Cheaper energy sources and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions are among the key benefits of the Centre for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE), which opens at The University of Queensland next week.
The $7 million, purpose-built centre, located in the heart of UQ’s St Lucia science precinct, is the first of its kind in Queensland and will bring together almost 40 scientists from the disciplines of chemistry and physics.
COPE Director Professor Paul Burn said the centre’s research was expected to achieve multiple “real-world” outcomes at a time when consumers would soon face higher prices for electronic goods and basic energy commodities, due to carbon mitigation strategies and reduced energy availability.
“Our research addresses these issues through strategies to create cheaper materials and energy sources with equivalent – or indeed improved – performance to current technologies,” Professor Burn said.
“In the medium term, these technologies could lead to dramatic reductions in greenhouse emissions and pollution from high-tech manufacturing processes.”
The discipline of organic photonics and electronics involves developing plastics that can be made to act as inorganic semiconductors (such as silicon), unlike most plastics, which are electrical insulators.
The centre’s work involves the development of plastics that can be made to manipulate and use light for practical applications, such as more efficient lighting and displays (for example, television or computer screens) and solar cells.
COPE houses state-of-the-art equipment, including lasers, methods for depositing plastics and metals and lamps that can simulate the sun, as well as ultramodern facilities including a “clean room”, which contains virtually no dust, for making high-tech devices.
Professor Burn said the centre was a joint venture between the School of Physical Sciences and School of Molecular and Microbial Sciences.
He described the integrated effort as a “powerful combination” in what was often a “fragmented field”.
“The most exciting feature of the centre is that it provides an environment where people from different fields or expertise can work together on important research,” Professor Burn said.
“By working together in the one facility, in the one building, ideas are bounced off one another, sparking new concepts and areas of research.
“The centre will provide an excellent training environment for young scientists who will be in the vanguard of new technologies, industries, policy-making and teaching.”
To celebrate the Centre’s opening, COPE will host a symposium on Monday, November 17, from 1-6pm, Lecture Theatre 222, Parnell Building (building 7) at UQ's St Lucia campus.
The symposium will highlight aspects of COPE's research and cover recent advances in related fields, such as molecular electronics, organic electro-active materials, photosynthesis and light harvesting, polymer photonics and photochemistry.
RSVP essential: Fiona Krohn at f.krohn@uq.edu.au
Media: Professor Paul Burn (07 3365 3778)
