Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-177).

The literature surrounding organic small-molecule donor-acceptor systems is summarised for a range of optoelectronic applications (OLEDs, OPVs, OFETs etc.). There is a focus on the key building blocks: 1,3,4-oxadiazole (OXD), diphenylamine (DPA), carbazole (Cbz) and fluorene (F). The incorporation of such moieties into various donor-acceptor systems is discussed with further reference to selected alternative organic donor and acceptor systems. The syntheses of novel bipolar molecules based on a donor-spacer-acceptor (DPA/Cbz-F-OXD) structure and the incorporation of these molecules into single-layer OLEDs is presented. It is demonstrated how the emission colour can be tuned from green to deep blue by systematic manipulation of the structure. A significant result is that high efficiency accompanied with pure, deep blue emission in single-layer OLEDs can be achieved with this structural motif. The incorporation of these materials as part of a simple two-component blend to produce white OLEDs is presented and the modification of the materials to improve electron-transport properties is discussed. The synthesis of DPA-bridge-OXD wire systems is presented with the use of oligo-p-phenyleneethynylene units as a bridge of varying length to investigate the effect on charge transfer between the donor and acceptor. Photophysical studies demonstrate the change in absorption, emission and fluorescence lifetimes as the length scale of the molecules is altered. The synthesis of a series of planarised and twisted DPA-bridge-OXD systems based upon phenylene linkers is discussed. Finally, a series of DPA-F-OXD-anchor molecules is presented for incorporation into DSSC devices. The synthesis of these materials is described and the suitability of various anchoring groups for DSSCs is analysed through photophysical and device studies.

M.Sc. / Donor-acceptor (D-A) systems consist of a donor covalently or non-covalently linked to an acceptor. The simplest D–A system consists of a donor linked to an acceptor and is called a dyad system. Photoactive dyad systems are molecular devices designed to perform through the separation of charge separation states and the conversion of solar energy to chemical energy in analogy to photosynthesis.1 These dyad systems consist of a donor which is usually a chromophore and an acceptor. The design of these systems is guided to mimic photo-induced electron transfer (PET) and charge separation (CS), which are fundamental processes of photosynthesis. In nature, photosynthetic units are often built from dyads consisting of pigments like chlorophyll (donors), non–covalently linked to quinones, (acceptors). The donor harvests light energy and transfers the energy to the nearby pigment molecules until it eventually reaches a special region of the chlorophyll macrocycle called the reaction centre where this light energy is then converted to electrochemical energy. Photoactive dyad systems act as artificial photosynthetic models as they reproduce photo–induced electron transfer and charge separation of natural photosynthesis. In this project, dyad systems were made by covalently linking zinc pheophorbide, a modified chlorophyll derivative to double–walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs). Zinc pheophorbide acts as the donor and DWCNTs as the acceptors. Chlorophyll was modified by cutting the phytol chain and inserting zinc as the central metal to yield zinc pheophorbide. This derivative is stable against irradiation, has a good range of acceptor wavelength and is also a good light harvester. DWCNTs are one dimensional nanowires with two concentric tubes. They readily accept electrons because they have an extended π electron system. These electrons are then transported efficiently under ballistic conditions. DWCNTs were synthesised by catalytic chemical vapour deposition (CCVD) of methane over Mg0.99Co0.075Mo0.025O catalyst. In dyad system 1, amidated zinc pheophorbide molecules were covalently attached to oxidised DWCNTs in the presence of N–ethyl–N’–(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) \ and N–hydroxysuccinnimide (NHS) as a catalysts. Dyad system 2 was synthesized by attaching zinc pheophorbide molecules to amidated DWCNTs using the same catalysts.

