Dr Ahmed Iraqi
MRSC, CChem
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Reader in Polymer Chemistry
+44 114 222 9566
Full contact details
School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Dainton Building
13 Brook Hill
91直播
S3 7HF
- Profile
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Dr. Iraqi obtained his BSc from the University of Fes (Morocco) in 1984. This was followed by an MSc in Chemistry from University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse in 1985 and a PhD from the same institution in 1988. Until 1996 he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of St Andrews, when he became a Lecturer at Lancaster University. In 2000 he was appointed Lecturer at the University of 91直播, where he was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2009 and Reader in 2013.
- Qualifications
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MRSC, CHem
- Research interests
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Research in the area of organic conjugated polymers has developed rapidly over the last few years in view of their potential applications in electronic devices. Our research objectives are toward the design, synthesis and exploitation of the unique physical properties of these materials, in the fields of light emitting diodes, sloar cells and field effect transistors. Themes of the research programme include:
Design and development of conjugated polymers for application in displays: Considerable research efforts are devoted to develop new highly fluorescent blue light emitting polymers. Such materials are required for efficient emission in the blue part of the electromagnetic spectrum and also as energy-transfer donors and hosts for lower band gap fluorophores and phosphorescent dyes in an effort to enable the use of both singlet and triplet excitons in the radiative decay process.
Polyfluorenes have attracted a lot of interest in this area and great advances have been achieved with these materials, however, polyfluorenes suffer from luck of stability of blue light emission in devices which compromises their use. We are interested in developing alternative materials for application in this area.
Carbazole-based polymers such as poly(vinylcarbazole) (PVK) are widely used as hole-transporting materials, as well as wide band gap hosts to various fluorophores. However, PVK is a saturated main-chain polymer and alternative main-chain conjugated polymers are required. In our group we are developing a range of 2,7-linked and 3,6-linked carbazole main-chain conjugated polymers for application in this area.
Special attention is given to 2,7-linked carbazole polymers and copolymers whose physical properties can be tailored by judicious choice of either the co-monomers used in these carbazole based materials or the nature of substituents at the 3,6-positions as well as the 9-positions of carbazole repeat units.
Design and development of conjugated polymers for application in solar cells: There is at the moment a great deal of research interest in the development of new sources of renewable energy. Photovoltaic (PV) cells offer an attractive alternative in this area; however, the cost of the current technology based on single or polycrystalline silicon PV cells is the primary limiting factor for this technology. Polymer solar cells based on blends of conjugated polymer donors and molecular acceptors (often referred to as bulk heterojunction solar cells) are attracting a great deal of interest.
These systems have potential technological value due to their ease of fabrication and their relatively low production costs. Efficient harvesting of solar energy requires the development of polymers with high absorption coefficients and extended absorption spectra in order to enable photocurrent generation from lower-energy photons. This in turn will require low band gap polymers that absorb at wavelengths extending in the near-IR region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Our work in this area involves the development of new low band gap conjugated polymers that are able to absorb a wider portion of solar light than established polymers used in this area like poly(3-hexylthiophene)s. We are at present developing a range of low band gap donor/acceptor carbazole based conjugated copolymers for application in this area.
Other areas of investigation involve the synthesis and characterisation of a wide range of tractable functionalised regioregular polythiophenes by post-modification of preformed precursor polymers. Structurally homogeneous precursor polymers poly(3-(omega-bromoalkyl)thiophene)s are made with full regioregular control and further functionalised by covalent binding with desired functional groups.
This synthetic approach allows obtainment of tractable redox active functionalised polythiophenes that are easily characterised by conventional analytical techniques as opposed to similar materials obtained using different polymerisation methods. The physical properties of these materials (photovoltaic and electrocatalytic activity) are being investigated.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- . International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 67, 33-41.
- . Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 34(32).
- . Tetrahedron, 133416-133416.
- . Polymers, 14(19).
- . Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 14(9).
- . Applied Sciences, 11(11), 4866.
- . Polymers, 13(1).
- . Polymers, 13(1).
- . Polymers, 12(12).
- . Coatings, 10(12).
- . Polymers, 12(12).
- . Coatings, 10(11).
- . Polymers, 12(11).
