Chemistry Colloquium: Dr. Grace Han

The Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to welcome Dr. Grace Han, an Assistant Professor at Brandeis University.

Title: Design of organic photoswitches for optically-controlled phase transition and energy applications

Abstract

Phase transitions of materials between solid and liquid are widely utilized for thermal energy storage, via endothermic melting and exothermic crystallization processes that solely depend on the changing temperature of environment. Phase transitions that can be induced by different stimuli, orthogonal to temperature change, will allow for the active control over the energy storage time and energy release process, overcoming the limitations of the conventional phase change materials.

In this talk, design principles of optically-controllable phase change materials that incorporate organic photoswitches, ranging from azobenzenes to hydrazones, will be presented. Various photochromic core structures and functional groups have been explored to understand the structure-property relationship of the stimuli-responsive material systems. The application of photo-controlled phase transition in solar photon and thermal energy storage will be discussed.