Synthesis of Chemically Stable Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons for High-Performance Organic Electronics

非技术描述：由于有机半导体的低成本生产前景，有机半导体在溶液处理晶体管、照明应用和太阳能发电材料中的重要性日益增长。对于所有这些应用，有机半导体材料具有高性能和化学稳定性是至关重要的。该项目旨在开发一种用于高性能电子应用的新型有机半导体材料。具体地说，这个项目探索了分子设计将如何影响化学稳定性、结晶和设备性能。了解这些分子系统中的结构-性质关系将使科学家能够合理地设计出更好的材料，用于现实世界的消费电子设备。除了为来自不同背景的本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员提供研究机会(利用研究生在科学与技术领域的多样性；在国际会议的教程和研讨会中讨论了该项目中创建的新的科学概念，还向来自附近两所学校的高中生讲授了这些概念，这两所学校服务于马萨诸塞州西部的少数族裔学生人口。技术描述：该项目探索了这样一种假设，即在有角度的多环芳烃半导体中添加一个或多个芳香族pi六重态(苯环)可以改善结晶薄膜中的分子堆积，电荷传输特性，以及由于增加共振稳定能而产生的化学稳定性。这一假设正在通过X射线分析、晶体管测量和探索周环/环加成反应过渡态的理论/计算方法对结晶薄膜的表征得到验证。一类新的芳香族半导体的独特方法和使用，结合了理论和复杂的散射方法，有助于将分子设计的基本原理与有机-有机和有机-基质界面上的电荷传输联系起来。

Nontechnical Description: Organic semiconductors are of growing importance for solution-processed transistors, for lighting applications, and as materials used to generate solar energy due to the prospect for low-cost production of these materials. For all these applications, it is crucial that the organic semiconductor materials exhibit high performance and chemical stability. This project aims to develop a new class of organic semiconductor materials for use in high-performance electronic applications. Specifically, this project explores how molecular design will affect chemical stability, crystallization, and device performance. Understanding the structure-property relationship in these molecular systems will allow scientists to rationally design even better materials for use in real-world consumer electronic devices. In addition to providing research opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds (utilizing the Graduate Students for Diversity in Science & Engineering at University of Massachusetts - Amherst that the PI created), the new scientific concepts created in this project are discussed in tutorials and workshops at international conferences, and also taught to high-school students from two nearby schools that serve a population of minority students in western Massachusetts.Technical Description: This project explores the hypothesis that the addition of one or more aromatic pi sextets (benzenoid rings) in angular polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon semiconductors can improve the molecular packing in crystalline thin films, charge transport properties, and chemical stability due to increased resonance stabilization energies. The hypothesis is being verified through the characterization of crystalline thin films via x-ray analysis, transistor measurements, and theory/computational methods to explore transition states of pericyclic/cycloaddition reactions. The unique approach and use of a new class of aromatic semiconductors combined with theory and sophisticated scattering methods contribute to connecting fundamental principles of molecular design to charge transport at organic-organic and organic-substrate interfaces.