Event
MSE Seminar: Dr. Howard Katz, JHU
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
3:30 p.m.
Room 2110 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
Sherri Tatum
301-405-5240
statum12@umd.edu
Polymer Electronics for Energy Efficiency and Chemical Sensing
Abstract: Polymers are being used for increasingly diverse purposes in electronics, sometimes moving away from traditional roles as simple conductors, insulators, and semiconductors. In this presentation, I will discuss three recent applications emerging in my group: ion-based thermoelectrics, high field capacitors, and volatile organic compound detection. Conversion of temperature difference to voltage via ion redistribution is found to depend strongly on the structure and degree of hydration of anions associated with cationic polymers. Highly dilute organic electron donor and acceptor additives and inorganic compound semiconductor nanoparticles increase dielectric breakdown field and energy storage density in polymer capacitors. An unprecedented aniline functionalization increases the conduction response of hole-carrying conjugated polymers to moderately polar carbonyl compounds such as acetone, of interest for physiological and environmental monitoring.
Biography: Howard Katz earned his Bachelor's Degrees from MIT in Chemistry and in Humanities and Science from MIT in 1978, and his PhD in organic chemistry from UCLA in 1982. He was at Bell Laboratories from 1982-2004, gaining the title of Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in 1998. Since 2004, he has been a full professor at Johns Hopkins University, serving as Department Chair for 2008-2014 and 2020-3. His research has been focused on organic/hybrid/interfacial electronics, host-guest chemistry/self-assembly, transistors and sensors, energy-related and optoelectronic devices, and cancer detection. He has >350 papers, with an H-index near 90. His inventions led to 57 patents and National Academy of Inventors Fellowship. He is a fellow of the ACS, MRS, APS, and AAAS. He was 2004 MRS 2004 and 2008 IUMRS President.
