Discotic Liquid Crystalline Blends for Nano-Structure Formation Toward Bulk Heterojunction Active Layer in Organic Photovoltaics

Abstract

Liquid crystalline semiconductor is a new category of organic semiconductors and lots of studies on the materials and application to electronic devices have been carried out. In particular, organic thin film photovoltaics is an interesting research field by use of liquid crystalline semiconductors because of the characteristic properties of liquid crystals. In this chapter, the miscibility in liquid crystals and the related issues on the application of liquid crystalline semiconductors are overviewed to give an insight for their possible contribution to the drastic improvement of organic photovoltaics technology including the fabrication by printed electronics.

Photoluminescent Thin Films of Room-Temperature Glassy Tris(keto-hydrozone) Discotic Liquid Crystals and Their Nanocomposites with Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Optoelectronics

“…The molecules of discotic liquid crystals (DLCs), − an important class of liquid crystals, have sizes ranging from 2 to 6 nm and form nanostructured organic soft media. These materials have been attracting special attention in the last decade and, currently, gain increased research and application interest because they combine the unique feature of self-assembly and functional optical, electronic, thermal, photoluminescent, fluorescent, and other properties, useful for organo-electronics, non-linear optics, and photonics, OPVs, bio-imaging, sensorics, mechatronics, and other advanced applications. ,− Various DLCs, functionalized DLCs, and DLC polymers are highly conjugated organic semiconductors and photoresponsive materials. , They have important physical and chemical properties that determine wide areas of their practical application. Currently, novel multifunctional DLC materials are extensively synthesized, comprehensively studied, and used for design of active organic media in various fields of science and technology, in particular, soft electronics, flexible electronics, and optoelectronics. , …”