Fullerene nanowires as a versatile platform for organic electronics

Abstract

The development of organic semiconducting nanowires that act as charge carrier transport pathways in flexible and lightweight nanoelectronics is a major scientific challenge. We report on the fabrication of fullerene nanowires that is universally applicable to its derivatives (pristine C60, methanofullerenes of C61 and C71, and indene C60 bis-adduct), realized by the single particle nanofabrication technique (SPNT). Nanowires with radii of 8–11 nm were formed via a chain polymerization reaction induced by a high-energy ion beam. Fabrication of a poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT): [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic cell including PC61BM nanowires with precisely-controlled length and density demonstrates how application of this methodology can improve the power conversion efficiency of these inverted cells. The proposed technique provides a versatile platform for the fabrication of continuous and uniform n-type fullerene nanowires towards a wide range of organic electronics applications.

Fullerene Nanowires Produced by Single Particle Nanofabrication Technique and Their Photovoltaic Applications

“…21) Herein we extend this fullerene nanowirehybridized BHJ to indene-C 60 bis adducts (ICBA, Figure 1(b)), 24) which possesses the higher lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) than PCBM. Accordingly the high open circuit voltage (V oc ) has been realized in combination with P3HT.…”

“…Recently, we have reported the fabrication of fullerene nanowires 21) by the single particle nanofabrication technique (SPNT) 22,23) and demonstrated its universal applicability to the wide range of fullerene derivatives. Along the individual trajectory of high-energy charged particle, 1-dimensional (1D) polymerization reaction is induced within the nanometer-scale cylindrical region.…”

Fabrication of Fluorescent Nanowires via High-Energy Particles-Triggered Polymerization Reactions

“…Recently, we observed the nanowire formation produced from small organic molecules of which molecular weigh were less than 500 by choosing molecular structures and development solvents [16,17]. Namely, single particle-triggered linear polymerization (STLiP) can be realized in the solid films.…”

“…Namely, single particle-triggered linear polymerization (STLiP) can be realized in the solid films. By utilizing this valuable feature, we have reported thermo- [18,19] and photo- [20] responsive, enzyme-degradable [21], semiconducting [16,17] nanowires so far.…”

The Photopolymer Science and Technology Award

“…Carbon nanotubes are the primary choice as functional one-dimensional nano-materials, however, the present technique will give an alternative versatile and powerful approach for multi-functional one-dimensional nano-materials, because the technique provides a variety of nano-wires based on the widespread range of organic polymer materials [13].…”