Macromolecular Science
and Engineering Center

  • Jinsang Kim
  • Department of Materials Science & Engineering
  • Department of Chemical Engineering
  • Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • Macromolecular Science & Engineering Center
  • 2098 H. H. Dow, 2300 Hayward St.
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2136

Short Biosketch

Jinsang Kim holds a M.S (1993) and a B.S. (1991) from Seoul National University, both in Fiber and Polymer Science. After working at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology as a research scientist, he came to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a graduate student in the department of Materials Science and Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in 2001 under the supervision of Prof. Timothy Swager of chemistry. He moved to California Institute of Technology as a Postdoctoral Scholar in the department of Chemical Engineering. His postdoctoral advisor was Prof. David Tirrell. He joined the University of Michigan as an assistant professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering in 2003. Kim's Smart Functional Polymer Lab (2 postdocs and 9 graduate students) at the UM explores functional polymeric materials and their nanostructural assembly to develop advanced polymeric objects. Kim group's research has focused on the rational molecular design, chemical and/or biological synthesis, and molecular assembly of functional polymers.

Awards/Honors

Current Research

Research in Kim group has been supported by NSF DMR, NSF ECS, NSF BES, AFOSR, and Center for Chemical Genomics-Thermo Fisher.

Self-Signal Amplifying Molecular Biosensors

Through rational molecular design and bioconjugation, we have developed conjugated polymer-based solid-state and solution version of molecular sensors to selectively detect clinically important biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins. The developed molecular DNA sensors and sensor arrays provide large signal amplification for high sensitivity and label-free detection capability for convenient detection. We are currently developing self-signal amplifying protein microarrays

Flexible Conjugated Polymer Photovoltaic Cells with Controlled Nanostructure

We have developed flexible solar cells having nanostructured heterojunctions by applying nanoimprinting technology on our rationally designed conjugated polymers having unique stability and optoelectronic properties. Through precise control of the nanostructure and material choices we have demonstrated that the energy conversion efficiency can be systematically improved by the control of the interfacial area and the geometry of the heterojunctions.

3-Dimensional Negative Index Materials

We have developed block copolymer-induced nanomaterials assembly methods. We have controlled the size and shape of the plasmonic nanomaterials and assembled them using block copolymers into macro building blocks. To precisely control the size of the macro building block and the distance between the nanomaterials in the macro building block, we have been exploring various molecular architectures of the block copolymers and directed self-assembly conditions. Our goal of this project is to build 3-d negative index materials.

Highly Emissive And Stable Organic Emitters

We have been developing organic molecules that do not have π-conjugation but produce ~ 70% quantum yield in their crystalline structure. This new design principle based on intermolecular phenomena allowed us to produce photobleach-free and highly emissive organic crystals and thin films. We are currently investigating the newly developed emissive molecules for the application of solid-state lighting and LED.

Besides the summarized research above, other research topics in Kim group include colorimetric detection of warfare agents and nerve gases, nanostructured proton exchange membrane from engineered block copolymers, reversible fluorescence patterning, dynamic layer-by-layer deposition method, light-driven actuators, oxadiazole-alternating conjugated polymers, synthetic gecko tapes, and functional EDOT for neural probe coating.

List of Recent and Top Cited Publications

  1. Ching-Chin Pun, Kangwon Lee, Hyong-Jun Kim, Jinsang Kim, "Signal Amplifying Conjugated Polymer-based Solid-state DNA Sensors" Macromolecules 39, 7461 (2006)
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  2. Kangwon Lee, Jaecheol Cho, Jennifer DeHeck, Jinsang Kim, "Synthesis And Functionalization Of a Highly-Fluorescent And Completely Water-Soluble poly(p-phenyleneethynylene) Copolymer For Bioconjugation" Chem. Comm. 1983 (2006)
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  3. Jin Koo Lee, Hyong-Jun Kim, Tae Hyeon Kim, Chi-Han Lee, Won Ho Park, Jinsang Kim, Taek Seung Lee , "A new synthetic approach for polybenzoxazole and light-induced fluorescent patterning on its film" Macromolecules 38, 9427 (2005)
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  4. H.-J. Kim, K. Lee, S. Kumar, J. Kim, "Dynamic Sequential Layer-by-Layer Deposition Method for Fast and Region-Selective Multilayer Thin Film Fabrication" Langmuir 21, 8532 (2005)
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  5. Jinsang Kim, "Assemblies of Conjugated Polymers: Intermoclecular and Intramolecular Effects on the Photophysical Properties of Conjugated Polymers" Pure and Applied Chemistry 74, 2031 (2002)
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  6. Jinsang Kim, Igor A. Levitsky, D. Tyler McQuade and Timothy M. Swager, "Structural Control in Thin-layers of Poly(p-phenyleneethynylene)s: Photophysical Studies of Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett Films" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 124, 7710 (2002)
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  7. Jinsang Kim, D. Tyler McQuade, Aimee Rose, Zhengguo Zhu and Timothy M. Swager, "Directing Energy Transfer Within Conjugated Polymer Thin Films" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123, 11488 (2001)
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    Editor's Choice Science, (2001), 294, 1419
  8. Jinsang Kim and Timothy M. Swager, "Control of Conformational and Interpolymer Effects in Conjugated Polymers" Nature 411, 1030 (2001)
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    News of the Week C&EN, 2001, 79(27), 7
  9. Jinsang Kim, D. Tyler McQuade, Sean K. McHugh and Timothy M. Swager, "Ion-Specific Aggregation in Conjugated Polymers: Highly Sensitive and Selective Fluorescent Ion Chemosensors" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 39, 3868 (2000)
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    News Anal. Chem., 2001, 73, 66A
  10. Jinsang Kim, Sean K. McHugh and Timothy M. Swager, "Nanoscale Fibrils and Grids: Aggregated Structures From Rigid-Rod Conjugated Polymers" Macromolecules 32, 1500 (1999)
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Teaching