- . Journal of Surface Investigation: X-ray, Synchrotron and Neutron Techniques, 14(S1), S60-S68.
- . Journal of Materials Chemistry A.
- . Advanced Energy Materials, 8(24).
- . Nano Energy, 45, 28-36.
- . Nano Energy, 44, 155-163.
- Synthesis of the conjugated polymer with Fluoronated carbazole donor and benzothiadiazole acceptor linked through thienothiophene. ASM Science Journal, 11(Special Issue 2), 253-262.
- Preparation and properties of fluorene-based thienothiophene substituted benzothiadiazole copolymer for the application of polymeric solar cells. Malaysian Journal of Chemistry, 20(1), 24-32.
- . Scientific Reports, 7.
- . Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 4(45), 10722-10730.
- . European Polymer Journal, 85, 225-235.
- . Polymers for Advanced Technologies.
- . International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 5111-5127.
- . Polymers for Advanced Technologies, 27(4), 525-531.
- . Materials, 9(4), 235-235.
- . Scientific Reports, 6(1).
- . New Journal of Chemistry, 40(2), 1655-1662.
- . Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, 54(2), 216-224.
- Synthesis of carbazole based co-polymers containing thienothiophene and benzothiadiazole units in a direct arylation scheme. Polymers and Polymer Composites, 24(9), 703-710.
- Thienothiophene units properties on the carbazole-based polymers for organic solar cell devices. Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, 19(6), 1205-1217.
- . APL Materials, 3(12).
- . Organic Electronics, 27, 266-273.
- . Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 140, 25-32.
- . Organic Electronics, 21, 216-222.
- . Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 3(16), 4007-4015.
- . Applied Physics Letters, 106(7), 073301-073301.
- . RSC Adv., 5(57), 46386-46394.
- . Sci Rep, 4, 5286.
- . Applied Physics Letters, 105(22), 223302-223302.
- Synthesis and properties of alternating vinylene-benzothiadiazole-based copolymers with carbazole and fluorene derivatives for photovoltaic applications. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 9(4), 1920-1941.
- . Advanced Functional Materials.
- . Macromol Rapid Commun, 34(14), 1157-1162.
- . Applied Physics Letters, 102(18).
- . Advanced Energy Materials.
- . Advanced Energy Materials, 3(4), 410-410.
- . Advanced Energy Materials, 3(4), 505-512.
- Synthesis and physical properties of a "double-cable" polymer for photovoltaic applications. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 8(4), 5575-5593.
- . Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 1, 5165-5171.
- . Chem Commun (Camb), 49(22), 2252-2254.
- . Eur Phys J E Soft Matter, 35(12), 9807.
- . J Phys Chem A, 116(39), 9730-9738.
- . Advanced Functional Materials, 22(7), 1321-1321.
- . Advanced Functional Materials, 22(7), 1399-1408.
- . Organic Electronics, 13(8), 1401-1408.
- . Adv. Energy Mater., 1(4), 499-504.
- . Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, 212(11), 1129-1136.
- A regioregular head to tail thiophene based "double-cable" polymer with pendant anthraquinone functional groups: Preparation, spectroscopy and photovoltaic properties. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells.
- . Journal of Materials Chemistry, 21(3), 851-862.
- . J MATER CHEM, 20(33), 6990-6997.
- . J MATER SCI, 44(12), 3172-3178.
- . THIN SOLID FILMS, 517(9), 2840-2844.
- . J Chem Phys, 130(4), 044903.
- . MACROMOL RAPID COMM, 29(22), 1804-1809.
- . POLYM ADVAN TECHNOL, 19(4), 299-307.
- . ADV FUNCT MATER, 18(4), 600-606.
- . MOL CRYST LIQ CRYST, 497, 461-473.
- . J POLYM SCI POL CHEM, 45(24), 5957-5967.
- . MACROMOL RAPID COMM, 28(10), 1155-1160.
- . CHEM MATER, 18(24), 5789-5797.
- . POLYM INT, 55(7), 780-783.
- . J POLYM SCI POL CHEM, 44(10), 3336-3342.
- . CHEM MATER, 18(4), 1007-1015.
- . REACT FUNCT POLYM, 66(1), 195-200.
