Ms Xiaoyuan Sheng

Structure and Function of Polymers far from Equilibrium

While the equilibrium thermodynamics of polymers is reasonably well understood, it has recently emerged that macromolecules in confinement are often far from equilibrium. Polymer-based photovoltaic devices, for example, are processed under conditions where full equilibration of the phase morphology and molecular conformations are unlikely.

My research focuses on fundamental study of quenched polymers. I will investigate the correlation of phase separation and crystallisation in quenched binary photocoltaic blends to better understand the structure-function interplay in bulk-heterojunction photovoltaic devices with the long-term goal to improve the electronic performance of organic photovoltaic cells.