In traditional electronics, inorganic materials such as silicon and germanium are used as semiconductors due to their outstanding semiconducting properties. Unfortunately, inorganic materials are rigid due to their high crystalline nature, and processing these materials is complex and expensive. Furthermore, traditional semiconducting materials do not have favorable mechanical properties in applications such as wearable devices and large-area applications with complicated shapes. Conjugated conducting polymers (CCPs) are being explored as alternative materials to conventional semiconductors due to their mechanical properties and high conductivity. CCPs offer properties such as solution and low-temperature processability, flexibility, thermal and optical properties that traditional semiconductors could not provide. These characteristics are essential in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs), Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFETs), and Photovoltaic (PVs) devices. This dissertation focuses on synthesizing rhodamine- and diketopyrrolopyrrole- containing CCPs. Chapter I focuses on the synthesis, and characterization of polyrhodamine (PRho), a semiconducting conjugated polymer containing the rhodamine core in the polymer’s backbone. PRho was synthesized by the Buchwald-Hartwig polycondensation and characterized for its optical and electrochemical properties. We have discovered that the polymer is electrochemically reversible and stable up to 1000 cycles as recorded by cyclic voltammetry between -0.4 and 1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl and stable to extreme acidic and basic conditions without noticeable degradation. Remarkably, the polymer has a conductivity in the semiconductor range of 8.38 x 10-2 S cm–1 when treated with 20% HCl. Chapter II focuses on the synthesis and characterization of four different alkenyl flanked diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) polymers ( PDPPVTV, PDPPVTT, PDPPV3T, and PDPPV4T) synthesized via Stille polycondensation. Different pi-conjugated segments (alkenyl/ PDPPVTV, thiophene/ PDPPVTT, thienothiophene/ PDPPV3T, and dithienothiophene/ PDPPV4T) were used to tune the optoelectrical properties of the polymers. The effect of the alkenyl groups and different pi-conjugated segments on the optoelectrical and charge mobility properties were determined by UV/visible spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and FET characteristics. Three of the four polymers, except PPP4T, showed good solubility in chloroform. All the polymers showed high thermal stabilities in TGA and semi-crystalline nature in X-Ray diffraction patterns. PDPPVTV and PDPPVTT exhibited hole mobilities of 1.8 x 10-3 cm2 V-1 s-1 and 0.25 cm2 V-1 s-1, respectively. .

Due to the drastic required thermodynamical requirements, a photoelectrode material that can function as both a photocathode and a photoanode remains elusive. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time that, under simulated solar light and without co-catalysts, donor-acceptor conjugated acetylenic polymers (CAPs) exhibit both impressive oxygen evolution (OER) and hydrogen evolution (HER) photocurrents in alkaline and neutral medium, respectively. In particular, poly(2,4,6-tris(4-ethynylphenyl)-1,3,5-triazine) (pTET) provides a benchmark OER photocurrent density of ~200 μA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) at pH 13 and a remarkable HER photocurrent density of ~190 μA cm−2 at 0.3 V vs. RHE at pH 6.8. By combining theoretical investigations and electrochemical-operando Resonance Raman spectroscopy, we show that the OER proceeds with two different mechanisms, with the electron-depleted triple bonds acting as single-site OER in combination with the C4-C5 atoms of the phenyl rings as dual sites. The HER, instead, occurs via an electron transfer from the tri-acetylenic linkages to the triazine rings, which act as the HER active sites. This work represents a novel application of organic-based materials and contributes to the development of high-performance photoelectrochemical catalysts for the solar fuels’ generation.

Ultrafast charge and electron transfer, primary events in artificial photosynthesis, are key in solar energy harvesting. This dissertation provides insight into photo-induced charge and electron transfer in the donor and acceptor constructs built using a range of donor and acceptor entities, including transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), and tungsten disulfide (WS2)), N-doped graphene, diketopyrrolopyrrol (DPP), boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY), benzothiadiazole (BTD), free base and metal porphyrins, zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc), phenothiazine (PTZ), triphenylamine (TPA), ferrocene (Fc), fullerene (C60), tetracyanobutadiene (TCBD), and dicyanoquinodimethane (DCNQ). The carefully built geometries and configurations of the donor and (D), acceptor (A), with a spacer in these constructs promote intramolecular charge transfer, and intervalence charge transfer to enhance charge and electron transfer efficiencies. Steady-state UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence and phosphorescence spectroscopies, electrochemistry (cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV)), spectroelectrochemistry (absorption spectroscopy under controlled potential electrolysis), transient absorption spectroscopy, and quantum mechanical calculations (density functional theory, DFT) are used to probe ground and the excited state events as well as excited state charge separation resulting in cation and anion species. The current findings are useful for the increased reliance on renewable energy resources, especially solar energy.