- . J POLYM SCI POL CHEM, 42(23), 6041-6051.
- . CHEM MATER, 16(3), 442-448.
- Covalent binding of redox active centres to preformed regioregular polythiophenes. J MATER CHEM, 8(1), 31-36.
- Synthesis and characterisation of telechelic regioregular head-to-tail poly(3-alkylthiophenes). J MATER CHEM, 8(1), 25-29.
- SYNTHESIS, SPECTROELECTROCHEMISTRY AND THERMOCHROMISM OF REGIOREGULAR HEAD-TO-TAIL OLIGO-[3-ARYLOXYHEXYLTHIOPHENES] AND POLY-[3-ARYLOXYHEXYLTHIOPHENES]. J MATER CHEM, 5(11), 1831-1836.
- AMINOXYL FUNCTIONALIZED POLYTHIOPHENE - SYNTHESIS AND ELECTROCHEMICAL APPLICATIONS. J MATER CHEM, 5(9), 1291-1295.
- POLYRADICALS - SYNTHESIS, SPECTROSCOPY, AND CATALYSIS. CHEM SOC REV, 23(3), 147-153.
- PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THIENONAPHTHOQUINONES AND THEIR RADICAL IONS. J CHEM SOC PERK T 2(9), 1589-1595.
- . Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals Science and Technology. Section A. Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, 236(1), 231-235.
- ANALYSIS OF THE COMPOSITION OF POLYCARBOXYLIC ACIDS OBTAINED BY CATALYTIC HYDROCARBOXYLATION OF POLYBUTADIENES. J MATER CHEM, 2(11), 1149-1154.
- CATALYTIC HYDROSILATION OF POLYBUTADIENES AS A ROUTE TO FUNCTIONAL POLYMERS. J MATER CHEM, 2(10), 1057-1064.
- PREPARATION AND REACTIVITY OF POLYEPOXIDES AND POLYKETONES - CATALYTIC-OXIDATION OF POLYBUTADIENES. J MATER CHEM, 2(2), 183-190.
- POLYMER-BOUND LIGANDS AND METAL-COMPLEXES VIA CATALYZED-REACTIONS OF POLYBUTADIENES. J CHEM SOC CHEM COMM(24), 1767-1769.
- HYDROGENATION OF ACRYLIC ACIDS CATALYZED BY COMPLEXES OF RHODIUM(I) CONTAINING MIXED ANHYDRIDES OF ACRYLIC AND DIPHENYLPHOSPHINOUS ACIDS. J CHEM SOC DALTON(8), 1929-1935.
- POLYKETONES VIA OXIDATION OF POLYBUTADIENES CATALYZED BY COMPLEXES OF PLATINUM(II). POLYHEDRON, 10(9), 993-995.
- . ChemInform, 21(14).
- LINKAGE ISOMERISM IN RHODIUM(I) COMPLEXES OF MIXED ANHYDRIDES OF DIPHENYLPHOSPHINOUS AND ACRYLIC ACIDS - CRYSTAL AND MOLECULAR-STRUCTURE OF [RHCL(PPH3)(PH2PO2CCH=CHME)]. J CHEM SOC DALTON(1), 29-34.
- A HIGH-ACTIVITY MOLYBDENUM CONTAINING EPOXIDATION CATALYST AND ITS USE IN REGIOSELECTIVE EPOXIDATION OF POLYBUTADIENE. J CHEM SOC CHEM COMM(21), 1688-1690.
- CHARACTERIZATION AND CATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF BIMETALLIC CATIONIC RHODIUM-TITANIUM AND RHODIUM-ZIRCONIUM COMPLEXES. J ORGANOMET CHEM, 353(1), 45-52.
- A SEMIBRIDGING HYDRIDO ZIRCONIUM RHODIUM COMPLEX - A POSSIBLE WAY TO CATALYTIC HYDROGEN TRANSFER ON D0-D8 SYSTEMS. ORGANOMETALLICS, 6(6), 1197-1201.
- . ChemInform, 18(3).
