Meet Dr. Tiffany Chen

Advisor: Dr. Timothy M. Swager

Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Bio: Tiffany Chen grew up outside of Los Angeles, CA and received an A.B. in anthropology from Harvard University. From 2013 to 2014, Tiffany conducted research with Prof. Ken Houk at UCLA on transannular and [6+4] cycloadditions. She received a second Bachelor's degree in chemistry from UC Berkeley in 2016, where she worked on trifluoromethyl gold complexes with Prof. F. Dean Toste. Tiffany then pursued graduate studies at Princeton University with Prof. David MacMillan. Her graduate work explored the development of methods for cross-coupling and aromatic decarboxylative functionalization via metallaphotocatalysis. After obtaining her PhD, Tiffany joined the Swager lab in 2021 as an ORISE IC postdoctoral fellow.

Abstract: Electrochromic (EC) materials provide functional solutions for a variety of applications, including smart windows and optical display technologies. The ability to readily tune the structure of organic materials through synthetic methods provides advantages over inorganic materials in EC devices, affording precision in controlling redox, optoelectronic, and mechanical properties, as well as high optical contrast and solution-processability. While electroactive conjugated polymers such as poly[3,4-(ethylenedioxy)thiophene] (PEDOT) are well-known as EC materials, only a few varieties of these conjugated polymers have been developed, with limited stability and bandgaps. Additionally, due to the inherent disorder in these systems, conducting polymers are not a single chromophore unit but instead give a distribution of chromophores based on varying conjugation lengths.

To address current limitations in the field of electrochromic materials, we are developing two novel classes of small molecules of well-defined structures that give rise to single electroactive chromophoric units and are readily accessible and tunable through modular synthetic routes. The extended delocalization of our electrochromic elements provides increased stability and small reorganizational factors with oxidation/reduction, enabling rapid electron exchange kinetics and conductivity. We will develop and evaluate a library of systematically tunable materials, followed by spin-up and incorporation of electroactive chromophores with switchable absorptions into the fabrication and evaluation of flexible functional filters and coatings.