Among the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, although perylene is commercially available and possesses higher solubility and stability than the others, its thin-film structures and organic field-effect transistor (OFET) performances have been rarely explored. To understand its potential as an active material in OFETs, the polymorphic behaviors, packing structures, and OFET characteristics of perylene were carefully examined. The well-oriented crystal arrays of perylene prepared via droplet-pinned crystallization delivered the highest hole mobility among the reported perylene OFETs. Fluorescence microscope, electron diffraction, and lattice modeling results confirm the polymorphic behavior of perylene in the solution-processed crystal arrays and its influences on the OFET performances. The concentration-sensitive and temperature-sensitive polymorphic behavior of perylene make processing conditions crucial in the preparation of pure-phase crystal arrays. The results show the great potential of perylene as an active material in low-cost and high-performance OFETs. Moreover, the knowledge regarding the polymorphic behavior of perylene provides opportunity for the further optimization of perylene-based OFETs.

In organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), the quality of chargetransport pathway, controlled by crystal structures of organic semiconductors (OSCs), strongly affects the performance of the device. To achieve higher charge mobility, solution-processed single-crystal (SPSC) techniques have been used to decrease crystal defects by aligning the crystals of OSCs in the in-plane direction. Nonetheless, through SPSC techniques, whether the crystalline lattices are wellaligned in the out-of-plane direction and how the out-of-plane lattice misorientaion affects OFET performances remain unclear. Here, a characterization protocol based on polarized optical microscope, X-ray diffraction, and electron diffraction is established to identify the lattice structure, the in-plane and out-of-plane lattice alignment in the crystal array of 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene (TIPS-PEN). Regardless of the solvents used in the PDMS-assisted crystallization, the characterization protocol confirms that all the crystal arrays share the same lattice structure (form I phase), and have similar in-plane lattice alignment. However, TIPS-PEN molecules have sufficient time to unify their out-of-plane orientation and prevent the formation of low angle grain boundary (LAGB) during crystal growth if high boiling temperature solvents are used. The improved out-of-plane lattice alignment increases the hole mobility and decreases the performance fluctuations of devices. The results confirm that the out-of-plane lattice alignment significantly impacts the performance of the devices and the reproducibility of the solution-processed TIPS-PEN OFETs.

Until now, only limited DPP oligomers delivered ambipolar semiconductor characteristics. To develop a facile strategy of preparing ambipolar mono-DPP oligomers, two dithienyl diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPPT) based-conjugated molecules, DPPT-RD and DPPT-DCV, which contain 3-ethylrhodanine (RD) and dicyano-2-vinyl (DCV) end substituents were synthesized. The influences of the -RD end substituents on the molecular properties, solid-state morphology, and OFET performances of the DPPT oligomer were investigated. The UV–vis absorption and CV results showed that the RD end substituents provide the DPPT oligomer suitable E HOMO and E LUMO for hole and electron injection from the Au source-drain electrodes. Moreover, the RD end substituents also improve the crystalline nature of the DPPT oligomer. That is, DPPT-RD can form crystal arrays with good lattice orientation, larger crystalline size, and without polymorphism. With those properties, DPPT-RD thus display ambipolar characteristic with μh and μe reaching 2.16 × 10–2 and 7.27 × 10–2 cm2 V–1 s–1, respectively.

An A−D−A oligomer, DTS(F 2 BT) 2 , was synthesized; its structural evolution was studied with DSC, POM, 2D-WAXD, and in-situ GI-XRD. The structural evolution of DTS(F 2 BT) 2 is stepwise and kinetically slow. Both rapid drying and the presence of PC 71 BM trapped DTS(F 2 BT) 2 in a less ordered nematic (N) phase. PDMS-assisted crystallization enabled a pristine DTS(F 2 BT) 2 thin film to attain a more ordered equilibrium phase, and enhanced the OFET mobility of DTS(F 2 BT) 2 . In OPV devices, DIO additive drove the DTS(F 2 BT) 2 domains in the DTS(F 2 BT) 2 :PC 71 BM blended film from the N phase toward the equilibrium phase, and resulted in enhanced OPV performances. These results reveal the slow ordering process of the A−D−A oligomer, and the importance of monitoring the degree of structural evolution of the active thin films in organic optoelectronics.

Molecular conformation and the assembly structure determine the spatial arrangements of the constituent units and the functions of a molecule. Although, fullerene hexa-adducts (FHAs) have been known as functional materials with great versatility, their conformational preferences and phase stability remain a complicate issue. By choosing bithiophene (T2 ) and dodecyl bithiophene (C12 T2 ) as the peripheral units of FHA, and using microscopic, scattering and diffraction characterizations, our study reveals how the intramolecular interaction and environmental stimulus affects the conformational preferences and phase stability of FHAs.