Anna M. Hiszpanski

Using self-organization to control morphology in molecular photovoltaics

This work explores the formation of well-defined molecular p-n junctions in solution-processed self-assembled heterojunction solar cells using dodecyloxy-substituted contorted hexabenzocoronene (12-c-HBC) as a donor material and phenyl-C(70)-butyric acid methyl ester (PC(70)BM) as an acceptor. We find that the contorted 12-c-HBC molecules effectively assemble in solution to form a nested structure with the ball-shaped PC(70)BM. The result is a self-assembled molecular-scale p-n junction. When this well-defined p-n junction is embedded in active films, we can make efficient self-assembled solar cells with minimal amounts of donor material relative to the acceptor. The power conversion efficiency is drastically enhanced by the mode of donor and acceptor assembly within the film.

Directing the film structure of organic semiconductors via post-deposition processing for transistor and solar cell applications

The morphology of thin films of molecular and polymeric semiconductors, which is structurally complex and heterogeneous across multiple length scales, is known to significantly affect the device performance. Yet, controlling the film structure is challenging, typically requiring chemical modification of the organic semiconductors, substrates, or the conditions under which the films are formed. Post-deposition processing offers an opportunity to decouple film formation from structural development, providing greater control over molecular ordering in organic semiconductor thin films. This review highlights recent advances in post-deposition processing, focusing specifically on methods that control three important aspects of the film structure – the in-plane and out-of-plane molecular orientations and molecular packing – and correlating these structural changes with device performance in organic thin-film transistors and solar cells.

Tuning Polymorphism and Orientation in Organic Semiconductor Thin Films via Post-deposition Processing

Though both the crystal structure and molecular orientation of organic semiconductors are known to impact charge transport in thin-film devices, separately accessing different polymorphs and varying the out-of-plane molecular orientation is challenging, typically requiring stringent control over film deposition conditions, film thickness, and substrate chemistry. Here we demonstrate independent tuning of the crystalline polymorph and molecular orientation in thin films of contorted hexabenzocoronene, c-HBC, during post-deposition processing without the need to adjust deposition conditions. Three polymorphs are observed, two of which have not been previously reported. Using our ability to independently tune the crystal structure and out-of-plane molecular orientation in thin films of c-HBC, we have decoupled and evaluated the effects that molecular packing and orientation have on device performance in thin-film transistors (TFTs). In the case of TFTs comprising c-HBC, polymorphism and molecular orientation are equally important; independently changing either one affects the field-effect mobility by an order of magnitude.

Unusual Molecular Conformations in Fluorinated, Contorted Hexabenzocoronenes

Fluorinated, contorted hexabenzocoronenes (HBCs) have been synthesized in a facile manner via Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of fluorinated phenyl boronic acids followed by photocyclization and Scholl cyclization. In addition to the molecular conformation observed in previous HBC derivatives, close-contact fluorine-fluorine intramolecular interactions result in a metastable conformation not previously observed. Heating the metastable HBCs above 100 °C irreversibly converts them to the stable conformation, suggesting that the metastable conformation arises from a kinetically arrested state during cyclization.

Post-deposition processing methods to induce preferential orientation in contorted hexabenzocoronene thin films.

The structuring in organic electrically active thin films critically influences the performance of devices comprising them. Controlling film structure, however, remains challenging and generally requires stringent deposition conditions or modification of the substrate. To this end, we have developed post-deposition processing methods that are decoupled from the initial deposition conditions to induce different out-of-plane molecular orientations in contorted hexabenzocoronene (HBC) thin films. As-deposited HBC thin films lack any long-range order; subjecting them to post-deposition processing, such as hexanes-vapor annealing, thermal annealing, and physical contact with elastomeric poly(dimethyl siloxane), induces crystallization with increasing extents of preferential edge-on orientation, corresponding to greater degrees of in-plane π-stacking. Accordingly, transistors comprising HBC thin films that have been processed under these conditions exhibit field-effect mobilities that increase by as much as 2 orders of magnitude with increasing extents of molecular orientation. The ability to decouple HBC deposition from its subsequent structuring through post-deposition processing affords us the unique opportunity to tune competing molecule-molecule and molecule-solvent interactions, which ultimately leads to control over the structure and electrical function of HBC films.

Isoindigo-Containing Molecular Semiconductors: Effect of Backbone Extension on Molecular Organization and Organic Solar Cell Performance

We have synthesized three new isoindigo-based small molecules by extending the conjugated length through the incorporation of octyl-thiophene units between the isoindigo core and benzothiophene terminal units. Both UV–vis and Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction experiments show that such extension of the π-conjugated backbone can induce H-aggregation, and enhance crystallinity and molecular ordering of these isoindigo-based small molecules in the solid state. Compared to two other isoindigo-based derivatives in the series, the derivative with two octyl-thiophene units, BT-T2-ID, is the most crystalline and ordered, and its molecular packing motif appears to be substantially different. Devices utilizing these new extended isoindigo-based small molecules as the electron donor exhibit higher performance than those utilizing nonextended BT-ID as the electron donor. Particularly, devices containing BT-T2-ID in an as-cast blend with PC61BM show power conversion efficiencies up to 3.4%, which is comparable to the best devices containing isoindigo-based molecular semiconductors and is a record among devices containing isoindigo-based small molecules that were processed in the absence of any additives.

The Diffraction Pattern Calculator (DPC) toolkit: a user-friendly approach to unit-cell lattice parameter identification of two-dimensional grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering data.

The DPC toolkit is a simple-to-use computational tool that helps users identify the unit-cell lattice parameters of a crystal structure that are consistent with a set of two-dimensional grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering data. The input data requirements are minimal and easy to assemble from data sets collected with any position-sensitive detector, and the user is required to make as few initial assumptions about the crystal structure as possible. By selecting manual or automatic modes of operation, the user can either visually match the positions of the experimental and calculated reflections by individually tuning the unit-cell parameters or have the program perform this process for them. Examples that demonstrate the utility of this program include determining the lattice parameters of a polymorph of a fluorinated contorted hexabenzocoronene in a blind test and refining the lattice parameters of the thin-film phase of 5,11-bis(triethylsilylethynyl)anthradithiophene with the unit-cell dimensions of its bulk crystal structure being the initial inputs.