Photocatalytic doping of organic semiconductors.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38750361.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41586-024-07400-5 and PMC identifier 11153156.
- 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
Chemical doping is an important approach to manipulating charge-carrier concentration and transport in organic semiconductors (OSCs)<sup>1-3</sup> and ultimately enhances device performance<sup>4-7</sup>. However, conventional doping strategies often rely on the use of highly reactive (strong) dopants<sup>8-10</sup>, which are consumed during the doping process. Achieving efficient doping with weak and/or widely accessible dopants under mild conditions remains a considerable challenge. Here, we report a previously undescribed concept for the photocatalytic doping of OSCs that uses air as a weak oxidant (p-dopant) and operates at room temperature. This is a general approach that can be applied to various OSCs and photocatalysts, yielding electrical conductivities that exceed 3,000 S cm<sup>-1</sup>. We also demonstrate the successful photocatalytic reduction (n-doping) and simultaneous p-doping and n-doping of OSCs in which the organic salt used to maintain charge neutrality is the only chemical consumed. Our photocatalytic doping method offers great potential for advancing OSC doping and developing next-generation organic electronic devices.