Posted Mar. 26/06

Making a plasma television involves coating a large glass display screen with a paste containing metal particles and polymer, exposing it to light through a mask to adhere the metal in the desired pattern, and then washing it clean to reveal the metal electrode grids that control the pixels we see as an image.

DuPont, the mass producer of such a polymer paste, believes that Carleton’s Zhi Yuan (Wayne) Wang can make it better.

The award-winning Chemistry professor and Canada Research Chair in Emerging Organic Materials develops organic and polymeric materials, in particular near infrared (NIR) active organic solids and polymers, for innovation in optoelectronic, photonic and communication technologies.

Wang is the 2006 winner of the Macromolecular Science and Engneering Award from the Chemical Institute of Canada. His research emphasizes both fundamental and applied aspects of organic materials.

“Designing molecules is done by theory and rationale. We design materials for the properties we want,” says Wang.

Wang and his research team are developing two types of materials: infrared active optical polymers, which have applications such as heat-reflection coating or converting sunlight into electricity; and processing compounds, used in the fabrication of electronics such as plasma televisions.

“Materials are enabling,” Wang says. “When you create a new family of materials, many uses can be found for it.”

Wang’s research has a potential impact on smart “optical” clothing, network security monitors, personal bio-sensors for rapid medical diagnostics, and affordable high-efficient plastic solar cells. Future fibre-optic communication systems could benefit from the non-linear optical material his team designed by combining nanometre-sized buckyballs (spherical molecules of carbon atoms) with a designed class of polymer. The hybrid material harnesses the power potential of a beam of light and could be used to relay signals around the global communications network with picosecond (one trillionth of a second) switching times, resulting in an Internet 100 times faster that it is today.

“I love the pursuit of something that is so elusive and unexpected,” says Wang of his research. “I share the excitement of discovery with my students, and in the longer term, see a benefit to society from my research.”

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