Associate Professor
B.S., Yale University; M.A., Columbia University; Ph.D.,
Mass. Inst. Tech. AT&T Bell Laboratories Postdoctoral
Fellow, Bell Labs.
Inorganic Chemistry
Chemistry of materials; in-situ polymerization fabrication of inorganic/organic composites; inorganic polymer chemistry; optical and conductive materials via organometallic routes.
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Principal Research Interests
Materials chemistry, particularly the synthetic interface between solid state,
organometallic, and polymer chemistry, is the major focus of my research. Achieving not only better control of the composition and morphology of new materials, but also the controlled assembly of molecular species into organized arrays, is a primary goal. Such control should allow the construction of well-defined surface or aggregate morphologies and the construction of multicomponent films with controlled and anisotropic electronic, magnetic, or optical properties.
Our current research emphasis includes:
1) the synthesis of inorganic-backbone network polymers with interesting optical and electronic properties, and as precursors to ceramic films,
2) surface imaging, or the functionalization of ceramic surfaces with monolayers and covalently grafted, patterned polymer layers,
3) synthetic analogues of biomineralization, in which organized inorganic/organic composites with unusual optical or structural properties are synthesized by a biomimetic in situ process, and
4) the design of tailored organometallic catalysts for the polymerization of electron-deficient olefins to give new polymers and copolymers.
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| Representative Publications
“Smooth Continuous Films of Stoichiometric Silicon Carbide from Polymethylsilyne,” M.W. Pitcher, S.J. Joray and P.A. Bianconi, Advanced Materials 16 (8), 706-709 (2005).
“Synthetic Method Develpment and Molecular Weight Control for Homo- and Co-Polysilynes, Silicon-Based Network-Backbone Polymers,” D.A. Smith, S.J. Joray and P.A. Bianconi, Journal of Polymer Research 12, 393-401 (2005).
“Surfactant Nucleation and Orientation of Crystals in the Syntheses of Metal Sulfides in a Polymer Matrix,” E. Cates, M.W. Pitcher and P.A. Bianconi, Materials Chemistry and Physics 94, 13-22 (2005).
“Facile in situ Synthesis of Oriented LiNbO3 Single Crystals in a Polymer Matrix,” M.W. Pitcher, Y. He and P.A. Bianconi, Materials Chemistry and Physics 90, 57-61 (2005).
“Diamond and Diamond-Like Carbon from a Preceramic Polymer,” P.A. Bianconi, S.J. Joray, B.P. Aldrich, J. Sumranjit, D.J. Duffy, D.P. Long, J.L. Lazorcik, L. Raboin, J.K. Kearns, S.L. Smulligan and J.M. Babyak, Journal of the American Chemical Society 126, 3191-3202 (2004). |
