Editorial www.acsami.org
Celebrating 50 Years of Organic Chemistry Applied Materials Research on the Occasion of Fred Wudl’s 75th Birthday
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More generally, I have tried to always design molecules that will have unusual properties in general, not only electronic properties”. Wudl’s spirit of adventure and instinct for mentoring the next generation of organic chemists is captured in the following account of what motivates him, “There is nothing more satisfying than the success of a research project. Another very satisfying moment is when serendipity completely changes the course of research to an even more exciting result than expected from the original goal. But ultimately, most satisfying, is to see one’s graduate students and post docs become very successful in their careers and to hope that, in a small way, their success was a result of their residence in one’s group.” Many of us can certainly attest to support and guidance that Fred Wudl has given us over the years, to the example he has provided, and to the contribution that he has made to our success. The Forum Advances toward Electronic Applications in Organic Materials consists of two reviews and seven forum articles. The first of the reviews by Markiewicz and Wudl discusses perylene, a particular type of graphene ribbon, its synthesis, and potential applications such as in OPVs, OLEDs, and OFETs. The second review by Li and Zhang reports recent developments in linearly fused azaacenes, focusing on applications beyond field effect transistors. In their forum article, Schanze and co-workers describe lightand dark-biocidal activity of two water-soluble poly(phenyleneethynylene) conjugated polyelectrolytes bearing cationic imidazolium solubilizing groups. This article is inspired by Wudl’s early work on the synthesis and properties of watersoluble conjugated polymers. Haddon et al. report the effects of e-beam evaporated lanthanide metals on the electronic properties of single-walled carbon nanotube films, inferring the nature of the bonding from these properties. The forum article by Voortman and Chiechi shows how to optimize the morphologies of films of conjugated polymers, showing how to design polymers that are both soluble and processable from water, by matching the solubility of the backbone chains to those of the pendant groups. Skabara et al. demonstrate an optimized copolymer p(DPP-TTF) based organic field effect transistor with high hole mobility and low hysteresis. They also prepare a photovoltaic device for the first time from a TTFcontaining polymer, achieving a PCA of 0.3%. Bryce et al. explore the synthesis of a new mCP-modified polysiloxane (PmCPSi), allowing them to fabricate by solution-processing efficient blue PhOLEDs using PmCPSi as the host and FIrpic as the emitter. Bao et al. investigate the effect of crystallographic orientation on exciton diffusion length in conjugated polymers, using a low-band gap polymer backbone motif and varying the orientation by changing the side groups. In a combined theoretical/spectroscopic study, Prato et al. explore the surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) in
nce a young boy fascinated by electricity and magnetism, Fred Wudl now inspires generations of chemists, engineers, and physicists through the beauty of organic chemistry. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces is delighted to dedicate a forum to Fred Wudl, the University of California at Santa Barbara’s pioneer of exotic organic materials, in celebration of his achievements in organic materials chemistry. Wudl is a Professor of Chemistry and Materials at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His current research interests include the optical and electro-optical properties of processable conjugated polymers, the organic chemistry of fullerenes, and the design and preparation of self-mending polymers. This Forum theme is entitled Advances toward Electronic Applications in Organic Materials. It centers on organic conjugated materials and encompasses the latest advances in the investigation of the relationship between synthesis, structure and optoelectronic properties. These properties have a direct bearing on applications in such areas as energy and charge transport, charge storage, sensing, and organic electronics in general. The Forum brings together contributions from some of the most dynamic research groups and highlights their efforts in advancing organic materials for use in optical and electronic applications. For nearly 50 years, Fred Wudl has successfully translated fundamental findings in carbon chemistry into useful technologies. Wudl has published more than 650 papers, has more than 46 000 citations, and an h-index of about 100, demonstrating the broad impact his work has had in the field of materials chemistry. He has received numerous accolades including the Southern California Section of the American Chemical Society’s Tolman Medal, UCLA’s Herbert Newby McCoy Award, the Italian Chemical Society’s Giulio Natta Medal, and the Spiers Memorial Award to mention a few. Wudl is particularly well-known for his work on organic conductors, where he discovered the electronic conductivity of the precursor to the first organic metal and superconductor. His fundamental research with conducting polymers resulted in the first transparent organic conductor and the first self-doped polymer. Wudl received his Bachelor of Science and doctorate degrees from the University of California at Los Angeles, where the late Nobel laureate Donald Cram oversaw his dissertation. After postdoctoral research at Harvard with Nobel laureate Robert B. Woodward, he joined the faculty of the State University of New York at Buffalo. He then moved to AT&T Bell Laboratories and subsequently to Santa Barbara in 1982. He moved to UCLA from 1997 to 2006 before returning to UCSB. In his free time, Wudl enjoys building and flying model airplanes, listening to classical music, and hiking. A biography of Wudl’s career was published in 2011.1 When asked about his aims as an organic chemist, Professor Wudl replied, “An aim of mine, even before I was done with my graduate training, was to imitate with organic molecules everything that electrons did in the inorganic solid-state world. That is, metals, semiconductors, and ferromagnets. © 2015 American Chemical Society
Published: December 30, 2015 27987
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b12017 ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2015, 7, 27987−27988
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Editorial
perylene derivatives, demonstrating their potential for multiplexing analysis, for biomedical applications. Taken together, these articles provide outstanding examples of work that has been inspired in many ways by the scientific leadership of Fred Wudl and his co-workers. We hope that the readership of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces enjoys reading this collection of articles.
Figure 1. Fred Wudl getting ready to make another oil bath in 1966.
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Alejandro L. Briseno, Forum Guest Editor Jonathan J. Mallett, Managing Editor Kirk S. Schanze, Editor in Chief AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
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REFERENCES
(1) Bendikov, M.; Martin, N.; Perepichka, D. F.; Prato, M. Fred Wudl. Discovering New Science Through Making New Molecules. J. Mater. Chem. 2011, 21, 1292−1294.
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DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b12017 ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2015, 7, 27987−27988
