Linda Peteanu

Professor, Chemistry

Education

1989     Ph.D. University of Chicago

Research

Photophysics, laser spectroscopy, microscopy, Stark spectroscopy, conjugated materials, nucleic acids, fluorescent labels, plasmonics

Projects

Electronic Properties of Molecules used in Organic-Based Lighting

We measure several fundamental electronic properties of molecules such as charge transfer and electronic delocalization using a technique known as Stark spectroscopy. Stark spectroscopy involves applying large electric fields to molecules in films or matrices and analyzing the effects of the field perturbation on the absorption or emission spectrum. We have recently focused on the properties of MEH-PPV and other molecules used to make to organic light emitting diodes (OLED's). Stark spectroscopy reveals the mechanism by which a large applied electric field, such as those present in OLEDs, produces undesirable emission quenching and suggests strategies for minimizing this loss of device efficiency through modifications of the polymer structure.

Emission properties of Single Molecules and Aggregates

Recent years has seen a huge growth in the use of organic conjugated oligomers and polymers in the design of light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and photovoltaic cells. When these molecules are placed in thin films to fabricate devices, they typically form aggregates. These confer several desirable properties for device function such as protection from oxidative damage and enhanced charge transport. However, they also typically shift the wavelength of emission to lower energies and often significantly reduce its intensity. Our group is using microscopy and spectroscopy to investigate the relationships between molecular structure and the brightness and photo-stability of molecules in the solid state, both in isolation (i.e. as single molecules) and as aggregates. We are also developing methods to image aggregation in films at high resolution and to follow the nucleation of aggregates in the solution phase.

Publications

Tailoring Carbon Tails of Ligands on Au₅₂(SR)₃₂ Nanoclusters Enhances the Near-Infrared Photoluminescence Quantum Yield from 3.8 to 18.3%
Yitong Wang, Zhongyu Liu, Abhrojyoti Mazumder, Christopher G. Gianopoulos, Kristin Kirschbaum, Linda A. Peteanu, and Rongchao Jin Journal of the American Chemical Society, November 2023, DOI:10.1021/jacs.3c09846

Cholesterol side groups in Helical Poly(3-alkylesterfurans)
Manami Kawakami, Payton Downey, Linda A. Peteanu, Stefan Bernhard, Kevin Noonan, Polymer Journal, December 2022, DOI:10.1038/s41428-022-00741-w

Investigating the impact of regiochemistry in ester functionalized polyfurans
Anthony J. Varni, Manami Kawakami, Stephanie Kramer, Megan Rice, Steven J. Geib, Linda A. Peteanu, Tomasz Kowalewski, Kevin Noonan, Journal of Polymer Science, September 2021, DOI:10.1002/pol.20210535

Unraveling the Contribution of Residual Monomer to the Emission Spectra of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Aggregates: Implications for Identifying H- and J-type Coupling
Stephanie Kramer, Jasper Brown, Megan Rice, Linda A. Peteanu, Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, June 2021, 12(25):5919-5924, DOI:10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01334

Single- and Bi-Exciton Character in Ligand-Modified Silicon Nanoparticles as Demonstrated via Single Particle Photon Statistics and Plasmonic Effects
Woong Young So, Sikandar Abbas, Qi Li, Rongchao Jin, Linda A. Peteanu, Nanoscale 13(36), June 2021, DOI:10.1039/D1NR00108F

Structural distortion and electron redistribution in dual-emitting gold nanoclusters
Qi Li, Dongming Zhou, Jinsong Chai, Woong Young So, Tong Cai, Mingxing Li, Linda A. Peteanu, Ou Chen, Mircea Cotlet, X. Wendy Gu, Haiming Zhu, Haiming Zhu, Rongchao Jin, Nature Communications 11(1), June 2020, DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-16686-8

A Mono-Cuboctahedral Series of Gold Nanoclusters: Photoluminescence Origin, Large Enhancement, Wide Tunability and Structure-Property Correlation
Qi Li, Meng Zhou, Woong Young So, Jingchun Huang, Mingxing Li, Douglas R. Kauffman, Mircea Cotlet, Tatsuya Higaki, Linda A. Peteanu, Zhengzhong Shao, Rongchao Jin, Journal of the American Chemical Society 141(13), March 2019, DOI:10.1021/jacs.8b13558

Mechanism of Ligand-Controlled Emission in Silicon Nanoparticles
Woong Young So, Qi Li, Christian Legaspi, Brendan Redler, Krystal M. Koe, Rongchao Jin, Linda A. Peteanu, ACS Nano 12(7), May 2018, DOI:10.1021/acsnano.8b03273

Rigidity and Polarity Effects on the Electronic Properties of Two Deep Blue Delayed Fluorescence Emitters
Christian Legaspi, Regan E. Stubbs, Md Wahadoszamen, David J. Yaron, Linda A. Peteanu, Abraham Kemboi, Eric Fossum, Yongli Lu, Qi Zheng, Lewis J. Rothberg, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 122(22), May 2018, DOI:10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b12025

Eliminating Spurious Zero FRET States in Diffusion-based Single-molecule Confocal Microscopy
Sourav Kumar Dey, John R Pettersson, Andrea Topacio, Subha R. Das, Linda A. Peteanu, Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 9(9), March 2018, DOI:10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00362

Detection of Ultralow Concentrations of Non-emissive Conjugated Polymer Aggregates via Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy
Eric C. Wu, Regan E. Stubbs, Linda A. Peteanu, Racquel Jemison, Richard D. McCullough, and Jurjen Wildeman
J. Phys. Chem. B 2017, 121 (21), 5413-5421 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b01918

Exciton–Exciton Annihilation as a Probe of Interchain Interactions in PPV–Oligomer Aggregates
Linda A. Peteanu, Sanchari Chowdhury, Jurjen Wildeman, and Matthew Y. Sfeir, J Phys Chem B. 2017 Feb 23;121(7):1707-1714. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b11250. Epub 2017 Feb 9.

