Chemical to solid modification in oligothiophene and related materials

基于有机分子的新型半导体材料有望创造出具有与传统材料不同的性能的设备。例如，与老式电视相比，新型OLED电视具有更薄的外形和更低的功耗。这些材料的另一个优势是更大的灵活性、更轻的重量和更低的制造成本。尽管某些有机设备已经上市，但更多应用的前景推动了新的研究。我们在全球研究工作中的利基是分子结构和其固体之间的关系，以及这种关系如何影响设备性能。通过这种方式，我们的目标是创造“设计电子学”，半导体(活性材料)的电子特性可以通过对制造材料的分子进行化学修饰来定制。最终，这项研究将为更有效、更便宜、更少能源和更少有毒元素的新设备开辟道路。因此，它们可以被称为“绿色设备”，并带来更可持续的技术。低聚硫吩类化合物是一种有机半导体，其基础是一个噻吩环(由五个原子组成的五角形--四个碳和一个硫)重复多次。这种环的稳定性和碳的不同反应活性使其成为改变其性质的诱人的修饰目标，例如，吸电子基团将其电导模式从p型(正电)改变为n型(负电荷载流子)。同样，对低聚硫吩基单元的修饰可以改变其相对于表面的取向。垂直取向提供良好的场效应导电性，用于电路设备，而平行取向是收集光的理想选择(太阳能电池所需)。我们还将研究开发这些分子的可持续合成路线，即将环境影响和能源消耗降至最低的新合成方法。

New semiconducting materials based on organic molecules promise to allow for the creation of devices with properties unlike those made from traditional materials.  For example, the new "OLED" televisions boast thinner profiles and lower power consumption than older TV types.  Other advantages to these materials are greater flexibility, lighter weight, and lower manufacturing costs.  Although certain organic devices are on the market already, the promise of additional applications drives new research.  Our niche in the worldwide research effort is the relationship between the structure of the molecule and its solid, and how that impacts device performance.  In this way, we aim to create "designer electronics", where the electronic properties of the semiconductor (the active material) can be made-to-order using chemical modifications on the molecules that make the material.  Ultimately, the research will open the way to new devices that are more effective, cheaper, use less energy, and contain less toxic elements.  Thus, they could be called "green devices" and lead to more sustainable technologies.   Oligothiophenes are one type of organic semiconductor, based on a thiophene ring (a pentagon of five atoms - four carbons and one sulfur) repeated several times. This ring's stability and the different reactivities of its carbons make it an attractive target for modifications to change its properties, e.g., electron-withdrawing groups change its mode of conductivity from p-type (positive) to n-type (negative charge carriers). Similarly, modification to the oligothiophene unit can change its orientation relative to the surface.  A perpendicular orientation gives good field-effect conductivity, of use in circuit devices, while parallel orientation is ideal for light harvesting (needed for solar cells).   We will also be looking at the development of sustainable synthetic routes to these molecules, i.e., new methods of synthesis that minimize environmental impact and energy consumption.