Contacts:
Supervisor(s):
Prof. Giuliano Siligardi (DLS, Didcot, UK), Prof. Lorenzo DI Bari (Università di Pisa, IT)
Title of the PhD project:
CD Imaging o chiral semi-conducting π-conjugated polymers
Abstract of the PhD project:
The project consists in surface scanning and complete ECD spectra recording on each pixel of thin films of π-conjugated chiral materials with the use of an apparatus built-up at B23 line of Diamond Light Source (CD imaging or CDi). I will contribute to the further development of this instrumentation and I will extend the analysis integrating a full B23 Mueller Matrix Polarimeter (MMP). I will also work on the synthesis and preparation of thin films of chiral organic semiconductors. I will design and synthetize chiral aromatic monomers, which will be used for building oligo- or polymeric organic semiconductors. I shall study their supramolecular structure and their organization into the thin films by means of the CDi and localized MMP analysis. I shall pursue the synthesis of luminescent systems, which do not give rise to aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) that is a common effect with organic chromophores. Preserving emission in the solid state will be of prime importance, as well as preparing homogeneous and well-organised chiral supramolecular structure generating spectra of the highest CD intensity magnitude. Successful materials will be evaluated for the fabrication of CP-OLED in collaboration with the other units of the HEL4CHIROLED consortium. The emission spectrum can be modulated to some extent by choosing co-monomers and appropriate substituents. I shall study in-depth all these aspects, with the aid of computational methods, and of a combination of optical techniques (fluorescence, ECD, CPL), microscopy (POM, EM, AFM) and of scattering and diffractometric methods in collaboration with the Technical University of Eindhoven (NL).
Publications:
• F. Zinna, G. Albano, A. Taddeucci, T. Colli, L. A. Aronica, G. Pescitelli, L. Di Bari, “Emergent Nonreciprocal Circularly Polarized Emission from an Organic Thin Film”, Advanced Materials, vol. 32, 2002575, 2020.
• A. Taddeucci, F. Zinna, G. Siligardi, L. Di Bari, “Circularly Polarized Microscopy of Thin Films of Chiral Organic Dyes”, vol. 1, pp. 471-478, 2023.
• G. Albano, F. Zinna, A. Taddeucci, M. A. M. Capozzi, G. Pescitelli, A. Punzi, L. Di Bari, G. M. Farinola, “Chiral Diketopyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,2,3-1H-triazole Dyes with Highly Tuneable Properties in Solution and Thin Films”, Chemistry – A European Journal, vol. 29, e202300291, 2023.
• G. Albano, A. Taddeucci, G. Pescitelli, L. Di Bari, “Spatially Resolved Chiroptical Spectroscopies Emphasizing Recent Applications to Thin Films of Chiral Organic Dyes”, Chemistry – A European Journal, e202301982, 2023.
Oral communications at conferences:
• A. Taddeucci, L. Di Bari, G. Siligardi, M. J. Fuchter, F. Furlan, “A novel Binaphthol derivative as CHirality Inducer in Thin Film”, Chiritaly 2022 (national conference), Matera (Italy), 19th-21st September 2022.
• A. Taddeucci, F. Zinna, G. Pescitelli, L. A. Aronica, G. Siligardi, L. Di Bari, “Electronic Circular Dichroism Imaging (ECD) of Chiral π-conjugated Materials in Thin Film”, Chemistry For the Future 2023 (CFF2023, international conference), Pisa (Italy), 28th-30th June 2023.
• A. Taddeucci, F. Zinna, G. Siligardi, L. Di Bari, “Circularly Polarized Microscopy of Thin Films of Chiral Organic Dyes”, Chirality 2023 (international conference), Rome (Italy), 24th-27th July 2023.
Poster communications at conferences:
• A. Taddeucci, F. Zinna, G. Pescitelli, G. Siligardi, L. Di Bari, “Imaging spectroscopies on thin films of chiral π-conjugated materials”, Chemistry For the Future 2021 (CFF2021, international conference), Virtual meeting, 30th June – 2nd July 2021.
• A. Taddeucci, G. Siligardi, L. DI Bari, F. Zinna, G. Pescitelli, “Circular Dichroism Imaging of Novel Chiral Organic Dyes in Thin Film using Diamond Light Source B23 highly collimated Synchrotron Radiation”, Chemistry For the Future 2022 (CFF2022, international conference), Pisa (Italy), 29th June – 1st July 2022.
• A. Taddeucci, F. Zinna, G. Pescitelli, L. A. Aronica, G. Siligardi, L. Di Bari, “Circular Dichroism Imaging of Novel Chiral Organic Dyes in Thin Film using Diamond Light Source B23 highly collimated Synchrotron Radiation”, CD2022 (international conference), New York (USA), 24th-27th July 2022.
• A. Taddeucci, F. Zinna, G. Pescitelli, G. Siligardi, L. Di Bari, “Electronic Circular Dichroism Imaging of Chiral π-conjugated Materials in Thin Film”, CD2023 (international conference), Hiroshima (Japan), 17th-21st September 2023.
• A. Taddeucci, F. Zinna, L. A. Aronica, G. Pescitelli, G. Siligardi, L. Di Bari, “Chiral 9H-fluorene-based systems with nonreciprocal ECD properties arising from local ordering in thin film”, Chirality at the Nanoscale 2023 (international conference), Angers (France), 1st-5th October 2023.
Other achievements:
• Poster prize at CD2022 International conference held in New York (USA, 24th-27th July 2022) for the poster entitled “Circular Dichroism Imaging of Novel Chiral Organic Dyes in Thin Film using Diamond Light Source B23 highly collimated Synchrotron Radiation”.