Spectroscopic and MD Study of Dynamic and Structural Heterogeneities in Ionic Liquids
Eric C. Wu, Hyung J. Kim, and Linda A. Peteanu, J . Phys. Chem. B, 2017, 121 (5), pp 1100–1107.

Theoretical Investigations on the Roles of Intramolecular Structure Distortion versus Irregular Intermolecular Packing in Optical Spectra of 6T Nanoparticles
Wenqiang Li, Qian Peng, Huili Ma, Jin Wen, Jing Ma, Linda A. Peteanu, Zhigang Shuai, Chemistry of Materials ( IF 9.407 ) 2017-02-03 , DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b04210.

Mechanism of Photoinduced Metal-Free Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization: Experimental and Computational Studies
Pan, Z., Fang, C., Fantin, M., Malhotra, N., So, W.Y. Peteanu, L. Isse, A. Gennaro, A., Liu, P., and Matyjaszewski, K.,  J. Am. Chem. Soc., 138(7), 2411-2425 (2016).

Dynamic Features of Rod-Shaped Au Nanoclusters
Woong Young So, Anindita Das, Shuxin Wang, Shuo Zhao, Hee Young Byun, Dana Lee, Santosh Kumar, Rongchao Jin, Linda A. Peteanu, Proc. SPIE 9549, Physical Chemistry of Interfaces and Nanomaterials XIV, 95491D (August 20, 2015).

The Role of Local Environment on the Electronic Properties of a Novel Blue-Emitting Donor-Acceptor Compound
Christian M. Legaspi, Regan E. Stubbs, David J. Yaron, Linda A. Peteanu, Abraham Kemboi, Jesse Picker, Eric Fossum, In Proc. SPIE 9923, Physical Chemistry of Interfaces and Nanomaterials XV, 99231K (September 26, 2016).

Modeling Field-Induced Quenching in Poly(p-phenylene vinylene) Polymers and Oligomers 
Legaspi, C.; Peteanu, L. A.; Yaron, D. J. Journal of Physical Chemistry B (invited manuscript) J. Phys. Chem. B, 2015, 119 (24), pp 7625–7634.

The Effects of Side-Chain-Induced Disorder on the Emission Spectra and Quantum Yields of Oligothiophene Nanoaggregates: A Combined Experimental and MD-TDDFT Study
Hong, J; Jeon, S.K.; Kim, J. J.; Devi, D.; Chacon-Madrid, K.; Koh, S. M.; Wildeman, J.; Peteanu, L. A.; Ma, J.; J. Phys. Chem. A, 2014, 118 (45), pp 10464–10473. DOI: 10.1021/jp504254a. Publication Date (Web): July 3, 2014.

Effects of Solvent Properties on the Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Alkoxy-Substituted PPV Oligomer Aggregates
Woong Young So, Jiyun Hong, Janice J. Kim, Gizelle A. Sherwood, Kelly Chacon-Madrid, James H. Werner, Andrew P. Shreve, and Linda A. Peteanu, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 116 10504–10513 (2012) .

Visualizing Core-Shell Structure in Substituted PPV Oligomer Aggregates Using Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM)
Peteanu, Linda A.; Sherwood, Gizelle A.; Werner, James H.; Shreve, Andrew P.; Smith, Timothy M.; Wildeman, Jurjen; Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 115 15607–15616 (2011).

Fluorescent DNA Nanotags Featuring Covalently Attached Intercalating Dyes: Synthesis, Antibody Conjugation, and Intracellular Imaging
Stadler, Andrea L.; Delos Santos, Junriz O.; Stensrud, Elizabeth S.; Dembska, Anna; Silva, Gloria L.; Liu, Shengpeng; Shank, Nathaniel I.; Kunttas-Tatli, E.; Sobers, Courtney J.; Gramlich, Philipp M. E.; Carell, Thomas; Peteanu, Linda A.; McCartney, Brooke M.; Armitage, Bruce A.; Bioconjugate Chem. 22 1491–1502 (2011).

Wavelength Dependence of the Fluorescence Quenching Efficiency of Nearby Dyes by Gold Nanoclusters and Nanoparticles: The Roles of Spectral Overlap and Particle Size
Chowdhury, Sanchari; Wu, Zhikun; Jaquins-Gerstl, Andrea; Liu, Shengpeng; Dembska, Anna; Armitage, Bruce A.; Jin, Rongchao; Peteanu, Linda A.; Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 115 20105–20112 (2011).

pH-Responsive Fluorescent Molecular Bottlebrushes Prepared by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization
Nese, Alper; Lebedeva, Natalia V.; Peteanu, Linda; Sheiko, Sergei, S.; Matyjaszewski, Krzysztof; Macromolecules 44 5905–5910 (2011) .

Appointments

Years	Position
2017–2022	Head of Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University
2011–present	Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
2002–2011	Associate Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
2000–2002	Associate Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
1993–2000	Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
1992–1993	Post-Doctoral Associate, University of California, Riverside
1989–1992	Post-Doctoral Associate, University of California, Berkeley

Awards and Distinctions

Years	Award
2004–2006	NSF Special Creativity Extension
2000	Fellowship of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science
1998	NSF POWRE (Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education)
1997	NSF CAREER (Faculty Early Development Program)