THE GROWTH OF COVALENT ORGANIC FRAMEWORK THIN FILMS FROM FLOW, COVALENT ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS FOR UPCONVERSION, AND THIOL FUNCTIONALIZATION OF METAL DICHALCOGENIDES

Abstract

The study of organic chemistry has enabled remarkable control in the design of zerodimensional molecules and one-dimensional polymers. New methods to control polymerization and assembly in higher dimensions are now being demonstrated. Here we highlight the use of a new class of polymeric materials called covalent organic frameworks (COFs) to obtain and rationally design higher dimensional structures (Chapter 1). Traditional polymer syntheses, isolation, and processing technique are not often well suited or optimized for these materials yet. We investigate the advantages afforded the synthesis of these material as crystalline and oriented thin films on substrates from a flowed solution (Chapter 2). The ability to rationally-design these materials for specific applications is also investigated. We design and synthesize firstgeneration materials for photon upconversion in COFs and refine the design criteria for second generation material (Chapter 3). Lastly, we turn to the functionalization of the surface of single layers of 2D materials. While functionalization of interfaces is not a new field, the remarkable properties of single layer 2D materials has expanded the scope of this field to these fundamentally inert interfaces. New chemistry to functionalize these surfaces, specifically metal dichalcogenides, is considered (Chapter 4).