Controlling the Functional Properties of Oligothiophene Crystalline Nano/Microfibers via Tailoring of the Self‐Assembling Molecular Precursors |
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Authors: | Francesca Di Maria Mattia Zangoli Massimo Gazzano Eduardo Fabiano Denis Gentili Alberto Zanelli Andrea Fermi Giacomo Bergamini Davide Bonifazi Andrea Perinot Mario Caironi Vittorio Morandi Giuseppe Gigli Andrea Liscio Giovanna Barbarella |
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Affiliation: | 1. Istituto per la Sintesi Organica e Fotoreattivita' (ISOF), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Bologna, Italy;2. Department of Mathematics and Physics, Ennio De Giorgi University of Salento, Lecce, Italy;3. Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (CNR‐IMM), Lecce, Italy;4. Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies@UNILE, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Arnesano, Italy;5. Istituto per lo studio dei Materiali, Nanostrutturati (ISMN), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Bologna, Italy;6. School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK;7. Department of Chemistry Giacomo Ciamician, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy;8. Center for Nano Science and Technology@PoliMi, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, via Pascoli 70/3, Milano, Italy;9. Istituto per la Microelettronica e i Microsistemi (IMM), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Bologna, Italy;10. CNR‐NANOTEC Institute of Nanotechnology and Department of Mathematics and Physics, Ennio De Giorgi University of Salento, Lecce, Italy;11. Istituto per la Microelettronica e i Microsistemi (IMM), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma, Italy;12. Mediteknology srl, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Bologna, Italy |
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Abstract: | Oligothiophenes are π‐conjugated semiconducting and fluorescent molecules whose self‐assembly properties are widely investigated for application in organic electronics, optoelectronics, biophotonics, and sensing. Here an approach to the preparation of crystalline oligothiophene nano/microfibers is reported based on the use of a “sulfur overrich” quaterthiophene building block, ? T4S4 ? , containing in its covalent network all the information needed to promote the directional, π–π stacking‐driven, self‐assembly of Y‐T4S4‐Y oligomers into fibers with hierarchical supramolecular arrangement from nano‐ to microscale. It is shown that when Y varies from unsubstituted thiophene to thiophene substituted with electron‐withdrawing groups, a wide redistribution of the molecular electronic charge takes place without substantially affecting the aggregation modalities of the oligomer. In this way, a structurally comparable series of fibers is obtained having progressively varying optical properties, redox potentials, photoconductivity, and type of prevailing charge carriers (from p‐ to n‐type). With the aid of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, combined with powder X‐ray diffraction data, a model accounting for the growth of the fibers from molecular to nano‐ and microscale is proposed. |
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Keywords: | charge carriers DFT calculations nano/microfibers oligothiophenes synthesis |
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