Samson A. Jenekhe

Samson A. JenekheBoeing-Martin Professor of Chemical Engineering and Professor of Chemistry

 
Offfice: 363 Benson
Phone: 206-543-5525
Fax: 206-685-3451
 
 
 
 
 

Education

 
  • B.S., Michigan Technological University, 1977.
  • M.S., Ch.E., University of Minnesota, 1980.
  • M.A., University of Minnesota, 1981.
  • Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1985.
 

Research Interests 

 
  • Organic electronics and optoelectronics, including thin film transistors, solar cells, and LEDs.
  • Self-assembly and nanotechnology, including block copolymers, nanowires, and multicomponent self-assembly.
  • Polymer science, including synthesis, processing, properties, and photonic applications.
 
Electroluminescent Polymers for Displays, Self-Assembling Polymer Systems, Polymer Device Engineering, Tunable Optical Polymer Systems, and Polymer Nanophotonics
 
One of Professor Jenekhe's main research interests focuses on electronic, optoelectronic, and photonic phenomena in polymers. Fundamental understanding of these phenomena and the related electroactive and photoactive properties in synthetic polymers is essential to their applications in diverse areas of technology ranging from imaging, photodetectors, batteries, sensors, electrochromic devices, and solar cells to light emitting diodes for flat panel displays. One perennial problem is elucidation of the structural origins of electronic and photonic properties of polymers; another is how to improve or control the efficiencies of the photophysical and charge transport processes. Our general approaches to these problems include the design and synthesis of new polymers, physical and photophysical measurements, structure-property correlations, computational modeling, thin film processing, and polymer device engineering. 
 
In one area, we are exploring how the electronic, molecular, and supramolecular structures and morpholoty of conjugated polymers influence their photoconductivity, luminescence, and charge transport properties. Model systems include homologous series of conjugated oligomers, blends of conjugated polymers, and derivatized conjugated polymers. Aggregation of conjugated polymers which can lead to diverse phenomena is under study, including the formation of excited-state and ground-state complexes which can significantly modulate the optical and photoelectronic properties of the materials. Our studies in the area of polymer thin film device engineering are aimed at addressing the fundamental and engineering issues involved in developing and producing high performance and durable electronic and optoelectronic devices (e.g. light-emitting diodes, photodetectors, thin film transistors, photovoltaic cells, sensors, etc.) from organic and polymeric materials. These issues include polymer thin film deposition processes, characterization of the electronic, optical and mechanical properties of polymer thin films and polymer/polymer, and polymer/metal interfaces, and the fabrication and evaluation of multilayer polymer thin film devices. Recently discovered finite size effects on nanoscale semiconducting polymer thin films and devices also require further study.

 

Recent Publications

 
  • Lee, H.J., Xin, H., Park, S.M., Park, S.I., Ahn, T., Park, D.K., Jenekhe, S.A., Kwon, T.W. Synthesis and Properties of Diarylamino-Substituted Linear and Dendritic Oligoquinolines for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes. Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society 2012, 33(5), pp. 1627-1637.
  • Hwang, Y.J., Kim, F.S., Xin, H., Jenekhe, S.A. New Thienothiadiazole-Based Conjugated Copolymers for Electronics and Optoelectronics. Macromoleculars 2012, 45(9), pp. 3732-3739.
  • Xin, H., Guo, S.B., Ren, C.Q., Watson, M.D., Jenekhe, S.A. Efficient Phthalimide Copolymer-Based Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells: How the Processing Additive Influences Nanoscale Morphology and Photovoltaic Properties. Advanced Energy Materials 2012, 2(5), pp. 575-582.
  • Guo, X.G., Kim, F.S., Seger, M.J., Jenekhe, S.A., Watson, M.D. Naphthalene Diimide-Based Polymer Semiconductors: Synthesis, Structure-Property Correlations, and n-Channel and Ambipolar Field-Effect Transistors. Chemistry of Materials 2012, 24(8), pp. 1434-1442.
  • Earmme, T., Jenekhe, S.A. High-performance multilayer phosphorescent OLEDs by solution-processed commercial electron-transport materials. Journal of Materials Chemistry 2012, 22(11), pp. 4660-4668.
  • Noone, K.M., Subramaniyan, S., Zhang, Q.F., Cao, G.Z., Jenekhe, S.A., Ginger, D.S. Photoinduced Charge Transfer and Polaron Dynamics in Polymer and Hybrid Photovoltaic Thin Films: Organic Vs Inorganic Acceptors. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2012, 115(49), pp. 24403-24410.
  • Ahmed, E., Ren, G.Q., Kim, F.S., Hollenbeck, E.C., Jenekhe, S.A. Design of New Electron Acceptor Materials for Organic Photovoltaics: Synthesis, Electron Transport, Photophysics, and Photovoltaic Properties of Oligothiophene-Functionalized Naphthalene Diimides. Chemistry of Materials 2012, 23(20), pp. 4563-4577.
  • Wu, P.T., Kim, F.S., Jenekhe, S.A. New Poly(arylene vinylene)s Based on Diketopyrrolopyrrole for Ambipolar Transistors. Chemistry of Materials 2012, 23(20), pp. 4618-4624.
  • Kim, F.S., Hwang, D.K., Kippelen, B., Jenekhe, S.A. Enhanced carrier mobility and electrical stability of n-channel polymer thin film transistors by use of low-k dielectric buffer layer. Applied Physics Letters 2011, 99(17).
  • Ahmed, E., Earmme, T., Jenekhe, S.A. New Solution-Processable Electron Transport Materials for Highly Efficient Blue Phosphorescent OLEDs. Advanced Functional Materials 2011, 21(20), pp. 3889-3889.

Contact Us

Dept. of Chemical Engineering

phone: (206) 543-2250
fax: (206) 543-3778

dand@cheme.washington.edu