Mr Jonathan Hopkins

My research focuses on the organic synthesis of conjugated polymers with tailored backbones and functionalities. Conjugated polymers are organic, electroactive materials with numerous applications, ranging from organic electronics and light-emitting diodes to monitoring and controlling signals in biological cells. The versatility of these materials lies in their synthetic flexibility: we can design and synthesize conjugated polymers with specific chemical structures to achieve tailored properties. I am especially interested in functionalizing PEDOT, a popular and highly-stable conjugated polymer, with pendant functionalities based on phosphonate and sulfonate groups. I then characterize these novel materials in terms of their optical, morphological, and electronic properties, and also assess the performance of these materials in organic electrochemical transistors.

Education

• 2019-2022 - Scientia PhD scholar in Materials Science and Engineering (UNSW)
• 2014-2018 - B Engineering in Materials Engineering (Honours Class 1 and the University Medal) (UNSW)
• 2014-2018 - B Engineering in Chemical Engineering (Honours Class 1 and the University Medal) (UNSW)