Plenary Event
Organic Photonics + Electronics Plenary
24 August 2026 • 10:30 AM - 12:20 PM PDT | Conv. Ctr. Room 6A
10:30 AM – 10:35 AM: Welcome and Opening Remarks
2026 Symposium Chairs
Ifor D. W. Samuel, Univ. of St. Andrews (United Kingdom); Thuc-Quyen Nguyen, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara (United States)
10:35 AM – 11:05 AM:
Unconventional semiconducting materials for opto/bioelectronics: design, processing, and device engineering
In this presentation we report the realization of novel semiconductor materials, as well as thin-film processing and morphology engineering, for flexible and stretchable electronic devices such as thin film transistors, solar cells, electrolyte gated transistors, sensors and neuromorphic circuits. On material development, we present “soft” small-molecules and polymers by co-polymerizing pi-deconjugated building blocks, properly designed additives and tuned backbone conformation. New transistor architectures using semiconductor film porosity as the key element for enhancing mechanical flexibility and tune charge transport are also demonstrated. These films, combined with pre-stretched elastomeric substrates, enable unprecedentedly stable current-output characteristic upon mechanical deformation, which are used for sensing analytes, strain, light, temperature and physiological parameters. Furthermore, we report our recent work on the design of fluorinated acceptors for organic solar cells and a new route to achieve ultra-stretchable solar cell devices.
Antonio Facchetti is the Hightower Professor of Biopolymers at Georgia Tech. He has published > 600 research articles, 14 book chapters, and holds >120 patents (H-index 143). He received the ACS Award for Creative Invention, the Giulio Natta Gold Medal from the Italian Chemical Society and a fellow of the NAI, NAE, EAS, MRS, AAAS, RSC and Kavli Foundation.
11:05 AM - 11:10 AM: Q&A with Antonio Facchetti
11:10 AM – 11:40 AM:
Deformable integrated soft electronics
Integrated soft electronics involve interdisciplinary approaches to realize applications in wearable health monitory, soft robotics, human machine interface or biocompatible circuits. We introduce concept of ion-electron coupling that exploits interfacial capacitive behavior for sensing and actuation. Specifically, tailoring ionic and polarity of polymerized ionic liquids lead to applications in dielectric elastomer actuators with enhanced electromechanical property and self-healability. Creating effective ions transport pathways lead to augmented electrochemical actuation suited for operations at low voltage. Optical spectra modulation with electric field based on electrochromics in thermal management and camouflage can be realized with rapid ionic transport. It is envisaged that next-generation embodied intelligence, health technology and resilient soft robotics can be realized with deformable soft electronics with iontronics.
Prof. Pooi See Lee is the President’s Chair Professor in Materials Science & Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Her current research focuses on flexible and stretchable electronics and stimuli-responsive materials. Professor Lee received the National Research Foundation Investigatorship in 2016. She has been listed as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics yearly from 2018 to 2025. She was elected the National Academy of Inventors Fellow in 2020, RSC Fellow 2022 and MRS Fellow 2022.
11:40 AM - 11:45 AM: Q&A with Pooi See Lee
11:45 AM – 12:15 PM:
Lessons from transient optical studies in materials design for organic solar cells and photocatalysts
Organic semiconducting polymers have been attracting extensive interest for application in organic solar cells over the last 20 years, and more recently in organic photoelectrodes and photocatalysts for the solar driven synthesis of fuels and chemicals. I will start my talk by reviewing recent advances in such devices and the opportunities and challenges for technological application. I will then go on to focus on a key challenge for all such solar energy conversion devices: that efficient device function requires the generation of charge carriers with sufficient lifetime to drive the desired functional processes – charge collection by device contacts in solar cells and the catalysis of chemical reactions in photoelectrochemical / photocatalytic devices. The dynamics of exciton and charge separation, and their competition with charge recombination and decay to ground are therefore key factors determining device efficiencies. In my talk, I will discuss some of the insights which can be gained from transient optical studies of these kinetics for materials design for efficient device performances. I will use recent examples from my research group on organic solar cells and organic photoelectrodes and photocatalysts. In organic solar cells, I will discuss how non-fullerene acceptor design is enabling efficient charge generation with smaller energetic loss, and the impact of this on the dominant recombination pathways in high efficiency devices. In particular I will highlight how charge transfer states at donor / acceptor interfaces are becoming increasingly unimportant as the dominant recombination pathway in high performance devices and discuss how other interfaces and recombination pathways are now more critical in determining non-radiative recombination and energetic loss. I will then go on to discuss charge dynamics in organic photoelectrodes and nanoparticle photocatalysts, highlighting both parallels and differences with organic solar cells. I will highlight the role of the organic / aqueous interface in stabilizing charge separation. I will then go to discuss several material design strategies to enhance charge carrier lifetimes and thus photocatalytic function, including the impact of heterojunction nanomorphology, material crystallinity and, for single component nanoparticles, exciton diffusion length and suppression of non-radiative decay.
James Durrant is Professor of Photochemistry and Sustainable Energy in the Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, following his previous professorial appointments at Imperial College London and the University of Swansea. His research focuses on the use of transient optical spectroscopies to investigate the function of new materials for sustainable energy conversion, focusing on organic solar cells and, increasingly, on the solar driven synthesis of fuels and chemicals. His group studies a range of inorganic, hybrid and organic materials for applications in artificial photosynthesis, photocatalysis, solar cells and electrolysis. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2017 and appointed a CBE for services to photochemistry and solar energy research in 2022.
12:15 PM – 12:20 PM: Q&A with James R. Durrant
MENU: Coffee, decaf, and tea will be available outside the presentation room.
SETUP: Theater style seating.
