Thomas Teets
University of Houston, TX·Chemistry
The colorful screens on many phones and TVs use organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and many of these rely on phosphorescent metal complexes. These are molecules built around a heavy metal atom that turn electrical energy into light.
- Fields
Chemistry
Materials Science
- Topics
phosphorescence
organometallic chemistry
organic light-emitting diodes
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Increase the light-emission speed of blue-emitting platinum aryl acetylide complexes through a "secondary heavy-metal effect," attaching coinage metals or gold–carbon bonds to the molecule's periphery.
- Synthesize a new class of cyclometalated iridium acetylide compounds that pair sharp blue phosphorescence with iridium's strong spin-orbit coupling to achieve faster radiative rates.
- Design cyclometalated platinum complexes that emit red to near-infrared light, using electron-rich and bulky ligands to speed emission and prevent molecular clumping.
- Build a publicly searchable web database of photochemically active compounds that researchers can sort by specific light-emission properties.
More about the research
A key property is the radiative rate, or how fast an excited molecule releases its energy as light. Faster light emission can make devices brighter, more efficient and longer-lasting. Blue emitters are especially hard to make, and they remain one of the field's biggest technical challenges.
Why it matters
Brighter, more efficient and more durable phosphorescent emitters, especially blue ones, could lead to better OLED displays and lighting in consumer electronics. The structure–property rules from this work could guide materials chemists in designing top-performing emitters. A public database will help researchers find light-active compounds with the properties they need.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Michael Stollenz
Kennesaw State University, GA·Chemistry
Synthesize a library of bis(amidine) ligands that can hold at least four copper(I) ions in a linear row, using mesitylcopper as a clean organometallic copper source.
Claudia Turro
Ohio State University, OH·Chemistry
Determine whether fast population of the metal-centered triplet ligand field (3LF) state is required for light-triggered ligand exchange in Ru(II) complexes, or whether exchange can occur directly from the 3MLCT state, using ultrafast electronic and vibrational spectroscopy.
T Don Tilley
University of California-Berkeley, CA·Chemistry
Develop high-yield [2+2+n] cycloaddition reactions that add several fused aromatic rings in one step, giving scalable access to large, tailored polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
The school
University of Houston: 21 labs on PI Pages, $239M a year on research, 374 research doctorates a year.
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