| In this dissertation research, organic nanomaterials, such as semiconducting polymer nanoparticles, graphene nanosheets and organic small molecules were successfully utilized for fabrication of organic solar cells, optical sensors and for high contrast imaging of cancer cells. Semiconducting polymer nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple miniemulsion technique. These size controllable polymeric nanoparticles were proven to be able to optimize the morphologies of the bulk heterojunction solar cells and to provide fundamental insight into the evolution of the nanostructures. Highly sensitive optical sensors were fabricated using these polymeric nanoparticles for efficient detection of nitroaromatic explosives, such as 2,4 dinitrotoluene (DNT) and 2,4,6 trinitrotoluene (TNT) in aqueous medium as well as in vapor the phase. Moreover, these water dispersible and fluorescent polymer nanodots were two-photon active and could be internalized by tumor cells as demonstrated by two-photon confocal imaging. In addition to the polymer nanoparticles, the role of the graphene nanosheets in the performance enhancement of dye sensitized solar cells was also investigated. The use of organic small molecules for optical sensing of different nerve gas agents and their potential use in multiphoton imaging of cancer cells were discussed. Controlling material properties at nanoscale for optoelectronics and imaging application as discussed in this dissertation would provide new dimensions in the areas of applied physics and materials science researches. |
