{"id":36362,"date":"2021-04-06T04:01:08","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T18:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aumanufacturing.com.au\/?p=36362"},"modified":"2021-04-05T10:20:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T00:50:51","slug":"synchrotron-reveals-ways-to-improve-electron-flow-in-polymers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aumanufacturing.com.au\/synchrotron-reveals-ways-to-improve-electron-flow-in-polymers","title":{"rendered":"Synchrotron reveals ways to improve electron flow in polymers"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s advanced X-ray techniques have revealed new structural details about the arrangement of atoms in conjugated polymers, an important class of materials that are used in LEDs, organic solar cells, transistors, sensors and thermoelectric power devices.<\/p>\n
The research, conducted at ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne, offers the possibility of making these solar and other technologies more efficient. <\/p>\n
Conjugated polymers are organic macromolecules with an unusual electronic structure, a backbone with alternating single and double bonds, which produces useful optical and electrical properties.<\/p>
The research, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (pictured), involves scientists from Monash University led by Professor Christopher McNeill, in association with American collaborators at Brookhaven National Laboratory.<\/p>\n
They demonstrated that resonant X-ray diffraction performed at X-ray energies that resonate with sulphur atoms in the polymer can discriminate between different types of packing structures in conjugated polymers.<\/p>\n
Instrument scientist Dr Lars Thomsen said near-edge absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy, performed on the Soft X-ray spectroscopy beamline at the Australian Synchrotron, provided spectroscopic information that was necessary for the analysis of the resonant diffraction data.<\/p>