Yonsei University · Engineering
Professor Hyungjun Kim's research lab specializes in computational and experimental studies of excited-state processes in organic semiconducting materials, with a focus on singlet fission, multiexciton states, and multi-electron transfer mechanisms. The lab investigates the fundamental photophysics and electronic coupling in materials such as perylene bisimides and oligoacene-based dendrimers to enable efficient solar energy conversion. By integrating quantum chemical simulations, time-resolved spectroscopy, and machine learning, the group aims to design next-generation optoelectronic materials with tailored electronic and redox properties. Their work bridges molecular design, reaction mechanism prediction, and device-relevant performance optimization.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
The singlet fission (SF) process is generally defined as the conversion of one singlet exciton (S<sub>1</sub>) into two triplet excitons (2·T<sub>1</sub>), which has the potential to overcome thermalization losses in the field of photovoltaic devices. Among the applicable compounds for SF-based photovoltaic devices, perylene bisimide (PBI) is one of the best candidates because of its electronic tunability and photostability. However, the strategy for efficient SF in PBIs remains ambiguous becaus
The highly unusual state, 1(TT), is a coupled, double triplet state that has recently garnered significant attention. This multiexcitonic state can be formed by a quantum transition from a single-photon bright state in a variety of organic semiconducting materials. 1(TT)'s transient nature and similarity to independent triplets, however, has led to significant difficulties in characterization and prediction of its properties. Recent progress describing 1(TT) from theory and experiment are breaki
A simulation-led strategy enacts two-electron transfer between an intramolecular singlet fission chromophore (tetracyanomethylene quinoidal bithiopehene with β,β'-solubilizing groups) and multielectron acceptor (anthraquinone). The thermodynamic plausibility of multielectron transfer from a double-triplet state and the absorption spectra of electron transfer (ET) products were predicted using quantum chemical simulations. These predictions are consistent with experimental observations of reduced
In this combined computational and experimental study, specific chemical interactions affecting the prediction of one-electron and two-electron reduction potentials for anthraquinone derivatives are investigated. For 19 redox reactions in acidic aqueous solution, where AQ is reduced to hydroanthraquinone, density functional theory (DFT) with the polarizable continuum model (PCM) gives a mean absolute deviation (MAD) of 0.037 V for 16 species. DFT(PCM), however, highly overestimates three redox c
Machine learning (ML) approaches have enabled rapid and efficient molecular property predictions as well as the design of new novel materials. In addition to great success for molecular problems, ML techniques are applied to various chemical reaction problems that require huge costs to solve with the existing experimental and simulation methods. In this review, starting with basic representations of chemical reactions, we summarized recent achievements of ML studies on two different problems; pr
Singlet fission in organic semiconducting materials has attracted great attention for the potential application in photovoltaic devices. Research interests have been concentrated on identifying working mechanisms of coherent SF processes in crystalline solids as ultrafast SF is hailed for efficient multiexciton generation. However, as long lifetime of multiexcitonic triplet pair in amorphous solids facilitates the decorrelation process for triplet exciton extractions, a precise examination of in
A new molecular dynamics for transparent and self-healing elastomers are developed that uses aliphatic disulfide and H-bond acceptors to produce colorless and waterproof coatings, particularly in display applications.
Dye arrays from dimers up to larger oligomers constitute the functional units of natural light harvesting systems as well as organic photonic and photovoltaic materials. Whilst in the past decades many photophysical studies were devoted to molecular dimers for deriving structure-property relationship to unravel the design principles for ideal optoelectronic materials, they fail to accomplish the subsequent processes of charge carrier generation or the detachment of two triplet species in singlet
Density functional theory calculation has been performed to calculate the redox potential and the correct ground spin state of iron complexes in acetonitrile. Widely used B3LYP functional is applied with the spin state corrected basis sets. The newly developed protocol for the set of 21 iron complexes is to optimize the structure at the level of the B3LYP/6-31G* and to calculate the single point electronic energy with the same functional and the modified basis sets s6-31G* for the iron atom and
A wide variety of data-driven approaches have been introduced in the field of quantum chemistry. To extend the applicable range and improve the prediction power of those approaches, highly accurate quantum chemical benchmarks that cover extremely large chemical spaces are required. Here, we report ~134 k quantum chemical calculations performed with G4MP2, the fourth generation of the G-n series in which second-order perturbation theory is employed. A single composite method calculation executes
In π-conjugated organic photovoltaic materials, an excimer state has been generally regarded as a trap state which hinders efficient excitation energy transport. But despite wide investigations of the excimer for overcoming the undesirable energy loss, the understanding of the relationship between the structure of the excimer in stacked organic compounds and its properties remains elusive. Here, we present the landscape of structural dynamics from the excimer formation to its relaxation in a co-
With the growth of drug-facilitated crimes, prevention has become increasingly important. Although various drug detection technologies exist, most focus on postconsumption detection. However, the prevention of drug-facilitated crimes requires technology for the quick and easy detection of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATSs) before ingestion. Herein, drug screening kits (DSKs) were developed for the simple detection of ATSs in drinks. The DSKs consisted of polydiacetylene nanofiber-based paper sen
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