Organic semiconductors (OSCs), compared to the more traditional silicon, are enticing materials for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices (e.g., transistors, photovoltaic cells, light-emitting diodes) due notably to the lower cost associated with their preparation and purification, as well as their increased solubility in solvents which can accommodate large-scale fabrication. However, a higher degree of molecular disorder typically results in lower performance than silicon and remains an issue to be adressed. As the structure of an OSC is crucial to its performance, understanding the nature of this structure-property relationship is key to further the field of OSCs. In this regard, this thesis explores the optoelectronic properties of different π-conjugated organic frameworks which incorporate sulphur and nitrogen atoms along the rigid conjugated backbone for their desirable impacts on charge mobilities and stability.
After a brief review of both small-molecule OSCs as well as key experimental techniques employed in the course of this work, chapter three covers the synthesis and characterization of dithiatetrazocines (DTTA), electron-deficient sulphur-nitrogen heterocycles, which were functionalized with various (oligo)thienyls pendants. The impact of both the substitution patterns and the degree of conjugation on the optoelectronic and solid-state properties of the ring system was investigated.
The fourth chapter expands on previous work from the Brusso group that focused on extending the 2D conjugation of tetrathienoanthracene. While oligothienyls were previously shown to effectively increase the degree of conjugation, little to no change in device performance were observed, which was ascribed to disorder of the rotatable pendants. Here, rigid thieno[3,2-b]thiophene was used instead to increase both the degree of conjugation while maintaining structural rigidity, as assessed by optical, electrochemical and theoretical studies.
The fifth chapter introduces preliminary work toward expanding the electron-deficient hexaazatrinaphtylene core with thiophene rings. The resulting concentric donor-acceptor structure promotes luminescent behavior with pronounced emission solvatochromism. Optical measurements were performed before and after intramolecular cyclization of the thiophene rings, to study the impact of aromatization on the optoelectronic properties of the system.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/36754 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Magnan, François |
| Contributors | Brusso, Jaclyn |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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