Hantang Zhang

High mobility emissive organic semiconductor

The integration of high charge carrier mobility and high luminescence in an organic semiconductor is challenging. However, there is need of such materials for organic light-emitting transistors and organic electrically pumped lasers. Here we show a novel organic semiconductor, 2,6-diphenylanthracene (DPA), which exhibits not only high emission with single crystal absolute florescence quantum yield of 41.2% but also high charge carrier mobility with single crystal mobility of 34 cm2 V−1 s−1. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on DPA give pure blue emission with brightness up to 6,627 cd m−2 and turn-on voltage of 2.8 V. 2,6-Diphenylanthracene OLED arrays are successfully driven by DPA field-effect transistor arrays, demonstrating that DPA is a high mobility emissive organic semiconductor with potential in organic optoelectronics.

Porphyrin Nanoassemblies via Surfactant-Assisted Assembly and Single Nanofiber Nanoelectronic Sensors for High-Performance H2O2 Vapor Sensing

Porphyrins are recognized as important π-conjugated molecules correlating supramolecular chemistry, nanoscience, and advanced materials science. So far, as their supramolecular nanoassemblies are addressed, most efforts focus on the photo- or opto-related subjects. Beyond these traditional subjects, it is strongly desired to develop advanced porphyrin nanoassemblies in some other new topics of paramount importance. By means of a surfactant-assisted assembly, we herein show that porphyrins of different central metal ions, 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)-21H,23H-porphine (H2TPyP), zinc 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)-21H,23H-porphine (ZnTPyP), and oxo-[5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)porphyrinato]titanium(IV) (TiOTPyP), could be organized to form irregular aggregates, short nanorods, and long yet straight nanofibers, respectively. Remarkably, in terms of an organic ribbon mask technique, we show that such long yet straight TiOTPyP nanofibers could be integrated into single nanofiber-based two-end nanoelectronics. Such simple nanodevices could serve as high-performance sensors of a satisfactory stability, reproducibility, and selectivity for an expeditious detection of vapor-phase H2O2. This provides a new alternative for a fast sensing of vapor-phase H2O2, which is currently an important issue in the fields of anti-terrorism, industrial healthcare, etc. In contrast to the traditional investigations focusing on the photo- or opto-related topics, our work endows porphyrin nanostructures with new opportunities as advanced nanomaterials in terms of portable yet high-performance nanoelectronic sensors, which is an issue of general concern in modern advanced nanomaterials.

Tuning the Crystal Polymorphs of Alkyl Thienoacene via Solution Self‐Assembly Toward Air‐Stable and High‐Performance Organic Field‐Effect Transistors

The first example for thienoacene derivatives with selective growth of different crystal polymorphs is simply achieved by solution-phase self-assembly. Compared with platelet-shaped α-phase crystals, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) based on microribbon-shaped β-phase crystals show a hole mobility up to 18.9 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), which is one of the highest values for p-type organic semiconductors measured under ambient conditions.

Layer-Stacking Growth and Electrical Transport of Hierarchical Graphene Architectures

Hierarchical graphene architectures (HGAs) that grow by stacking of layers are produced on a liquid copper surface using chemical vapor deposition. The stacking mode--for example hexagonal-hexagonal-hexagonal or hexagonal-snowflake-dendritic--can be simply controlled. Measurements of the electrical properties of HGAs indicate that hierarchical stacking of graphene may be a simple and effective way of tailoring their properties without degrading them.

A cross-dipole stacking molecule of an anthracene derivative: integrating optical and electrical properties

Cross-dipole stacking has been addressed as a preferred motif for solid state emission, but inefficient for charge transport. Here we synthesize a new anthracene derivative, which adopts cross-stacking in the solid state with a solid state fluorescence up to 77.3% and a hole mobility of 1.47 cm2 V−1 s−1, integrating optical and electrical properties successfully. As far as we know, it is the first report of organic field-effect transistors based on cross-dipole stacking molecules.

Novel Air Stable Organic Radical Semiconductor of Dimers of Dithienothiophene, Single Crystals, and Field-Effect Transistors.

Singly linked and vinyl-linked dimers of dithienothiophenes exhibit different electronic behaviors. Single crystals of the singly linked dimer show a high conductivity of 0.265 S cm(-1) , five orders of magnitude higher than that of the vinyl-linked dimer. The huge increase in the hole density of singly linked dimers results from the formation of radicals, which can be reversibly tuned by facile thermal de-doping.

Thiepin‐Fused Heteroacenes: Simple Synthesis, Unusual Structure, and Semiconductors with Less Anisotropic Behavior

The simple one-pot syntheses of sulfur-rich thiepin-fused heteroacences with an alkylidene-fluorene framework, THA1 and THA6 (thiepin-fused heteroacene 1 or 6, in which the thiepin is conjugated at both ortho positions with SCH3 or SC6 H13 , respectively), is reported. Based on electrochemical studies and theoretical calculations, their LUMO energies are relatively low (-3.26 eV), and their HOMO and HOMO-1 orbitals are nearly degenerate. The thiepin ring contributes mainly to HOMO-1 and LUMO orbitals, however, HOMO orbitals dominantly reside on thienoacence rings. Within the crystal of THA1, the molecules adopt a herringbone arrangement and multiple intermolecular interactions lead to the formation of a 2D network. Interestingly, THA6 shows totally different intermolecular arrangements. Organic field-effect transistor (OFET) devices show both compounds exhibiting p-type semiconducting behavior. Thin films or microcrystals of THA1 possess relatively high hole mobility. Moreover, the mobilities of the microcrystal of THA1 along three directions are in the same order, thus the hole-carrier transporting within the hexagonal-plane of microcrystal of THA1 exhibits less anisotropic behavior. In comparison, both thin films and microrods of THA6 show low hole mobilities. This agrees well with the intermolecular arrangements and interactions within crystal of THA6. Further theoretical calculations reveal that significant intermolecular electronic coupling among HOMO-1 orbitals and sulfur atoms play an important role in intermolecular electronic coupling for THA1.

A thienyl peripherally substituted rubrene analogue with constant emissions and good film forming ability

A new thienyl peripherally substituted rubrene analogue was synthesized. Different from rubrene quenching of fluorescence after aggregation, this compound emits constantly yellow-green light both in solution and in the aggregation state. Meanwhile, this rubrene analogue exhibits better film forming ability with the hole charge carrier mobility up to 0.01 cm2 V−1 s−1.