Huckaba, Aron

Research Group:

The Huckaba group will focus on three main research areas: Metal Dye Complexes, Organic Materials, and Small Molecule Activation Catalysis.

Metal Dye Complexes

Our planet has only one energy input: The sun. The Earth receives this energy through sunlight, and we should harvest as much of this energy as possible. Dyes are generally good at absorbing light, due to their molecular structure, and chelating dyes to metal atoms can lead to the formation of novel complexes with new and unusual reactivity patterns or physical properties. Using metal/dye complexes, the energy from visible light will be used to drive chemical reactions, forming fuels or fine chemicals.

Organic Materials

Organic materials lend our lives many conveniences, through wood and paper products, plastics, and even displays for TVs and tablets. In this line of research, organic materials will be designed and synthesized that self-assemble from solution into solids with useful properties such as charge conduction, selective sensing, or electricity generation.

Small Molecule Activation Catalysis

How best can we take molecules with relatively inert chemical bonds and use them as reliable reagents? Which conditions are required to most efficiently turn carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into bicarbonate, a food additive, or even carbonate, a natural mineral? Can we rationally design catalysts that select certain inert bonds over others in a complex molecule? We will seek answers to these questions and more in the field of small molecule transformation.

Tailored Intermolecular Interactions for Small Molecule Charge Conductors

As society’s demands for more lightweight power generation increases, more efforts are needed in developing organic molecules that can facilitate charge separation and transport in optoelectronic devices like photovoltaics, transistors, sensors, and light emitting diodes. Many approaches to date have relied on either heavy molecular doping of organic semiconductors to facilitate faster charge transport, rigid polyaromatic hydrocarbons with highly crystalline domains that facilitate charge transport, or conductive polymers that conduct charge through large continuous aromatic linkages. One area that hasn’t been explored enough are small molecules that preferentially self assemble into ordered films, due to non covalent interactions. This project will seek to design, develop, and apply novel small molecules capable of efficient charge conduction due to rationally designed synthon-controlled organization in thin films and crystalline materials. It is expected that these materials can result in higher charge conduction that conventional small molecule charge conductors, which will allow for the fabrication of higher efficiency optoelectronic devices. 

Personel:

Faculty, Aron Huckaba

Students:

Nandini Sarkar, Postdoc, Chemistry 09/10/2020

Brian Wilson, Graduate, Chemistry 9/10/2020

Alexander G Olivelli, Graduate, Chemistry 9/10/2020

Computational Methods:

DFT and TD-DFT

Software:

Gaussian09

Collaborators:

Chad Risko (UKy)

Grants:

Publications:

Patents: