<p>Label-free detection of DNA has been successfully demonstrated on field effect transistor (FET) based devices. Since conducting organic materials was discovered and have attracted more and more research efforts by their profound advantages, this work will focus on utilizing an organic field effect transistor (OFET) as DNA sensor.</p><p>An OFET constructed with a transporting fluidic channel, WetOFET, forms a fluid-polymer (active layer) interface where the probe DNA can be introduced. DNA hybridization and non-hybridization after injecting target DNA and non-target DNA were monitored by transistor characteristics. The Hysteresis area of transfer curve increased after DNA hybridization which may be caused by the increasing electrostatic screening induced by the increasing negative charge from target DNA. The different morphology of coating surface could also influence the OFET response.</p>

Orientador: Bernardo Laks / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T11:04:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcal_Nei_D.pdf: 86929566 bytes, checksum: 04c8aa7c4176175d973ff0990de45bad (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: Antes da década de 70, todos os materiais poliméricos eram considerados como isolantes e suas aplicações tecnológicas levavam em conta esta característica. De lá para cá, uma nova classe desses materiais, os polímeros conjugados, determinaram uma nova forma de aplicação de sistemas poliméricos baseados em suas propriedades elétricas e de ótica não-linear. Um maior estímulo surgiu a partir do experimento de Mac Diarmid, Heeger e Shirakawa [1] que, expondo o Poliacetileno a agentes oxidantes, demonstraram ser possível obter um sistema no estado metálico. Atualmente encontramos filmes de Poliacetileno com condutividade elétrica da ordem do cobre (105 S/cm). O Poliacetileno, quando no regime metálico, i.e., sob alta dopagem, apresenta algumas características de metal comum: alta condutividade elétrica (cresce 13 ordens de grandeza), susceptibilidade de Pauli finita e absorção no infravermelho. Já outras propriedades como a presença de modos vibracionais localizados no infravermelho e o não comportamento da condutividade com o inverso da temperatura evidenciam ser este um material não usual. Estes polímeros conjugados que apresentam uma extensiva delocalização de elétrons são considerados semicondutores orgânicos com gap de energia relativamente pequeno, da ordem de 1,5 a 2,0 eV. O comportamento semicondutor e as propriedades decorrentes entre os elétrons e a luz têm originado a construção de vários dispositivos semicondutores e optoeletrônicos [2, 7, 3]. Problemas técnicos como estabilidade ao ambiente, processabilidade e solubilidade destes materiais provocaram a produção de uma nova classe de materiais poliméricos que foi obtida por polimerização eletroquímica [57, 58, 59] cuja estrutura molecular trata-se de sistemas que introduzem grupos vinilas (V) entre anéis de tiofeno (T). Experimentos de voltametria cíclica, espectroscopia de absorção ótica e ressonância eletrônica de spin indicam que esses sistemas possuem potencial de ionização e gap de energia menores que o apresentado pelo Politiofeno. Estudos com oligômeros de tiofeno (T) com vinilenos (V) sugerem a possibilidade de escolha desse material como alternativa ao politiofeno. O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar teoricamente a influência do grupo vinila (V) sobre as propriedades eletrônicas nestes polímeros, reproduzir os resultados experimentais e determinar qual proporção de vinilenos (V) e tiofenos (T) que provoque o menor gap de energia de forma que quando sobre dopagem possibilite uma transição isolante metal. Desta maneira, primeiramente, determinamos as geometrias dos sistemas de interesse utilizando métodos semi-empíricos. Posteriormente investigamos a estrutura eletrônica dos polímeros de tiofeno (T) com vinilenos (V), sendo que estes polímeros foram estudados para o caso neutro e na presença de defeitos conformacionais do tipo pólaron e bipólaron. Finalizamos o estudo investigando as absorções ópticas UV-vis dos sistemas de interesse através de cálculos semi-empíricos utilizando o código ZINDO/S. / Abstract: Before the 1970s, all polymeric materials were considered insulators; therefore their technological applications would take this trait into account. Since then, a new development on these materials, the conjugated polymers, determined new applications for polymeric systems based in their electrical and nonlinear optical properties. Greater interest arose from the experiment by Mac Diarmid, Heeger and Shirakawa [1] who, by using polyacetylene and oxidizing agents, showed that it is possible to obtain a system in the metallic state. Nowadays it is possible to find polyacetylene films with electrical conductivity of the order of copper (10-5 S/cm). Polyacetylene, when in its metallic behavior, i.e., under high dopage, presents some characteristics of real metal: high electrical conductivity (increased by 13 orders of magnitude), finite Pauli susceptibility and infrared absorption. On the other hand, other properties such as the presence of vibrational modes localized on infrared and the odd behavior of conductivity versus the inverse of temperature make clear that this is a unusual material. These conjugated polymers, presenting an extensive delocalization of electrons, are considered organic semiconductors with relatively low energy gap, of the order of 1.5 to 2.0 eV. The semiconductive behavior and the resulting properties of the interaction between electrons and light have been the drive for the manufacturing of several semiconductor and optoelectronic devices [2, 7, 3]. Technical problems, such as environmental stability, processability and solubility of these materials, gave rise to the production of a new kind of polymeric materials that were obtained by electrochemical polymerization [57, 58, 59], in which the molecular structure is a system that introduces vinylene groups (V) between tiophene rings (T). Experiments involving cyclic voltametry, optical absorption spectrometry and spin electronic ressonance indicate that these systems have ionization potential and energy gap smaller than those presented by Polythiophene. Studies with thiopene oligomers (T) with vinylene (V) suggest this material can be chosen as an alternative to Polytiophene. The goal of this work is to theoretically investigate the in uence of the vinyle group (V) on the electronic properties on these polymers, reproduce experimental results and determine what is the vinylene (V) to thiophene (T) rate that causes the smallest energy gap, such that doping will produce a insulator-metal transition. Therefore, we first determine the target systems' geometry using semi-empirical methods. Then we investigate the electronic structure of the tiophene (T) and vinylene (V) polymers both for neutral systems and in the presence of conformational defects of polaron and bipolaron types. We nalized the study by investigating the UV-vis optical absorption of the target systems through semi-empirical calculations using ZINDO/S code. / Doutorado / Estrutura Eletronica de Atomos e Moleculas ; Teoria / Doutor em Ciências

Polymer solar cells form a promising technology for converting sunlight into electricity, and have reached record efficiencies over 10% and lifetimes of several years. The performance of polymer solar cells depends strongly on the distribution of electron donor and acceptor materials in the active layer. To achieve longer lifetimes, degradation processes in the materials have to be understood. In this thesis, a set of complementary spectroscopy and microscopy techniques, among which soft X-ray techniques have been used to determine the morphology of polymer:fullerene based active layers. We have found that the morphology of TQ1:PC70BM films is strongly influenced by the processing solvent and the use of solvent additives. We have also found, by using soft X-ray techniques, that not only the light-absorbing polymer TQ1, but also the fullerene is susceptible to photo-degradation in air. Moreover, the fullerene degradation is accelerated in the presence of the polymer. Additionally, this thesis addresses the role of the interfacial layers for device performance and stability. The commonly used hole transport material PEDOT:PSS has the advantage of being solution processable at room temperature, but this layer is also known to contribute to the device degradation. We have found that low-temperature processed NiOx is a promising alternative to PEDOT:PSS, leading to improved device performance. Even for encapsulated polymer solar cells, some photo-induced degradation of the electrical performance is observed and is found to depend on the nature of the hole transport material. We found a better initial stability for solar cells with MoO3 hole transport layers than with PEDOT:PSS. In the pursuit of understanding the initial decrease in electrical performance of PEDOT:PSS-based devices, simulations were performed, from which a number of degradation sources could be excluded. / With the increasing global demand for energy, solar cells provide a clean method for converting the abundant sunlight to electricity. Polymer solar cells can be made from a large variety of light-harvesting and electrically conducting molecules and are inexpensive to produce. They have additional advantages, like their mechanical flexibility and low weight, which opens opportunities for novel applications. In order for polymer solar cells to be more competitive, however, both the power conversion efficiencies and lifetimes need to further improve. One way to achieve this is to optimize the morphology of the active layer. The active layer of a polymer solar cell consists of electron donating and electron accepting molecules whose distribution in the bulk of the film is a major factor that determines the solar cell performance. This thesis presents the use of complementary spectroscopy and microscopy methods to probe the local composition in the active layer of polymer solar cells. The stability of the active layer is studied and the interplay between the photo-degradation of the donor and acceptor molecules is investigated. Additionally, this thesis addresses how the interfacial layers between the active layer and the electrodes can influence device performance and stability. / <p>I publikationen felaktigt ISBN 978-91-7063-739-1</p>

Today, smart innovation has become an essential part of human life; thus, contemporary technologies are always looking for intelligent, responsive, and efficient materials to satisfy these demands. Consequently, synthetic "metals" or, more precisely, intrinsically conducting polymers (CPs) have begun to find a place as valuable and practical materials for a new generation of devices. Amongst all intrinsic conducting polymers, polyaniline (PANI) has attracted significant attention due to its outstanding air and moisture stability, simple preparation technique, and high electrical conductivity (chapter I). Chapter II represents the synthesis of a new PANI derivative that contains a phenoxazine unit co-polymerized with p-phenylenediamine derivatives by the Buchwald/Hartwig reaction. These polymers are soluble in many common organic solvents, which permit their full characterization and allow for solution processing. The polymers' optical properties mimicked PANI; however, they were more electrochemically stable and soluble compared to PANI. In addition, the analogous PANI emeraldine base forms a large bathochromic shift in the absorption spectra upon acidic doping to form analogues of PANI emeraldine salts. Chapter III describes our strategy to prepare economical, electrochemically stable, and processable PANI derivatives from carbazole and 1,4-aryldiamines for supercapacitor device. The polymers exhibit good solubility in various organic solvents, enabling a scalable spray-coating method to fabricate electrodes. The polymers were used to fabricate electrodes for supercapacitor devices and exhibit a maximum area capacitance of 64.8 mF cm−2 and specific capacitance of 319 F g−1 at a current density of 0.2 mA cm−2. Chapter IV MXene has been recently widely applied to energy storage devices due to its metallic conductivity and excellent electrochemical Activities. However, MXene sheets suffer from the restacking phenomena during cycling. Restacking restricts the ion diffusions and storage capability between the MXene layers, which lowers the accessible surface area. The restacking phenomena of MXene sheets was shown to be eliminated by the deposition of conductive polymers on the surface of MXene sheets.

No description available.

<p><p lang="en-US">This experimental research thesis describes the combination of conjugated polymers and carbon nanotubes with the fields of electrophoretic deposition (EPD) and organic solar cells. Prior to these contributions, soluble conjugated polymers and carbon nanotubes that have been functionalized by them had not yet been deposited by EPD from solution or by using non-toxic solvents. Additionally, EPD had not yet been utilized to deposit the active layer in a solid organic photovoltaic device. <p lang="en-US">The EPD of soluble conjugated polymer functionalized carbon nanotubes from non-toxic solvents was achieved through an iterative process of experimentation and technique refinement. The developed EPD technique utilized the high pH region at the cathode substrate to neutralize positively charged weak polyelectrolytes macromolecules. Their functional groups were protonated using a minimized amount of acetic acid which also enabled their solubility. Deprotonation of the quaternary ammonium functional groups rendered them neutrally charged and insoluble tertiary amines. This mechanism facilitated the formation of coatings that were predictable and uniform in appearance and thickness. <p lang="en-US">Control over coating thickness was demonstrated by coatings spanning 100 nm to 10 μm. These coatings were produced by adjusting the applied voltage, solution concentration, and tuning the deposition duration. <p lang="en-US">Techniques for the fabrication of a photovoltaic device using an active layer produced by EPD were established though modifications of general organic photovoltaic device fabrication procedures. These modifications involved redesigning the photolithographic ITO etching pattern, adding an insulating barrier strip, thickening the aluminum electrode layer, and switching the top buffer layer from LiF to BCP.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Conjugated organic polymers have attracted immense interest for use in the active layer of photovoltaic cells, electroluminescent displays and diagnostic sensors. Precise control of the chemical structure of these conjugated materials is essential to achieve better device performance and certain structural aspects which have received minimal investigation include; the nature of the end groups, the precise control of the molecular weight and the formation of novel polymer topologies. Absolute control of these factors, in particular the end groups, has the potential to further tune the electro-optical properties, eliminate charge trapping and reactive sites, and facilitate block copolymer formation. The ring opening metathesis polymerisation of highly strained cyclophanediene monomers has proven to be an advantageous route to obtain soluble poly(p-phenylenevinylene)s (PPVs). In an extension of this previous work PPVs with both a pristine polymer backbone microstructure and a range of well-defined functional end groups have been prepared. These polymers exhibited excellent degrees of functionality, relatively narrow unimodal distributions and degrees of polymerisation much higher than those attainable by alternate routes. In particular the incorporation of an α-bromoester end group directly resulted in PPVs which were effective macroinitiators in the atom transfer radical polymerisation of methyl methacrylate. The diblock copolymers prepared by this route were isolated with narrow polydispersities, unimodal distributions and were free from homopolymer impurities. This method of preparing rod-b-coil diblock copolymers, where the properties of the two segments can readily be modified, provides access to materials which are of interest for both their self-assembly ability and for the development of a much required phase diagram in this area. Cyclic PPVs are of synthetic interest both for the absence of any end groups and for an infinitely long π-conjugated backbone, both of which are expected to contribute to unique electro-optical properties. The preparation of these target polymers was investigated by the ring expansion metathesis polymerisation of the cyclophanediene monomers. The formation of purely cyclic, low molecular weight PPVs was found to be highly dependent on both the reaction conditions used and the nature of the solubilising substituents. For example the preparation of purely cyclic PPVs with alkoxy side chains was unsuccessful, however the incorporation of alkyl side chains allowed for the successful isolation of the desired cyclic polymers.

Planar electronic devices represent an attractive approach towards roll-to-roll printed electronics without the need for the sequential, precisely aligned, patterning steps inherent in the fabrication of conventional ‘3D’ electronic devices. Self-switching diodes (SSDs) and in-plane-gate field-effect transistors (IPG-FETs) can be patterned using a single process into a substrate precoated with semiconductor.These devices function in depletion mode, requiring the semiconductor to be doped in order for the devices to function. To achieve this, a reliable and controllable method was developed for doping organic semiconducting polymers by the immersion of optimally deposited films in a solution of dopant. The process was shown to apply both semicrystalline and air-stable, amorphous materials indicating that the approach is broadly applicable to a wide range of organic semiconductors.Simultaneously with the development of the doping protocol specialised hot-embossing equipment was designed and constructed and a high-yielding method of patterning the structures of IPG-FETs and SSDs was arrived at. This method allowed for consistent and reliable patterning of features with a minimum line-width of 200nm.Following the development of these doping and patterning processes these were combined to fabricate controllably doped, functioning planar devices. SSDs showed true zero-threshold rectification behaviour with no observed breakdown in the reverse direction up to 100 V. IPG-FETs showed switching behaviour in response to an applied gate potential and were largely free of detectable gate leakage current, verifying the quality of the patterning process.Furthermore, high-performance semiconducting polymer PAAD was synthesised and characterised in field-effect transistors as steps towards its use in planar electronic devices. It was also shown that this material could be doped using the developed immersion doping protocol and that this protocol was compatible with top-gated device architectures and the use of fluoropolymer CYTOP as a dielectric.

