The expertise group 'Design & Synthesis of Organic Semiconductors' (DSOS) focuses on the synthesis and characterization of organic semiconducting materials and their integration in optoelectronic devices and advanced healthcare applications.
We perform joint computational-experimental studies on donor-acceptor chromophores displaying thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA), room temperature phosphorescence (RTP), etc., for OLEDs and alternative applications.
We target novel NIR-absorbing materials for regular bulk heterojunction NIR-OPDs as well as organic cavity enhanced photodetectors, with the aim to elucidate the intrinsic limitations of NIR photodetection based on organic semiconductors (in the pursuit of a marketable technology).
Over the past 10 years, we have done a lot of work on organic/polymer solar cells. These organic thin-film photovoltaics have shown strong potential as an innovative source of renewable energy, adding appealing features to classical (silicon) solar cell technology.
Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have the ability to connect the soft and ionic world of biology with the hard and electronic world of solid-state semiconductor physics, which might revolutionize electronic healthcare (e.g. electrophysiology and brain-computer interfaces).
We have recently broadened our scope of activities to organic semiconducting materials for advanced healthcare, notably image-guided photodynamic therapy, for which we strongly collaborate with the NSI (Nanobiophysics and Soft matter Interfaces) group at imo-imomec.
We have a particular interest in the design, synthesis, and photophysics of porphyrinoid (push-pull porphyrins, corroles, …) and BODIPY materials, specifically in relation to organic electronics and advanced healthcare applications (e.g. photodynamic therapy).