Issue 20, 2017

High-performance ambipolar responses to oxidizing NO2 and reducing NH3 based on the self-assembled film of an amphiphilic tris(phthalocyaninato) europium complex

Abstract

A heteroleptic amphiphilic tris(phthalocyaninato) europium triple-decker complex, (Pc)Eu{Pc[(OC2H4)3OCH3]8}Eu{Pc[(OC2H4)3OCH3]8} (1), has been designed and synthesized successfully. The hydrophilic polyoxyethylene substituents attached onto the periphery of two phthalocyanine rings in the sandwich-type phthalocyaninato triple-decker not only increase the solubility and improve the film-forming ability, but also importantly ensure the suitable HOMO and LUMO energy levels and thus successfully realize amphiphilic ambipolar organic semiconductors. The solution-processed thin film of the complex is prepared by a simple and low-cost quasi-Langmuir–Shäfer (QLS) method. Importantly, within the dynamic exposure period of 30 s, highly sensitive, stable, reproducible n-type response to electron-accepting gas NO2 in the range of 50–500 ppb and p-type response to electron-donating gas NH3 in 5–25 ppm range, have been first revealed, based on the QLS film of 1 at room temperature, depending on the optimized molecular packing in J-aggregation mode with a large specific surface area and good film conductivity. Furthermore, the responses of the QLS film are all linearly correlated with either NO2 or NH3 with good sensitivity of 0.06% ppb−1 and 0.17% ppm−1, respectively, indicating the great potential of phthalocyanine-based rare earth triple-decker complexes in the field of chemical sensors. The present result provides a new strategy to obtain high-performance room-temperature gas sensors by the molecular design combined with a low-cost solution-based method.

Graphical abstract: High-performance ambipolar responses to oxidizing NO2 and reducing NH3 based on the self-assembled film of an amphiphilic tris(phthalocyaninato) europium complex

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Jul 2017
Accepted
06 Sep 2017
First published
06 Sep 2017

New J. Chem., 2017,41, 11955-11961

High-performance ambipolar responses to oxidizing NO2 and reducing NH3 based on the self-assembled film of an amphiphilic tris(phthalocyaninato) europium complex

H. Wang, X. Kong, S. Zhao, J. Wu, X. Li and Y. Chen, New J. Chem., 2017, 41, 11955 DOI: 10.1039/C7NJ02790G

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