This thesis presents a study of lasing properties and optical amplification in semiconducting conjugated polymers and dendrimers. Configured as surface-emitting distributed feedback lasers, the effect of incorporating wavelength-scale microstructure on the output of the devices is examined along with the ability to create such structures using simplified fabrication processes such as soft lithography. Conjugated materials have received a great deal of interest due to their broad spectral absorption, emission, ability to exhibit gain and ease of processing from solution. As a result, they show great potential for a variety of applications such as photovoltaics, displays, amplifiers and lasers. To date however, there has only been one demonstration of a polymer optical amplifier. A broadband, solution based polymer amplifier is presented where the gain overlaps with the transmission window of polymer optical fibres. The effect of transitions that reduce the availability of gain in conjugated polymers is also examined by studying saturation of absorption in thin films. Producing wavelength scale microstructure is traditionally a slow, expensive technique. Here, solvent assisted micromoulding is used to pattern polymer films in less than two minutes. The effect of the variations in the pattern transfer on the laser characteristics is examined. The micromoulding technique is then applied to fabricating novel device types such as circular gratings and flexible plastic lasers. Encapsulation of the micromoulded laser is then shown to improve the lifetime of the device by over three orders of magnitude. The degradation effects witnessed during this extended operation are characterised quantitatively, an area of study where little data exists in the literature. A novel class of branched dendrimer materials whose properties can be independently tuned due to their modular architecture are configured as blue-emitting distributed feedback lasers. The ability to tune the emission wavelength by varying the film thickness is demonstrated. By changing the chemical groups contained within the molecule, further tuning of the emission can be obtained along with the demonstration of a highly efficient blue-emitting dendrimer laser. Chemosensing using dendrimer lasers is presented by demonstrating the incredibly sensitive response of the laser device to trace vapours of nitro-benzene compounds. The future application of which could be highly beneficial in the detection of explosives.

Organic solar cells offer the possibility for lightweight, flexible, and inexpensive photovoltaic devices. This thesis studies the physics of a wide range of materials designed for use in organic solar cells. The materials investigated include conjugated polymers, conjugated dendrimers, and inorganic nanocrystals. The materials studied in this thesis fall into five categories: conjugated polymers blended with a buckminsterfullerene derivative PCBM, nanocrystals synthesised in a conjugated polymer matrix, conjugated polymers designed for intramolecular charge separation, conjugated dendrimers blended with PCBM, and nanocrystals synthesised in a matrix of conjugated small molecules or dendrimers. Conjugated polymers blended with PCBM have been extensively studied for photovoltaic applications, and hence form an ideal test bed for new experiments. In this thesis this blend was used to achieve the first pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance experiments on organic solar cells. Nanocrystals are attractive for photovoltaics because it is possible to tune their band gap across the solar spectrum. In this thesis a one-pot synthesis is used to grow PbS and CdS nanocrystals in conjugated polymers, soluble small molecules, and dendrimers, and characterisation is performed on these composites. Previous work on dendrimer: nanocrystal composites has been limited to non-conjugated molecules, and the synthesis developed in this thesis extends this work to a conjugated oligomer and a conjugated dendrimer. This synthesis can potentially be extended to a variety of conjugated soluble small molecule: nanocrystal and dendrimer: nanocrystal systems. Conjugated dendrimers have been successfully employed in organic light emitting diodes, and in this thesis they are applied to organic solar cells. Materials based on fluorene and cyanine dye cores show excellent absorption tunability across the solar spectrum. A set of electronically asymetric polymers designed for intramolecular charge separation were investigated. Quenching of the luminescence was observed, and light induced electron paramagnetic resonance measurements revealed that photoexcitation led to approximately equal numbers of positive polarons and nitro centred radical anions. This indicates that charge separation is occurring in these molecules.