Functional Organic Materials for Optoelectronic Applications

This themed online collection has been arranged in celebration of the work of Professor Martin Bryce, which has spanned over four decades. Martin joined Durham University immediately after completing postdoctoral work spells at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and the University of Bristol. He quickly established himself as a world-renowned expert in materials chemistry, primarily focussing on the synthesis of new materials for organic metals. In the early stages of his career, Martin published key reviews on organic charge transfer salts,^1,2 and tetrathiafulvalenes (TTFs),^3–5 complementing his many original works that initially focused on the chemistry and properties of TTFs and other highly electroactive compounds.

Martin's enthusiasm towards materials chemistry was recognised by his appointment as the Scientific Editor for the Journal of Materials Chemistry in 1995. Further recognition came in the form of numerous achievements: the Ciba-Geigy Award for academic collaboration in Europe (1990), the Royal Society of Chemistry Bader Award (1992), the Royal Society of Chemistry Interdisciplinary Award (1992), the Nuffield Foundation Science Research Fellowship (1993), the University of Durham Sir Derman Christopherson Fellowship (1995) and the Royal Society of Chemistry Heterocyclic Chemistry Award (2002).

Martin's drive for research originates from his passion for synthetic chemistry, which has included heterocyclic and organometallic compounds and materials that are classed as ‘small molecules’, dendrimers, polymers and supramolecular assemblies. At its heart, Martin's work has strongly featured careful molecular design towards functionality and targeted properties. In more recent years, Martin has concentrated his research in two areas: (i) novel materials for organic light emitting diodes, including those that feature thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF),⁶ and he has published several major articles in this area revealing, for example, key insights on steric effects,⁷ donor–acceptor relative orientation⁸ and intermolecular electronic coupling⁹ in TADF emitters. (ii) Synthesis of pi-conjugated molecules for single-molecule electronics, notably for conductance measurements in break-junction devices.¹⁰

The themed collection, ‘Functional Organic Materials for Optoelectronic Applications’, consists of works published by Martin's friends and colleagues, in recognition of his standing in the community and as a mark of respect for his outstanding achievements. The collection showcases recent advances in experimental and/or theoretical studies of organic materials spanning the range of small molecules to polymers. The work is driven by potential applications of the materials as active components in areas such as OLEDs, organic solar cells, transistors, sensors, and charge and energy transport devices.

References

1. M. R. Bryce and L. C. Murphy, Nature, 1984, 309, 119–126.
2. M. R. Bryce, Chem. Soc. Rev., 1991, 20, 355–390.
3. M. R. Bryce, J. Mater. Chem., 1995, 5, 1481–1496.
4. M. R. Bryce, Adv. Mater., 1999, 11, 11–23.
5. M. R. Bryce, J. Mater. Chem., 2000, 10, 589–598.
6. Y. Liu, C. Li, Z. Ren, S. Yan and M. R. Bryce, Nat. Rev. Mater., 2018, 3, 18020.
7. J. Ward, R. S. Nobuyasu, A. S. Batsanov, P. Data, A. P. Monkman, F. B. Dias and M. R. Bryce, Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 2612.
8. F. B. Dias, J. Santos, D. R. Graves, P. Data, R. S. Nobuyasu, M. A. Fox, A. S. Batsanov, T. Palmeira, M. N. Berberan-Santos, M. R. Bryce and A. P. Monkman, Adv. Sci., 2016, 3, 1600080.
9. Z. Yang, Z. Mao, X. Zhang, D. Ou, Y. Mu, Y. Zhang, C. Zhao, S. Liu, Z. Chi, J. Xu, Y.-C. Wu, P.-Y. Lu, A. Lien and M. R. Bryce, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2016, 55, 2181–2185.
10. J. Liu, X. Zhao, Q. Al-Galiby, X. Huang, J. Zheng, R. Li, C. Huang, Y. Yang, J. Shi, D. Z. Manrique, C. J. Lambert, M. R. Bryce and W. Hong, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2017, 56, 13061.

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