We estimate the hole mobility for oligoacene crystals using quantum mechanics (QM) to calculate the reorganization energy and electron-transfer coupling matrix elements and molecular dynamics (MD) to do the thermal averaging. Using an incoherent transport model we calculate a hole mobility of 6.5 cm 2 /(V s) for pentacene crystals at 300 K. This can be compared to recent experimental results of 5 cm 2 /(V s). However, we find that an alternative packing into the crystal could lead to a hole mobility of 15.2 cm 2 /(V s). This suggests that current materials might still be improved by a factor of ∼3. Such calculations might be useful for finding solid-state structures that would increase the hole mobility for use in high-performance molecular devices.

Lead-based perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have outstanding optical properties and cheap synthesis conferring them a tremendous potential in the field of optoelectronic devices. However, two critical problems are still unresolved and hindering their commercial applications: one is the fact of being lead-based and the other is the poor stability. Lead-free all-inorganic perovskite Cs Bi X (X=Cl, Br, I) NCs are synthesized with emission wavelength ranging from 400 to 560 nm synthesized by a facile room temperature reaction. The ligand-free Cs Bi Br NCs exhibit blue emission with photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE) about 0.2 %. The PLQE can be increased to 4.5 % when extra surfactant (oleic acid) is added during the synthesis processes. This improvement stems from passivation of the fast trapping process (2-20 ps). Notably, the trap states can also be passivated under humid conditions, and the NCs exhibited high stability towards air exposure exceeding 30 days.

Lead-free double-perovskite nanocrystals (NCs), that is, Cs2AgIn x Bi1–x Cl6 (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 0.9), that can be tuned from indirect band gap (x = 0, 0.25, and 0.5) to direct band gap (x = 0.75 and 0.9) are designed. Direct band gap NCs exhibit 3 times greater absorption cross section, lower sub-band gap trap states, and >5 times photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE) compared to those observed for indirect band gap NCs (Cs2AgBiCl6). A PLQE of 36.6% for direct band gap NCs is comparable to those observed for lead perovskite NCs in the violet region. Besides the band edge violet emission, the direct band gap NCs exhibit bright orange (570 nm) emission. Density functional theory calculations suggesting forbidden transition is responsible for the orange emission, which is supported by time-resolved PL and PL excitation spectra. The successful design of lead-free direct band gap perovskite NCs with superior optical properties opens the door for high-performance lead-free perovskite optoelectronic devices.

Conjugated microporous polymers are a new class of porous materials with an extended π-conjugation in an amorphous organic framework. Owing to the wide-ranging flexibility in the choice and design of components and the available control of pore parameters, these polymers can be tailored for use in various applications, such as gas storage, electronics and catalysis. Here we report a class of cobalt/aluminium-coordinated conjugated microporous polymers that exhibit outstanding CO2 capture and conversion performance at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. These polymers can store CO2 with adsorption capacities comparable to metal-organic frameworks. The cobalt-coordinated conjugated microporous polymers can also simultaneously function as heterogeneous catalysts for the reaction of CO2 and propylene oxide at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, wherein the polymers demonstrate better efficiency than a homogeneous salen-cobalt catalyst. By combining the functions of gas storage and catalysts, this strategy provides a direction for cost-effective CO2 reduction processes.