Department Seminar

Seminars are held on Wednesdays at 4:00pm. All are invited to attend.

Upcoming Seminar

Solvent Driven Cross-Coupling of Fluorenones for Dibenzo[g,p]chrysenes
Dr. Tetsuo Iwasawa, Ryukoku University, Shiga, Japan

September 17, 2025
4:00pm-5:00pm in HSCI-103

A 25-minute information session will immediately follow that aims to introduce students to research opportunities in Japan, hosted by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. 

Tetsuo Iwasawa

Organic optical materials that combine a high refractive index with long term durability have become a key requirement for emerging photonic devices. Traditional strategies raise the index by introducing hetero-atoms, yet this inevitably compromises weather resistance. To break this trade off we designed a fully hydrocarbon framework by fusing a dibenzo[g,p]chrysene onto the commercially profitable bisphenol fluorene. The resulting molecule exhibits an impressive ultra-high refractive index of 1.83. These findings lay the groundwork for advanced future optoelectronic components.

augmented reality, mobile phone lenses, and a processor
Fig. How can we overcome the refractive index-weatherability trade-off in optical materials?
fusing a dibenzo[g,p]chrysene onto bisphenol fluorene creates a refractive index of 1.83
Fig. Fusing a dibenzo[g,p]chrysene onto the commercially profitable bisphenol fluorene creates a refractive index of 1.83.

See also:

Seminar Coordinator

For information and suggestions about our Department Seminar series, please contact the seminar coordinator:

Dr. Michael Schramm
Michael.Schramm@csulb.edu

Schedule

The schedule for Fall 2025 is as follows. Additional details may be added as the semester progresses.

Upcoming Seminars
DateTitleSpeaker and Affiliation
September 17, 2025Solvent Driven Cross-Coupling of Fluorenones for Dibenzo[g,p]chrysenesDr. Tetsuo Iwasawa, Ryukoku University, Shiga, Japan
September 24, 2025TBDTBD
October 1, 2025(topic: organic / materials science)Elias Picazo, USC
October 8, 2025TBDTBD
October 15, 2025(topic: inorganic)Lauren Benz, University of San Diego
October 22, 2025(topic: biophysics)Zuzanna Siwy, UC Irvine
October 29, 2025TBDAllon Hochbaum, UC Irvine
November 5, 2025(topic: physical)David Mobley, UC Irvine
November 12, 2025(topic: engineering)Haizhou Liu, UC Riverside
November 19, 2025(topic: biochemistry)Zhixiang Tong, Genentech
December 3, 2025First Year TalksChemistry students, CSU Long Beach
December 10, 2025(topic: organic)Osvaldo Gutierrez, UCLA

Previous Seminars

Previous Seminars
DateTitleSpeaker and Affiliation
September 3, 2025Building at the Nanoscale with Programmable Peptide-Based Building BlocksDr. Andrea Merg, UC Merced
September 10, 2025Uncovering Iron Surface Chemistry and Mineral Film Growth at Complex InterfacesDr. Kathryn Perrine, Michigan Technological University

The Seminar Archive has Department Seminars from previous semesters.

The Department Seminar is supported by The Allergan Foundation.