Souto
Research themes
Electroactive Molecular Materials (ElectroMolMat)
ERC-StG ELECTROCOFS: Molecular Design of Electrically Conductive Covalent Organic Frameworks as Efficient Electrodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries
Main researcher(s)
Group members
| Escamilla Berenguer, Paula Sara |
Postdoctoral Researcher |
|
| Esclance DMello, Marilyn |
Postdoctoral Researcher |
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| Faria Mendes, Ricardo |
Postdoctoral Researcher |
|
| Mal, Arindam |
Postdoctoral Researcher |
|
| Caroni, Jonathan |
PhD Candidate |
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| Fekecs, Fanni |
PhD Candidate |
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| Zhang, Tianshu |
PhD Candidate |
Research
We are a young and dynamic research group focused on the discovery of new electroactive molecular materials combining synthetic organic chemistry, physical chemistry and materials science. Our research encompasses the design, synthesis and characterization of electroactive organic/hybrid molecules/polymers as well as the study of their electrical, optical and magnetic properties. We also deal with the fabrication of molecular-based devices towards applications in electronics and energy storage. We have a strong cooperative spirit maintaining collaborations with groups from different parts of the world.
Electroactive organic building blocks
Our research encompasses the design and synthesis of novel electroactive organic building blocks exhibiting tunable physical properties such as electrical conductivity, redox activity, luminescence or magnetism. A considerable amount of our work consists of synthetic organic chemistry and the characterization of organic molecules by multiple spectroscopic techniques.
Electroactive organic/hybrid polymers
Some electroactive organic molecules are employed as building blocks for the construction of functional porous polymers such as Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) or Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) exhibiting multiple functions and electronic properties (Chem.Eur.J. 2020, 26, 10912). We pay special attention to the physical properties of these materials such as electronic/ionic conductivity, redox activity, porosity and chemical/thermal stability.
Molecular-based devices:
We also manufacture different devices using targeted electroactive organic molecules or polymers as active components towards applications in energy storage or electronics. We carry out the whole process of battery manufacturing (including cathode preparation and coin cell assembly). We also optimize the processing of molecular materials to improve the performance of the resulting electronic devices.
