OUR VISION
OUR VISION
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We are a group of molecular engineers, broadly interested in soft functional materials for critical energy, environmental and human health challenges!
We are a group of molecular engineers, broadly interested in soft functional materials for critical energy, environmental and human health challenges!
Research Interests
Our research interests lie at the interface of organic chemistry, polymer materials, soft matter nanotechnology, and biomedical engineering. We leverage our expertise in molecular design, synthesis, self-assembly, and development of advanced characterization strategies, to create new soft functional materials while controlling their dynamic behaviors in bulk states and interfacial properties between materials and biological systems. The overall goal is to integrate fundamental research in novel soft matter nanotechnology and biomedical engineering with the creation of multifunctional polymers/macromolecules for advanced technologies to address problems related to energy, environment, and healthcare.
Twisted but Conjugated π-Molecules as n-type semiconductors: Molecular Design, Synthesis, Characterization, and Functions
Compared with planar counterparts, distorted π-conjugated molecules have their inherent features: interesting chiroptical properties, good solubility, electronic acceptability, unique packing behavior in a helically slipped fashion, dynamic conformational changes upon external stimuli, and beyond. In our lab, we developed (a) stimuli-responsive helically-twisted ladder-shaped macromolecules (from cyclic dimer to oligomers); (b) room-temperature columnar liquid crystalline materials with ambipolar charge-carrier mobility; (c) new type n-type semiconductors for organic photovoltaics; (d) three dimensional helically-twisted monomers and polymers with helicity. (e) Structure-property-processing-performance relationships in organic semiconductors. The overall goal is to create the innovative new functional soft materials for the next-generation of organic electronics.
Organic Luminescent Functional Materials for Next-Generation Optoelectronics and Biosensors
We are interested in the design and synthesis of novel functional materials to develop structure-property-performance relationships that allow for a full elucidation of how molecular architecture affects nanoscale ordering and, in turn, materials performance in a range of next-generation optoelectronic and chemo/biosensing applications. The ratiometric chemo/biosensors exhibit more advantages such as low background, high detection sensitivity, quantitatively visual sensing behavior due to dual-channel signals collections from two individuals. In our lab, we explored (a) a new class of purely organic phosphorescent material to exhibit multiple phases (solution, solid, self-organized) room temperature phosphorescence with high quantum yield and a long lifetime. With the promise of being flexible and transparent, these materials have potential applications in photovoltaics, biological sensing, and imaging; (b) self-assembled fluorescent nanoparticles with tunable emissions assisted by FRET in an aqueous medium, which was used for colorimetric and ratio metric biosensing; (c) thermoplastic fluorescent conjugated polymers and block copolymers with fully color tunability, good miscibility and highly emissive in solid states, and robust mechanical properties; (d) solvatochromic probes exhibited significant polarity-dependent fluorescence emission wavelength shifts and color tunability for organic solvents vapor detection. With future direction, we anticipate to adapt these materials toward protein misfolded/aggregated investigation.
Engineering Smart Zwitterionic Biomaterials to Bridge the Bio-Electronic Interface
Recently, π-conjugated polymers make their entries into the new avenue of organic bioelectronics focusing on biological events and device performance. In this regard, we will directly challenge this paradigm through the use of tailored organic molecules because polymer-based electronic materials offer advantages in terms of molecular tunability, biocompatibility, biochemical response specificity, mechanical adaptability, and low-cost manufacturability. The body’s immune system often fights against the implants with various biofouling materials that eventually lead to the failure and reduced lifetime of biomedical devices during implantation. In this effort, we are making smart zwitterionic biomaterials and engineering functional surface coating to control the interface between innovative materials and complex biological mediums: the integrations of zwitterionic polymer-based biomaterials with controllable porosity, hydrophilicity, surface textures, conductivity, and flexibility to address a key challenge of conjugated polymers in biomedical applications.
Given the interdisciplinary nature of our work, students and researchers in the Xu Lab will receive broad-based training that starts from molecular design, multiple steps organic synthesis, polymerization methodologies and extends to molecular electronics, electrochemistry, microscopy, nanoparticle preparation, chemical biology, photophysical characterization, UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, physical organic chemistry techniques, molecular imaging, device fabrication, and evaluation (biosensors and bioelectronics) and cell & animal studies depending on each project’s needs.
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