Guest Speaker – Polymer/Materials (CHEM 721) – January 12, 2023

Bio
Barry C. Thompson earned a BS in Chemistry and Physics at the University of Rio Grande in Ohio (2000). He earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Florida (2005) working with Prof. John Reynolds as an NSF Fellow, focusing on the design and synthesis of conjugated polymers. Barry then moved to Prof. Jean Fréchet’s lab at UC Berkeley as an ACS-PRF Postdoctoral Fellow for three years (2005-2008). Barry then joined the University of Southern California, Department of Chemistry and Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute as an Assistant Professor in 2008. He was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in 2015 and to the rank of Full Professor in 2019. Barry has over 100 peer reviewed publications and over the years he has served on the editorial advisory boards of ACS Macro Letters, Macromolecules, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, and Advanced Science. He was also an editor for the fourth edition of the Handbook of Conducting Polymers (2019). Barry was named a USC Dornsife Science Transformation Fellow (2018-2020).

Abstract
Conjugated polymers have been the cornerstone of organic electronics, with applications in areas such as photovoltaics, field effect transistors, electrochromics, and batteries. Specifically, polymer based solar cells have generated significant attention due to the promise of a lightweight, flexible, and inexpensive solar energy conversion platform. However, a number of challenges are still apparent, including, accessibility, scalability and efficiency. Our related efforts have focused on novel, simplified polymer and device architectures and synthetic methods. Specifically, we have spent significant effort focusing on scalability and sustainability of conjugated polymer synthesis, which is best embodied in our work on Direct Arylation Polymerization (DArP), which is a C-H activation route to the synthesis of conjugated polymers. Additionally, efforts toward the development of novel non-conjugated electroactive polymers will be introduced where we focus on elucidating structure-function relationships and synthetic pathways for this promising materials class.