Honors and Awards

• Elected Fellow, Materials Research Society, 2020
• Thomas A. Edison Patent Award, Research and Development Council of New Jersey, 2020
• Member, Defense Science Study Group, 2019
• Vanguard Series: Leader in Higher Education, NJBiz, 2018
• Julian C. Smith Lecturer, Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical Engineering, Cornell University, 2018
• Finalist, Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, 2015, 2016
• Fellow, American Physical Society, 2013
• Owens Corning Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2012
• Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum, 2012
• US Young Scientist Delegate, World Economic Forum "Summer Davos", 2010
• John H. Dillon Medal, American Physical Society, 2010
• Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry, 2008
• Allan P. Colburn Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2006
• O'Donnell Award in Engineering, the Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas, 2006
• Beckman Young Investigator Award, 2005
• World's top 100 Young Innovator, MIT Technology Review, 2004
• NSF CAREER Award, 2004
• Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award, 2002

Affiliations

• Director and Associated Faculty, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
• Associated Faculty, Department of Chemistry
• Associated Faculty, Department of Electrical Engineering
• Associated Faculty, Princeton Environmental Institute
• Associated Faculty, Princeton Materials Institute

Research Interests

Solution-processable organic conductors and semiconductors for thin-film electronics

The ability to replace thermally-evaporated metal and organic semiconductors with solution-processable counterparts as active device components will lower capital and operational costs associated with thin-film electronics fabrication. We are examining the processing-structure-property relationships of these materials to assess their viability. Current research efforts in this area focus on water-dispersible, conductive polyaniline and several p-type solution-processable anthradithiophenes. These materials, respectively, find use as electrodes and active layers in organic transistors and solar cells.

Soft lithography and soft-contact lamination for plastic electronics

 The chemical- and mechanical fragility of organic semiconductors calls for the development of non-invasive patterning technologies for establishing efficient electrical contact. Our group has developed nanotransfer printing (nTP), soft-contact lamination (scL) and stamp-and-spin-cast as means to fabricate functional organic thin-film devices. Research in this area continues to explore elastomeric-stamp-based patterning schemes for creating high-resolution functional features on rigid and flexible substrates over large areas. These features are either directly transferred onto or laminated against the electrically-active components to complete the circuits of organic transistors and solar cells.

Self-assembled monolayers facilitate interfacial engineering in organic solar cells

 Previously, our efforts in this area entailed the understanding the assembly of conjugated molecules on metal and semiconductor surfaces. High-resolution spectroscopic techniques, including transmission and reflectance infra-red spectroscopy and synchrotron-based near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy were used to elucidate the ensemble-averaged structure and orientation of the molecular assembly. Current work builds on our previous know-how; we are exploiting the molecular dipoles induced by and surface energy presented by the organization of self-assembled monolayers to engineer the electrode-photo-active later interface in organic solar cells.