N-Doping of Organic Semiconductor Materials

有机半导体材料的N掺杂

• 批准号: 2223922
• 负责人: Antonio Facchetti
• 金额: $ 48.81万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-03-15 至 2026-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2223922&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doping; Organic; Semiconductor; Materials

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTIONOrganic semiconductors are promising materials for flexible electronics such as solar cells, displays, and sensors. For many applications, their electrical conductivity must be increased by adding positive (p-type) or negative (n-type) charges. This process is known as molecular doping. While there are many p-type organic semiconductors, n-type organic semiconductors are far rarer. Moreover, they are less stable in ambient conditions, and it can be difficult to control their electrical conductivity. Advancing the field of organic electronics will require development of new electronic materials and processes for n-type doping. The goal of this project is to enhance the efficiency of n-type doping using a catalyst, a compound that enhances the speed of a chemical reaction. The investigator will combine synthetic strategies for new organic semiconductors with selection of n-type dopant-catalyst pairs to optimize the doping process. This research will result in a new class of n-type organic semiconductors with high-performance and enhanced stability. This research will also promote understanding on how the new n-type materials affect device performance. The PI’s educational goal is to foster a positive perception of organic electronic materials and devices. This will be accomplished through outreach to middle and high school students, coupling course instruction to undergraduate and graduate research projects, and providing internship opportunities at a start-up company to foster entrepreneurship.TECHNICAL DESCRIPTIONThe doping of inorganic materials has been instrumental in the progress of the semiconductor industry and advances in numerous fields including medical diagnostics, environmental science, and homeland security. For organic semiconductors, several strategies have yielded doped π-electron solids with greatly enhanced optical and electronic properties as well as novel materials, physical phenomena, and device concepts. However, these advances were largely enabled by p-doped (hole transporting) materials, while useful n-doped (electron-transporting) materials have been limited in chemical accessibility, doping efficiency, and environmental stability. This limits their use in devices where both p-type and n-type semiconductors are required. Recently, the PI and coworkers discovered that metal nanoparticles (e.g., Au) can catalytically assist/accelerate the doping of representative organic semiconductors by molecular dopants. This research project will: 1) Elucidate the mechanism of the catalytic n-doping process and expand the scope to other type of catalysts. 2) Explore other dopants and semiconductors, implementing to date unexplored structural design and synthetic strategies. 3) Characterize catalyzed vs uncatalyzed doped film properties in terms of composition, electronic structure, morphology, microstructure, and opto-electronic response. Thus, this study plans to bring n-doped organics to unprecedented levels in terms of molecular/macromolecular materials designs, their accessibility in scale, and their useful opto-electronic properties.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

非技术性声明有机半导体是一种很有前途的柔性电子材料，如太阳能电池、显示器和传感器。对于许多应用，必须通过添加正（p型）或负（n型）电荷来增加其电导率。这个过程被称为分子掺杂。虽然有许多p型有机半导体，但n型有机半导体要少得多。此外，它们在环境条件下不太稳定，并且可能难以控制它们的电导率。推进有机电子领域将需要开发新的电子材料和n型掺杂工艺。该项目的目标是使用催化剂提高n型掺杂的效率，催化剂是一种提高化学反应速度的化合物。研究人员将联合收割机合成策略与n型掺杂剂催化剂对的选择相结合，以优化掺杂过程。这项研究将产生一类新的具有高性能和增强稳定性的n型有机半导体。这项研究还将促进人们对新型n型材料如何影响器件性能的了解。PI的教育目标是培养对有机电子材料和器件的积极看法。这将通过对初中和高中学生的宣传，将课程教学与本科和研究生研究项目结合起来，并提供在初创公司实习的机会，以培养创业精神来实现。技术声明无机材料的掺杂有助于半导体工业的进步，并在许多领域取得进展，包括医疗诊断，环境科学和国土安全。对于有机半导体，几种策略已经产生了掺杂的π电子固体，其具有大大增强的光学和电子性质以及新的材料、物理现象和器件概念。然而，这些进展主要是通过p掺杂（空穴传输）材料实现的，而有用的n掺杂（电子传输）材料在化学可及性、掺杂效率和环境稳定性方面受到限制。这限制了它们在需要p型和n型半导体的器件中的使用。最近，PI和同事发现金属纳米颗粒（例如，Au）可以通过分子掺杂剂催化地辅助/加速代表性有机半导体的掺杂。本研究计划将：1）阐明催化n掺杂过程的机理，并将范围扩展到其他类型的催化剂。2)探索其他掺杂剂和半导体，实施迄今为止尚未探索的结构设计和合成策略。3)从成分、电子结构、形态、微观结构和光电响应等方面表征催化与非催化掺杂薄膜的特性。因此，该研究计划将n掺杂有机物在分子/大分子材料设计、规模可及性和有用的光电性能方面提升到前所未有的水平。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Enhanced Optical Contrast and Switching in Near‐Infrared Electrochromic Devices by Optimizing Conjugated Polymer Oligo(Ethylene Glycol) Sidechain Content and Gel Electrolyte Composition

• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202309428
• 发表时间: 2023-10
• 期刊: Advanced Functional Materials
• 影响因子: 19
• 作者: R. Pankow;Brendan Kerwin;Yongjoon Cho;Seonghun Jeong;G. Forti;Bryan Musolino;Changduk Yang;A. Facchetti;T. Marks

Mechanical, Morphological, and Charge Transport Properties of NDI Polymers with Variable Built‐in Π‐Conjugation Lengths Probed by Simulation and Experiment

• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202310071
• 发表时间: 2023-10
• 期刊: Advanced Functional Materials
• 影响因子: 19
• 作者: Dan Zhao;Donghyun Kim;Sarbani Ghosh;Gang Wang;Wei Huang;Zonglong Zhu;T. J. Marks;Igor Zozoulenko;A. Facchetti