Organobismuth Copolymers as Tunable High Refractive Index Materials

The project establishes a robust collaboration between the PI Hyvl’s lab at University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) and the Genzer’s lab at North Carolina State University (NCSU). This research collaboration will investigate copolymerization of organic and organometallic monomers, generating knowledge about fundamental polymer science, exploring varied synthetic alternatives, and ascer-taining the properties of hitherto unknown copolymeric materials.

The preliminary results demonstrate that the bismuth metallopolymers have an unusually high refractive index. Refractive index is a dimensionless number describing the ability of light to travel through the material. High refractive indices in polymers are desirable for applications in optics.

The high refractive index and transparency of our materials ought to translate into anti-reflective coatings for visible light and near IR optics. This project will train one graduate student who will directly participate and get hands-on experience with polymer research both at UHM and NCSU. The fellowship will generate research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students in the area of polymer chemistry, augmenting the education of the next generation of scientists and engineers.

By collaborative partnering with local institutions, will provide opportunities for underrepresented Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students to do research in our group.

This RII Track-4 EPSCoR Research Fellows project will further PI Hyvl’s career and build research capacity at University of Hawaii (UHM) by strengthening a collaboration with the Genzer lab at North Carolina State University (NCSU). The research collaboration will investigate copolymerization of organic and organometallic monomers, generating knowledge about fundamental polymer science, exploring varied synthetic alternatives, and ascertaining the properties of hitherto unknown copolymeric materials.

The project leverages PI Hyvl’s synthetic expertise and the unique and premier polymer characterization expertise of the Genzer group at NCSU. The project has three main objectives. (i)The synthesis of bismuth-containing monomers, diaryl(4-vinylphenyl)bismuthane (aryl = phenyl or tolyl), to be carried out at the home's institution laboratory. (ii)Polymerization of prepared bismuth-containing monomers with styrene will afford the corresponding copolymers.

It is expected to examine a variety of different polymerization methods and techniques including radical and ionic polymerizations to preferably prepare random or at least pseudorandom copolymers. The synthesized copolymers will be characterized by common techniques (GPC and MALDI) present at the Host Institution. (iii)The prepared copolymers are to be deposited on glass or silicon wafer surfaces through spin-coating and transmittance and refractive indexes will be evaluated, including also evaluation of the monomer distribution in the copolymer.

The research outcomes will be published in peer-reviewed journals and will enhance extramural materials science funding opportunities. UHM will benefit by creation of a new research capacity and the creation of a new curriculum on polymer chemistry, the first of its kind in Hawai`i.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.