Hollow organic capsules assemble into cellular semiconductors.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29769520.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-04246-0 and PMC identifier 5956104.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Self-assembly of electroactive molecules is a promising route to new types of functional semiconductors. Here we report a capsule-shaped molecule that assembles itself into a cellular semiconducting material. The interior space of the capsule with a volume of ~415 Å<sup>3</sup> is a nanoenvironment that can accommodate a guest. To self-assemble these capsules into electronic materials, we functionalize the thiophene rings with bromines, which encode self-assembly into two-dimensional layers held together through halogen bonding interactions. In the solid state and in films, these two-dimensional layers assemble into the three-dimensional crystalline structure. This hollow material is able to form the active layer in field effect transistor devices. We find that the current of these devices has strong response to the guest's interaction within the hollow spaces in the film. These devices are remarkable in their ability to distinguish, through their electrical response, between small differences in the guest.