- A ZIRCONIUM-RHODIUM HYDRIDO COMPLEX, CP2ZR(CH2PPH2)2RHH(PPH3), AS CATALYST FOR THE HYDROFORMYLATION OF 1-HEXENE. J ORGANOMET CHEM, 311(3), C60-C62.
- . Scientific Reports, 14(1).
- . Journal of Applied Polymer Science.
- . Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part B, 1-12.
- . Polymers, 15(1), 164-164.
- . Advanced Science, 2200366-2200366.
- . International Journal of Electrochemical Science, ArticleID:21125-ArticleID:21125.
- . Physical Science International Journal, 10(2), 1-8.
- . RSC Advances, 5(123), 101607-101615.
- . RSC Adv., 4(81), 43142-43149.
- . ChemInform, 25(47), no-no.
- . ChemInform, 24(51), no-no.
- . ChemInform, 22(45), no-no.
- . Journal of Saudi Chemical Society.
- . Journal of Materials Chemistry.
Conference proceedings papers
- Preparation of poly(9-alkylcarbazole-3,6-diyl)s via palladium catalysed cross-coupling reactions. SYNTHETIC METALS, Vol. 119(1-3) (pp 159-160)
- Synthesis, characterisation and study of photoluminescent properties of head to tail poly(3-pentoxythiophene), poly(3-cyclohexylthiophene) and mixed alkoxy cyclohexyl 3-substituted polythiophenes. SYNTHETIC METALS, Vol. 102(1-3) (pp 1220-1221)
- New synthetic routes to polyacenes. SYNTHETIC METALS, Vol. 101(1-3) (pp 100-101)
- Functionalization of poly(p-phenylenevinylene) polymers with pendant nitroxide groups. SYNTHETIC METALS, Vol. 84(1-3) (pp 333-334)
- Synthesis of methacrylate and silicone polymers with pendant thiophene groups. SYNTHETIC METALS, Vol. 84(1-3) (pp 377-378)
- Synthesis of thiophene substituted ruthenium and rhenium bipyridyl complexes.. SYNTHETIC METALS, Vol. 84(1-3) (pp 441-442)
- POLYRADICALS - SYNTHETIC STRATEGIES AND CHARACTERIZATION. SYNTHETIC METALS, Vol. 55(2-3) (pp 867-872)
- POLYRADICALS - SYNTHETIC STRATEGIES AND CHARACTERIZATION. MOLECULAR CRYSTALS AND LIQUID CRYSTALS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SECTION A-MOLECULAR CRYSTALS AND LIQUID CRYSTALS, Vol. 234 (pp 771-775)
Patents
- Manufacture of 2,7-disubstituted carbazoles, their oligomers or polymers and use in electronic devices as semiconductor films.. Brit. UK Pat. Appl. (2003), GB 2383036 A 20030618 Appl. 01 Jan 1970.
Preprints
- Teaching interests
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Polymer Chemistry; Organometallic Chemistry.
- Teaching activities
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Undergraduate and postgraduate taught modules
- Chemistry and the World Around Us (Level 1): The Chemistry Behind Things that Glow
Introducing some simple chemical principles of familiar aspects of the world around us which we often take for granted and to highlight the significance of chemistry to everyday life, society, and the future of our planet. - Group Theory in Chemistry (Level 2)
This course introduces group theory in chemistry, and applies it to the analysis of molecular orbital diagrams and to determining the stretching vibrations in simple molecules. - Main Group Chemistry 2 (Level 2)
This lecture course expands upon and introduces more of the wonderful and varied chemistry of the main group elements. - New Materials (Level 4)
This course gives an overview of the design, preparation and uses of organic conjugated polymers and oligomers in the electronics industry and focuses on the factors governing their physical properties and their structure-property relationship in electronic device applications. - Smart Polymers and Polymeric Materials (Postgraduate level)
- This module focuses on the syntheses, structures, behaviours of polymers and polymeric materials that are responsive to external stimuli such as heat, light, electric potential, pH and ionic strength.
Support Teaching:
- Tutorials: Level 2 Organic Chemistry.
- Skills for Success: Databases Project.
- Level 3 Literature Review
Laboratory Teaching:
- MSc Laboratories
- Level 4 Research Project
- Chemistry and the World Around Us (Level 1): The Chemistry Behind Things that Glow