Les hétérojonctions formées de deux matériaux, un donneur et un accepteur (D/A), sont la base de la majorité des mélanges photovoltaïques organiques. Les mécanismes de séparation des charges dans ces systèmes représentent aujourd'hui l'un des sujets les plus chauds et les plus débattus dans ce domaine. Nous entrons au coeur de ce débat en choisissant un système D/A à base de phtalocyanine de cuivre (CuPc) et de fullerène (C60). Pour sonder les états excités de nos molécules et obtenir de l'information sur les phénomènes à l'interface D/A, nous réalisons une expérience pompe-sonde, appelée absorption photoinduite (PIA). Nous y mesurons le changement fractionnaire de transmission au travers de l'échantillon. Les mesures de PIA sont réalisées à l'état de quasi équilibre, à T=10K. Nous observons une modulation prononcée dans la région du photoblanchiment de l'état fondamental qui nous indique que la pompe induit un décalage du spectre d'absorption de l'état fondamental. Ce décalage peut être expliqué par deux processus : soit l'échantillon est chauffé par la pompe (effet thermique) ou bien des charges sont créées à l'interface entre les deux matériaux (effet Stark). La dépendance en température du spectre d'absorption entre 10K et 290K montre une signature thermique pour un changement de température de 80K. Grâce au ratio des raies Raman anti-Stokes et Stokes, nous démontrons que la pompe chauffe l'échantillon de 34 K, température insuffisante pour attribuer notre signal à un effet thermique. Nous évaporons ensuite la bicouche CuPc/C60 sur de l'ITO et du saphir, substrats qui possèdent des conductivités thermiques différentes et nous observons le même signal de PIA, excluant par le fait même l'hypothèse de l'effet thermique. Puisque notre étude est comparable à la spectroscopie à effet Stark, nous procédons à une analyse similaire en comparant notre signal de PIA au spectre de la transmittance et à ses dérivés première et seconde. Nous observons alors que notre signal reproduit presque parfaitement la dérivée seconde de la transmittance. Ces résultats sont conformes à une signature optique d'effet Stark due à la création de charges à l'interface D/A. / Nowadays, the donor/acceptor (D/A) structure is one of the most popular configuration for organic solar cells. The charge separation mechanisms in this type of systems is now a hot topic of debate in this field of research. To adress this debate, we choose a D/A system made of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) and fullerene (C60). In this work, we perform quasi-steady-state photoinduced absorption (PIA) measurements which consist of a pump-probe experiment where we measure the fractional change in transmission through the sample. This experiment probes the excited states of our molecules and gives us informations about the photophysics near the interface between the two materials. The measurements were mainly done at T=10K. We observe a strong modulation of the ground state photobleaching that indicates that the laser excitation induces a shift of the ground state absorption spectrum. This shift can be ascribed to two processes: either the pump is heating the sample (heat transfer) or charge are being created at the interface between the two materials (Stark effect). The temperature dependence of the absorption spectrum between T=10K and T=290K shows a thermal signature for a change in temperature of 80K. By calculating the ratio of the Raman Stokes and anti-Stokes peaks, we establish that the pump heat up the sample of 34K, an insufficient temperature to assign the change of transmittance to a thermal effect. We then evaporate our CuPc/C60 bilayer on ITO and sapphire, two substrates with different thermal conductivities and we observe the same signal thereby excluding the assumption of the thermal effect. Since our study bears a resemblance to Stark spectroscopy, we justify the use of a similar analysis by comparing our PIA signal to the transmittance spectrum of our molecules and its first and second derivative. We find that the signal reproduces almost perfectly the second derivative. Thus, we attribute the aforementioned results to an optical signature of Stark effect due to the creation of charges at the heterojunction.

The pi-electron oligomers: Their synthesis and properties This diploma thesis is focused on the synthesis of p-oligophenyleneethynylene rods (dimer and trimer) containing laterally attached naphtalenediimide units as electron acceptor groups. These functionalised short oligomers are intended to serve as model oligodentate acceptors in the study on multiple interactions with electron rich molecules. The oligomers were assembled from building blocks such as aryl iodides and aryl alkynes bearing a naphthalenediimide unit. The functionalised monomers were combined in a stepwise way by using Sonogashira reaction to form the target p-oligophenyleneethynylene oligomers. The introductory UV-VIS spectroscopic studies on charge transfer complexes between electron donor (pyrene) and electron acceptor (a naphthalenediimide derivative) were performed. In addition, multiple noncovalent interaction between the electron acceptor dimer containing two naphthalenedimide moieties and the electron donor dimer containing two pyrene moieties were investigated by using 1 H NMR titration. The resulting oligomers and their precursors were characterized by using 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, MS and IR spectroscopy.

