The Fang Research Group

Fully conjugated ladder polymers, with rigid coplanar back-bone structures, have long extended conjugation lengths and strong intermolecular packing modes. These structural features lead to fast charge transport, long exciton diffusion length, and strong light absorption in the solid state. With proper process engineering, these polymers will be  excellent candidate as the active materials for polymer solar cells.

The large-scale synthesis of free standing, highly ordered two-dimensional polymers in solution relies on dynamic covalent chemistry. As an analogues of graphene or graphene oxide, this type of materials promises unique and superior electronic, optical and mechanical properties that are essential for the next-generation energy materials.

Three-dimensional polymer networks are promising candidates for energy storage applications as gas adsorbing materials or as supercapacitor electrodes. Their pore size will be optimized by tuning the molecular level architecture. Meanwhile, the electrical conductivity will be improved by ways of molecular doping and blending with nanostructures.