2026 Symposium Chairs
Ifor D. W. Samuel, Univ. of St. Andrews (United Kingdom); Thuc-Quyen Nguyen, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara (United States)
10:35 AM – 11:05 AM:
Unconventional semiconducting materials for opto/bioelectronics: design, processing, and device engineering
 |
Antonio Facchetti
Georgia Institute of Technology (United States) |
In this presentation we report the realization of novel semiconductor materials, as well as thin-film processing and morphology engineering, for flexible and stretchable electronic devices such as thin film transistors, solar cells, electrolyte gated transistors, sensors and neuromorphic circuits. On material development, we present “soft” small-molecules and polymers by co-polymerizing pi-deconjugated building blocks, properly designed additives and tuned backbone conformation. New transistor architectures using semiconductor film porosity as the key element for enhancing mechanical flexibility and tune charge transport are also demonstrated. These films, combined with pre-stretched elastomeric substrates, enable unprecedentedly stable current-output characteristic upon mechanical deformation, which are used for sensing analytes, strain, light, temperature and physiological parameters. Furthermore, we report our recent work on the design of fluorinated acceptors for organic solar cells and a new route to achieve ultra-stretchable solar cell devices.
Antonio Facchetti is the Hightower Professor of Biopolymers at Georgia Tech. He has published > 600 research articles, 14 book chapters, and holds >120 patents (H-index 143). He received the ACS Award for Creative Invention, the Giulio Natta Gold Medal from the Italian Chemical Society and a fellow of the NAI, NAE, EAS, MRS, AAAS, RSC and Kavli Foundation.
11:05 AM - 11:10 AM: Q&A with Antonio Facchetti
11:10 AM – 11:40 AM:
Deformable integrated soft electronics
 |
Pooi See Lee
Nanyang Technological Univ. (Singapore) |
Integrated soft electronics involve interdisciplinary approaches to realize applications in wearable health monitory, soft robotics, human machine interface or biocompatible circuits. We introduce concept of ion-electron coupling that exploits interfacial capacitive behavior for sensing and actuation. Specifically, tailoring ionic and polarity of polymerized ionic liquids lead to applications in dielectric elastomer actuators with enhanced electromechanical property and self-healability. Creating effective ions transport pathways lead to augmented electrochemical actuation suited for operations at low voltage. Optical spectra modulation with electric field based on electrochromics in thermal management and camouflage can be realized with rapid ionic transport. It is envisaged that next-generation embodied intelligence, health technology and resilient soft robotics can be realized with deformable soft electronics with iontronics.
Prof. Pooi See Lee is the President’s Chair Professor in Materials Science & Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Her current research focuses on flexible and stretchable electronics and stimuli-responsive materials. Professor Lee received the National Research Foundation Investigatorship in 2016. She has been listed as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics yearly from 2018 to 2025. She was elected the National Academy of Inventors Fellow in 2020, RSC Fellow 2022 and MRS Fellow 2022.
11:40 AM - 11:45 AM: Q&A with Pooi See Lee
11:45 AM – 12:15 PM:
Lessons from transient optical studies in materials design for organic solar cells and photocatalysts
 |
James R. Durrant
Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom) and Imperial College London (United Kingdom) |
Organic semiconducting polymers have been attracting extensive interest for application in organic solar cells over the last 20 years, and more recently in organic photoelectrodes and photocatalysts for the solar driven synthesis of fuels and chemicals. I will start my talk by reviewing recent advances in such devices and the opportunities and challenges for technological application. I will then go on to focus on a key challenge for all such solar energy conversion devices: that efficient device function requires the generation of charge carriers with sufficient lifetime to drive the desired functional processes – charge collection by device contacts in solar cells and the catalysis of chemical reactions in photoelectrochemical / photocatalytic devices. The dynamics of exciton and charge separation, and their competition with charge recombination and decay to ground are therefore key factors determining device efficiencies. In my talk, I will discuss some of the insights which can be gained from transient optical studies of these kinetics for materials design for efficient device performances. I will use recent examples from my research group on organic solar cells and organic photoelectrodes and photocatalysts. In organic solar cells, I will discuss how non-fullerene acceptor design is enabling efficient charge generation with smaller energetic loss, and the impact of this on the dominant recombination pathways in high efficiency devices. In particular I will highlight how charge transfer states at donor / acceptor interfaces are becoming increasingly unimportant as the dominant recombination pathway in high performance devices and discuss how other interfaces and recombination pathways are now more critical in determining non-radiative recombination and energetic loss. I will then go on to discuss charge dynamics in organic photoelectrodes and nanoparticle photocatalysts, highlighting both parallels and differences with organic solar cells. I will highlight the role of the organic / aqueous interface in stabilizing charge separation. I will then go to discuss several material design strategies to enhance charge carrier lifetimes and thus photocatalytic function, including the impact of heterojunction nanomorphology, material crystallinity and, for single component nanoparticles, exciton diffusion length and suppression of non-radiative decay.
James Durrant is Professor of Photochemistry and Sustainable Energy in the Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, following his previous professorial appointments at Imperial College London and the University of Swansea. His research focuses on the use of transient optical spectroscopies to investigate the function of new materials for sustainable energy conversion, focusing on organic solar cells and, increasingly, on the solar driven synthesis of fuels and chemicals. His group studies a range of inorganic, hybrid and organic materials for applications in artificial photosynthesis, photocatalysis, solar cells and electrolysis. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2017 and appointed a CBE for services to photochemistry and solar energy research in 2022.
12:15 PM – 12:20 PM: Q&A with James R. Durrant
Event Details
FORMAT: General session with live audience Q&A to follow presentations.MENU: Coffee, decaf, and tea will be available outside the presentation room.
SETUP: Theater style seating.