Nanostructured Polymer Semiconductors for Solar Energy Conversion 

The Sun provides the Earth with a striking amount of energy-enough to support the entire Earth for billions of years. However, if solar energy is to become a practical alternative to fossil fuels, we MUST develop viable approach to convert photons into electricity, fuels, and heat. 

In our group, we are interested in developing various 2D polymer nanosheets and other polymer materials with suitable band gaps and band edge positions to convert solar energy into chemical fuels either by direct photocatalytic water splitting or photocatalytic CO2 reduction/N2 fixation. To achieve this goal, we focus on synthesizing or assembling ultrathin conjugated polymers which provide a tunable platform for controlling electronic structures and loading co-catalysts. Meanwhile, we also devote to elucidating fundamental mechanisms responsible for efficient energy transfer process.  

Functional Soft Polymers for Flexible & Stretchable Electronics

Flexible electronics are lightweight, bendable, rollable, portable, and potentially stretchable. Polymer substrates are an indispensable component in flexible electronics. With our expertise in synthesizing polymer materials from various functional groups, we focus on developing functional polymer substrates or materials with potential applications in flexible electronics. We primarily focus on synthesizing new polymer substrates with novel functions by mimicking human skins. We also pay attention to the transfer printing process, which is a critical step in fabricating flexible electronics. Moreover, we try to delveop novel materials which can solve the challenges in integrating hard inorganic materials with the soft substrates. Our efforts in this field are devoted to solving practical needs in manufacturing flexible electronics.