Donor-acceptor conjugated polymers opened a new era for conjugated polymer research due to the abundant selection and combination of different conjugated units. This class of polymers function as semiconductor materials with potential application in plastic consumer electronics. The frontier molecular orbital energies of the polymers are generally determined by the selection of donor and acceptor units in the backbone structure, and their substituents. The side chains attached to the backbone not only affect the solubility of the materials, but also their self-assembly and morphological characteristics, which indirectly govern optoelectronic properties. It is important therefore to consider backbone architectures and the side chains together, to control (opto)-electronic properties for specific applications, while also maintaining solution processability without disrupting solid-state packing. The research presented in this dissertation focuses largely on the side chains: how the bulk and position of side chains affect the (opto)-electronic properties of select donor-acceptor (D-A) conjugated polymers. More precisely the intent is to vary the size and position of branches in the alkyl side chains of donor-acceptor polymers, in the attempt to solubilize poorly soluble polymers, without disrupting self-assembly of the polymer backbones into close p-stacks. After an introductory chapter 1, chapter 2 mainly focuses on the synthesis and structure-property study of polymers with 2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzene (TFB) as the acceptor motif and benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene (BDT) as donor units carrying solubilizing substituents. TFB units were chosen based on previous observations that this acceptor unit imparts particularly poor solubility to various donor-acceptor copolymers. The current study indicates that bulky branches placed close to the polymer backbone could solubilize the PBDTTFB copolymers without altering the absorption profile and oxidation potentials. Optical, wide-angle x-ray diffraction (WAXD) and solubility studies shows that solubility is closely related to branching size and position. As the branch size in increased, the solubility of these polymers undergoes a step-change. The third chapter mainly focuses on the structure-property study of D-A polymers with thienopyrroledione (TPD) as acceptor. Unlike TFB, this acceptor can carry additional side chains that can compete with the space-filling demands of the donor unit side chains. As donor, the rigid BDT unit was compared with 3,3’-dialkoxy-2,2’bithiophene (RO2T2) units which have a similar size, but contain a “swiveling” central σ-bond. Bulkiness of side chains attached to the T2 units should be expected to have a more severe impact, possibly causing the two thiophene units of the T2 units to twist out of plane. It was demonstrated that alkoxy side chains with bulky branches in close proximity to the polymer backbones does not disrupt conjugation in these polymers. The UV-Vis absorption spectra of RO2T2-TPD polymers were red-shifted (more than 120 nm) in comparison to PBDTTPD polymers due to the smaller Eg (energy gap), which might be attributed to the expected higher energy HOMO imparted by the donor unit. The π-π stacking of polymers with BDT units was little affected by the bulky side chains. However, the π-π stacking of polymers with RO2T2 units was much more sensitive to side-chain bulk, with high degree of order and close π-π stacking only if proper local free spacing exists for side-chain interdigitation. Chapter 4 reports efforts to study polymers from the same set of RO2T2 monomers studied in Chapter 3, but without acceptor units that might otherwise drive self-assembly. RO2T2 homopolymers were synthesized via the Grignard metathesis (GRIM) method. Further, copolymers were prepared with RO2T2 units alternating with thiophene, thieno[3,2-b]thiophene or bithiophene. The spectroscopic studies suggest these polymers with bulky side chains exhibit some varying level of backbone conjugation. Somewhat surprisingly, despite an expected decrease in the strength of intermolecular donor-acceptor interactions, the solubilities were in some cases low, but varied with volume fraction of side chains. Further, even for polymers that appear to easily dissolve, aggregation in solution is so extensive as to give ensembles “too large” for characterization by GPC and or solution NMR. Oxidation potentials seem essentially insensitive to any of the structural variables (governed mostly by the backbone RO2T2 units).

<p>This thesis describes an interdisciplinary project, where the aim is to mimic the initial reactions in photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, the absorption of light is followed by the formation of charge-separated states. The energy stored in these charge-separated states is further used for the oxidation of water and reduction of carbon dioxide. In this thesis the photo-induced processes in a range of supramolecular complexes have been investigated with time resolved spectroscopic techniques. The complexes studied consist of three types of units; photosensitizers (P) capable of absorbing light, electron acceptors (A) that are easily reduced and electron donors (D) that are easily oxidised. Our results are important for the future design of artificial photosystems, where the goal is to produce hydrogen from light and water. </p><p>Two molecular triads with a D-P-A architecture are presented. In the first one, a photo-induced charge-separated state was formed in an unusually high yield (φ>90%). In the second triad, photo-irradiation led to the formation of an extremely long-lived charge-separated state (τ = 500 ms at 140K). This is also the first synthetically made triad containing a dinuclear manganese unit as electron donor.</p><p>Further, two sets of P-A dyads are presented. In both, the expected photo-induced reduction of the electron acceptor is diminished due to competing energy transfer to the triplet state of the acceptor.</p><p>Finally, a P-P-A complex containing two separate photosensitizers is described. The idea is to produce high-energy charge-separated states by using the energy from two photons.</p>