Welcome to USTALAB Research where we master chemistry to engineer modern functional materials for (opto)electronics and nanotechnology
Organic materials have long been considered as efficient electrical insulators due to their poor electronic properties. Until very recently, they have been mostly utilized in non-electronic applications such as packaging, textile, and manufacturing as a natural outcome of their advantageous synthesis with unprecedented structural versatility and advantageous mechanical-physical properties over inorganics, metals, and ceramics. Today, It is almost impossible to find an aspect of our lives that is not affected by organics. The idea of using organic materials in microelectronics was first demonstrated in the mid-1970s. The discovery was based on a simple experiment of doping polyacetylene with iodine, which resulted in a tremendous increase in its electrical conductivity, making it close to those of metals. Following these initial experiments, functional organic materials have attracted significant attention over the last three decades as electro-active materials for the development of printable and flexible electronic devices, low-power flexible displays/electronic papers, wearable electronics, printable sensors, and flexible solar panels.
Our research is focused on the theoretical design and synthetic development of new organic molecular, macromolecular, and polymeric π-conjugated materials for new-generation (opto)electronic devices and nanotechnology applications. In particular, we are interested in p-/n-/ambipolar semiconductors, low band gap donor-acceptor polymers, low-LUMO π-systems, hot-exciton fluorescent molecules, green-solvents soluble high-performance semiconductors, semiconductors with scalable synthesis, and thermally responsive molecules. The nano-/micro-structures formed by these organic materials in thin-films lead to organic surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (o-SERS), thin-film transistors (OTFTs), photovoltaics (OPVs), light-emitting diodes/transistors (OLEDs and OLETs), and multiplex encoded surfaces (physically unclonable functions-PUFs).
Research Grants
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Tübitak-2247A Grant | 121C261 | Role: Principal Investigator | Budget: 2,162,600 TL (⁓$175,000 as of 2022) | 2022-2025 “A novel molecular engineering approach for high performance OFETs: high solubility and green solvent processable organic semiconductors and their gram-scale synthesis” Tübitak-1001 Grant | 122F215 | Role: Co-Principal Investigator | Budget: 710,000 TL (⁓$55,000 as of 2022) | 2022-2024 “Unclonable surfaces based on organic π-conjugated molecular crystals” Tübitak-1001 Grant | 119F153 | Role: Principal Investigator | Budget: 746,000 TL (⁓$150,000 as of 2019) | 2019-2022 “The design and synthesis of meso-heteroaromatic BODIPYs-based donor-acceptor copolymers and BHJ-OPV applications” Tübitak-NRF (South Korea) 2523 Bilateral Grant | 216M430 | Role: Principal Investigator | Budget: 552,940 TL (⁓$160,000 as of 2017) | 2017-2019 “Benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (BTBT)-based n-type/ambipolar molecular semiconductors for high-mobility OFETs” Tübitak-1001 Grant | 117F468 | Role: Co-Principal Investigator | Budget: 321,750 TL (⁓$92,000 as of 2018) | 2018-2020 “Micro- and nano-structured organic films for SERS applications” Tübitak-1007 Grant | 113G035 | Role: Work-package leader | Budget: 10.690.000 TL (⁓$4,700,000 as of 2015) | 2015-2021 “The development of 320×240 pixel RGB AMOLED avionic displays” Tübitak-1001 Grant | 114M226 | Role: Principal Investigator | Budget: 357,016 TL (⁓$180,000 as of 2014) | 2014-2017 “Boron-based high-performance organic semiconductors and organic thin-film transistor applications” AGU-Startup Grant | Role: Principal Investigator | Budget: 150,000 TL (⁓$75,000 as of 2013) TÜBA/Science Academy Grants | GEBİP-2015/BAGEP-2014 | Role: Principal Investigator | Budget: 80,000 TL (⁓$34,000 as of 2014) | 2014-2017 Tübitak-2232 Career Reintegration Grant | 113C021| Role: Principal Investigator | Budget: 133,000 TL (⁓$50,000 as of 2013) | 2013-2015 “Organic Optoelectronic Materials and Devices" |
Scientific Collaborations
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Prof. Antonio Facchetti |Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Prof. George C. Schatz |Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Prof. Gökhan Demirel |Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey Prof. Choongik Kim |Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea Prof. Myung-Gil Kim |Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea Prof. Bumjoon Kim |KAIST, Daejeon, South Korea Dr. Michele Muccini / Dr. Stefano Toffanin / Dr. Mario Prosa |Institute of Nanostructured Materials-National Research Council (ISMN-CNR), Bologna, Italy Prof. Fahri Alkan |Abdullah Gül University, Kayseri, Turkey Prof. Evren Mutlugün |Abdullah Gül University, Kayseri, Turkey Prof. Serdar Önses |Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey Prof. Bünyemin Çoşut |Gebze Technical University, Gebze, Turkey Prof. Yunus Zorlu |Gebze Technical University, Gebze, Turkey Prof. Viviana Figà |Istituto Euro-Mediterraneo di Scienza e Tecnologia, Palermo, Italy Dr. Salih Dabak / Dr. Emine Tekin |Tubitak-MAM, Optoelectronics Research Group, Gebze, Turkey |