my talk will focus onlithium ionbatteries (LIBs). Traditional graphene anodes in LIBs suffer from significant performance loss due to the restacking of graphene layers. Therefore, we have attempted a multi-step bottom-up organic synthesisof a series of 2D and 3D nanographenes with various functional groups attached to the edge of the graphene basil planes. Among other potential application, these high-surface area nanographenes have an excellent cyclic durability over hundreds charge-discharge cyclesand a much enhanced charge capacity(up to ~950 mAh/g) as novel anode materials for LIBs. Moreover, optimized electronic structure and facilitated electron transfer have led to energy storage three times the capacity of graphite (372 mAh/g), suggesting that the optimal design of conjugated nanographenes are promising for next generation LIBs with superior energy storage efficiency.Our most recent results further suggest that nanographenes and their precursors have great promises for the preparation of novel nano-onions, a new category of electrocatalyst.
ForElectrochromic materials, I will reportsystemic studies of arylamine containing electrochromic materialswith red-green-blue (RGB), cyan-magenta-yellow (CMY), even black coloring (color palette)in the visible and NIR region,ranging from 300 nm to 1600 nm. Excellent operation stability has also been demonstrated over thousands coloring/bleaching switches, implying great potential for practical application in smart window and displays. Finally, I will also cover the fabrication oflarge grained perovskite solar cells with improved phase purity, increased crystallinity,and a much higher ambient stability.
Recent related publications (out of 66Peer-Reviewed Papers):
Adv. Mater.2016, 28, 10250; ACS Appl. Mater. Inter. 2016, 8, 14513; NPG Polymer J.2016, 48, 117(Invited Review Article); Polym. Chem.2016, 7, 2780;Chem. Sci.2015, 6, 789; Chem. Sci.2015, 6, 1150; Polym. Chem.2015, 6, 7758; Polym. Chem.2015, 6, 7464;Polym. Chem.2014, 5, 4219(Front Cover Article); J. Mater. Chem. C2014, 2, 4374 (Back Cover Article); Macromolecules2014, 47, 1008;ACS Appl. Mater. Inter. 2014, 6, 3594;Chem. Comm.2014, 50, 13917; Chem. Comm.2014, 50, 4915;J. Mater. Chem. C2014, 2, 7796;Adv. Funct. Mater.2013, 23, 5307; Adv. Opt. Mater.2013, 1, 668; Chem. Comm.2013, 49, 9812; Chem. Comm.2013, 49, 9797; Chem. Comm.2013, 49, 630.
Hung-Ju completed his Ph.D. degree with the 1st prize of PhD graduates from National Taiwan University in 2011. He joined LANL as a Director's Postdoctoral Fellow in 2013 prior to receiving the J. Robert Oppenheimer Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow appointment.
Hung-Ju's main research interest lies in the organic synthesis of electroactive polymers and functional nanographenes with tailored optical and electronic properties.
Hung-Ju’s scientific achievements and publication records are phenomenal. He has a total of 66 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Among them, he is the main contributor--first author and equal contribution first author-- of 37 papers. After join LANL in 2013, he has published 28 papers. He also has 4 invited review article, 2 book chapter, 4 US patents and 4 Taiwanese patents, 100 conference papers. Hung-Ju’s papers have received more than 2000 citations from Google Citation, with an h-index of 28.
He has written/involved in several grant proposals funded by National Science Council (now Ministry of Science and Technology), Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industrial Technology Research Institute, and Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, bring in more than one million USD of research grants through competing proposals.