Professor Jae-Suk Lee's research team develops new synthesis method for polymer photonic crystals
□ Professor Jae-Suk Lee of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Engineering (GIST, President Seung Hyeon Moon) and Professor and Nobel Laureate Robert H. Grubbs have succeeded in developing a block copolymer having super macromolecular mass * and a polymer ** photocrystalline *** material.
* Two or more different blocks referred to as covalently linked polymeric polymers
** A molecule with a very high molecular weight is called a macromolecule, and a substance composed of this molecule is called a polymer.
*** It refers to a material in which a color is reflected outside without being present inside the material.
□ Polymer photonic crystal material, which is a technology field that mimics the beautiful colors commonly found in insects such as morpho butterflies, selectively confines light of a specific wavelength and is widely regarded as a high-tech material capable of improving the efficiency of future display devices. Polymer photonic crystal materials are highly applicable to various optoelectronic device research fields that require advanced functions such as flexible, wearable, and printable due to easy large-scale printing process.
∘ However, since the linear block copolymer has a small molecular weight (domain size), it is difficult to produce a photonic crystal material in the visible light region. In order to overcome this problem, studies on the synthesis of graft block copolymers have been conducted, but chain growth is inhibited during polymer polymerization, and it is very difficult to synthesize and control macromolecular polymers.
□ The team used an anion polymerization method *, which has been studied for 30 years, to design a macromonomer with a new structure and synthesize a graft block copolymer with a hypermagnetization molecular weight of about 3 million using a ring-opening metathesis polymerization method ** For the first time. The photocrystalline materials fabricated through self - assembly studies showed excellent light reflectance in the visible region.
* It is easy to control the molecular weight of the polymer and control the polymer microstructure. It is widely used for precise synthesis of polymers.
** Famous for being awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2005, Professor Robert Grubbs, pioneered a polymer-based precise polymerization method in which the monomer of the ring structure is opened by the catalyst and polymerization proceeds.
□ Professor Jae-Suk Lee, "This study presents a new synthesis method of graft block copolymer with hypergasic molecular weight by controlling the molecular weight of macromonomers as well as applications of polymer photocrystalline materials fabricated by self-assembly of newly developed polymer. This can be applied to the development of next generation displays with high color purity and high-performance electronic devices, such as high-efficiency near-infrared sensors and solar cells."
