Design, Synthesis and Processing of Bio-Inspired Soft Materials: Toward New Optoelectronic Devices

The research work carried out during my PhD course has been focused on the following two main topics: 1) The design, synthesis and characterization of new nature-inspired organic electroluminescent emitters and their application in opto-electronic devices. This work will be discussed in the SECTION 1. 2) The design, synthesis and properties of eumelanin-based semiconductors and their applications in electronic devices. This work will be discussed in the SECTION 2. The research activity discussed in SECTION 1 will concern the design, the synthesis and the characterization of new nature-inspired organic electroluminescent emitters and their applications in opto-electronic devices. In details, the following points will be stressed: - the identification of suitable nature-inspired heterocyclic platforms that can be used to develop new electroluminescent materials for opto-electronic applications; - the design of structural modifications of natural compounds for a better match with organic electronics requirements by exploiting the theoretical approach; - the development of new rapid and convenient synthetic strategies for a gram scale production of the organic emitters; - the structural, photo-physical, electronic and thermal characterization of the synthesized compounds along with the investigation of the performances of the opto-electronic devices thereof. The research activity described in SECTION 2 has been devoted to the design, synthesis, processing and properties of eumelanin-based semiconductors and their applications in electronic devices, with the aim of throwing new light onto this controversial issue. In details, the following points will be stressed: - the identification of suitable approaches for a more easy processing of melanin thin films; - the investigation of the factors influencing the conductivity of melanin thin films; - the study of the possible role of melanin thin films as innovative bio-interface.