Research Group: Chemistry Number of Students: 1 Length of Study in Years: 4 Years Full-time Project: yes
Funding is provided via the China Scholarship Council.
The introduction of chirality into conjugated organic semiconductors can result in more sustainable electronic devices, such as more efficient OLED screens for smartphones or TVs, and bring new functionality to emerging technologies. An extraordinary recent discovery in chiral materials research has been the observation of the Chiral Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS) effect: spin-selective charge transport through chiral molecules. The spin control exhibited by chiral molecules could lead to the enhanced hydrogen production in water splitting and faster, more efficient devices, by enabling the combination of spin and charge (spintronics) in computer processors. However, the full technological potential of the CISS effect has yet to be realised, partly due to our limited understanding of the effect. I propose to untangle the different contributions to CISS for the first time by measuring how systematic variations of an electron’s chiral and spin environment impact a material’s spin filtering properties.
There are two possible projects and the successful candidate may decide to pursue either one of these or a combination of both. The projects are: 1) a synthetic organic project to develop the first general enantioselective synthesis of compounds called helicenes that possess a helically chiral – yet fully aromatic – backbone. This project will employ transition metal catalysis and provide training in reaction optimisation and methodology development. Project 2) is a highly interdisciplinary project to synthesise helicenes and use them to investigate the CISS effect. The helicenes will be prepared using a photochemical flow synthesis currently being developed by the Brandt group (DOI 10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-cgnhq ). While traditional, batch-based photochemical reactions can be difficult to scale, our preliminary results have shown robust helicene yields up to 9.8 mmol (79% yield). The synthesised materials will then be characterised in solution and the solid-state using advanced characterisation techniques that probe the photophysical and electronic properties (e.g. spin filtering, UV/vis, (magnetic) circular dichroism, cyclic voltammetry). The ideal candidate should have some experience in synthetic chemistry and be interested in exploring a highly interdisciplinary, collaborative, and dynamic field of scientific research.
Application Method:
To apply for this studentship and for entry on to the Chemistry programme (Full Time) please follow the instructions detailed on the following webpage:
https://www.qmul.ac.uk/spcs/phdresearch/application-process/#apply
Supervisor Contact Details:
For informal enquiries about this position, please contact Dr Jochen Brandt
E-mail: j.brandt@qmul.ac.uk
To apply for this studentship and for entry on to the PhD programme (Full Time) please follow the instructions detailed on the following webpage:
https://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/subjects/chemistry.html
Further Guidance: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/
Deadline for applications: 31st of January 2025
SPCS Academics: Dr Jochen Brandt