{"id":49853,"date":"2025-07-30T12:26:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T16:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/materials\/?post_type=news&p=49853"},"modified":"2025-07-30T13:22:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T17:22:33","slug":"stringing-together-small-switches","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/materials\/news\/stringing-together-small-switches\/","title":{"rendered":"Stringing Together Small Switches"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johns Hopkins scientists have enhanced plastic materials used with devices like wind turbines and solar panels by adding a small molecule to their composition. Their results, described in the <\/span>Journal of Applied Physics<\/i><\/span><\/a>,<\/i><\/span> could lead to better energy storage in these renewable energy systems. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Traditional semiconductor switches are made out of silicon<\/span>, but we found that polymer-based switches can store electricity more effectively,\u201d said study co-author <\/span>Howard Katz<\/span><\/a>, professor of <\/span>materials science and engineering<\/span><\/a> at the Whiting School of Engineering. \u201cOur key innovation was adding a specific molecule that resembles the original polymer, but is much smaller and purer. Think of it like adding a more specific ingredient to a recipe\u2014one small refinement changes how the whole material behaves electronically.\u201d<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team\u2019s approach was based on previous observations, according to co-author Chen Chi, a doctoral candidate in materials science.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn this project, we wanted to improve these devices by adjusting their form. We saw that separate transistors with the polymer and the polymer molecule worked well and theorized that combining the polymer with the molecule would improve charge storage in the transistors,\u201d Chi said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Under Katz\u2019s guidance, Chi made an individual polymer segment called BTTT and mixed it with Polymer-BTTT to test this theory. Using x-ray diffraction, he found that the mixture formed clumps on the surface with a less <\/span>dense crystal structure than a pure polymer. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The mixture BTTT has a larger number of small molecules and produces more grain-like structures than the material with the long polymer chains, which is a difference that had not been reported before and suggests that the electronic properties\u2014how electricity flows through a material\u2014would be different with these materials,\u201d says Katz. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To test if BTTT would retain electricity differently than Polymer-BTTT, <\/span>the team repeatedly applied voltage to each mixture. They found that the BTTT mixture has <\/span>an increased ability to trap electrical charges when the materials were used in transistor insulators and electrical energy storing devices, called capacitors.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe think this reaction is due to the molecules clustering together to hold a charge,\u201d says Chi.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers will next focus on characterizing the crystal structures formed in the polymer mixture.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to conduct advanced probing methods to recognize what these clumps are so we can pinpoint why this mixture holds electric voltage so well. We also plan to continue making these polymer molecule combinations in OFETs with different polymers to see which is the best at retaining energy,\u201d says Katz.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Katz and Chi worked on this project with collaborators from the departments of Chemistry and Physics and Astronomy at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. This research was supported by <\/span>United States Department of Energy, Office of Science<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>Office of Naval Research<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-49853","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStringing Together Small Switches - Department of Materials Science & Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/materials\/news\/stringing-together-small-switches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stringing Together Small Switches - Department of Materials Science & Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Johns Hopkins scientists have enhanced plastic materials used with devices like wind turbines and solar panels by adding a small molecule to their composition. 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