Oligothiophene Semiconductors: Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications for Organic Devices

Abstract

Oligothiophenes provide a highly controlled and adaptable platform to explore various synthetic, morphologic, and electronic relationships in organic semiconductor systems. These short-chain systems serve as models for establishing valuable structure-property relationships to their polymer analogs. In contrast to their polymer counterparts, oligothiophenes afford high-purity and well-defined materials that can be easily modified with a variety of functional groups. Recent work by a number of research groups has revealed functionalized oligothiophenes to be the up-and-coming generation of advanced materials for organic electronic devices. In this review, we discuss the synthesis and characterization of linear oligothiophenes with a focus on applications in organic field effect transistors and organic photovoltaics. We will highlight key structural parameters, such as crystal packing, intermolecular interactions, polymorphism, and energy levels, which in turn define the device performance.

Molecular design of new P3HT derivatives: Adjusting electronic energy levels for blends with PCBM

“…However, the values for E HOMO and DE HL exhibit deviations up to 10% and, for E LUMO , deviations can be observed of up to 1 eV compared to the experimental values [33,71]. Sometimes, a scale factor for orbital energies can be created, but these must be experimentally determined and often do not work for all classes of materials [58].…”

Supramolecular Organization of $$\pi $$-Conjugated Oligomers

“…The vast number of structural variations around a common parent small molecule structure enables the formulation of structure-properties relationships not depending on the particular batch of available material. Consequently, they have also received considerable attention and might be well on their way to even outperform the polymers [14][15][16][17]. Figure 9.1 shows an overview of commonly used conjugated π -systems which are also often combined to obtain hybrid systems that either combine the properties of the individual building blocks or even lead to the emergence of completely new properties.…”

Progress in side-chain thiophene-containing polymers: synthesis, properties and applications

“…Polythiophenes, oligothiophenes and their functional derivatives are among the most frequently used -conjugated materials as active components in organic electronics [9][10][11][12][13][14]. Among thiophene-based polymeric materials, thiophene moieties are generally placed in the main-chain architecture.…”