Issue 17, 2021

Nanoconfining solution-processed organic semiconductors for emerging optoelectronics

Abstract

Solution-processable organic materials for emerging electronics can generally be divided into two classes of semiconductors, organic small molecules and polymers. The theoretical thermodynamic limits of device performance are largely determined by the molecular structure of these compounds, and advances in synthetic routes have led to significant progress in charge mobilities and light conversion and light emission efficiencies over the past several decades. Still, the uncontrolled formation of out-of-equilibrium film microstructures and unfavorable polymorphs during rapid solution processing remains a critical bottleneck facing the commercialization of these materials. This tutorial review provides an overview of the use of nanoconfining scaffolds to impose order onto solution-processed semiconducting films to overcome this limitation. For organic semiconducting small molecules and polymers, which typically exhibit strong crystal growth and charge transport anisotropy along different crystallographic directions, nanoconfining crystallization within nanopores and nanogrooves can preferentially orient the fast charge transport direction of crystals with the direction of current flow in devices. Nanoconfinement can also stabilize high-performance metastable polymorphs by shifting their relative Gibbs free energies via increasing the surface area-to-volume ratio. Promisingly, such nanoconfinement-induced improvements in film and crystal structures have been demonstrated to enhance the performance and stability of emerging optoelectronics that will enable large-scale manufacturing of flexible, lightweight displays and solar cells.

Graphical abstract: Nanoconfining solution-processed organic semiconductors for emerging optoelectronics

Article information

Article type
Tutorial Review
Submitted
04 máj 2021
First published
06 júl 2021

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2021,50, 9375-9390

Author version available

Nanoconfining solution-processed organic semiconductors for emerging optoelectronics

Y. Zhang, A. Chen, M. Kim, A. Alaei and S. S. Lee, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2021, 50, 9375 DOI: 10.1039/D1CS00430A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements