Quinoid structures are considered to be conducive to the charge transport of organic molecules,but this hypothesis is rarely proven at single-molecule level.Herein,as a proof of concept,the single-molecule conductance...Quinoid structures are considered to be conducive to the charge transport of organic molecules,but this hypothesis is rarely proven at single-molecule level.Herein,as a proof of concept,the single-molecule conductance of two furan-based isomers,3,3'-bis(4-(methylthio)phenyl)-2,2'-bifuran(2,2'-SMPBF)and 4,4'-bis(4-(methylthio)phenyl)-3,3'-bifuran(3,3'-SMPBF),is investigated by the scanning tunneling microscopy break junction(STM-BJ)technique and theoretical simulation.2,2'-SMPBF prefers to adopt a nearly planar conformation with intact alternating single and double bonds extended via2,2'-bifuran moiety and therefore exhibits goodπ-conjugation and a prominent quinoid structure.However,theπ-conjugation of 3,3'-SMPBF is interrupted due to ineffective cross-conjugation in the 3,3'-bifuran moiety,leading to the absence of a quinoid structure.2,2'-SMPBF displays switchable multiple conductances induced by the interconversion between folded and unfolded conformations and an abnormal rebound of conductance along with the increases of electrode displacement,which is demonstrated to be caused by the quinoid structure in a nearly planar conformation during the stretching process.However,3,3'-SMPBF without a quinoid structure in unfolded conformation exhibits extremely low conductance that cannot be captured in STM-BJ measurements.These results reveal the significant contribution of quinoid structure to molecular charge transport and provide valuable information on the structure-transport relationship for the design of efficient organic semiconductors.展开更多
Quinoidalπ-conjugated structures,a kind of fundamental subunits for organicπ-systems,may produce some intriguing optical,electronic and magnetic properties of polycyclic hydrocarbons(PHs).Herein,we report two thieno...Quinoidalπ-conjugated structures,a kind of fundamental subunits for organicπ-systems,may produce some intriguing optical,electronic and magnetic properties of polycyclic hydrocarbons(PHs).Herein,we report two thienothiophene-centered ladder-type polycyclic molecules(1 and 2),which possess one quinoidal thienothiophene moiety and two para-quinodimethane(p-QDM)subunits,respectively.As theoretically and experimentally studied,while 1 is a fully closed-shell molecule,2 owns an open-shell structure along with partial contribution of tetraradical state that is induced by the resonance of p-QDM.Moreover,although 2 has a largerπ-conjugated skeleton and open-shell electronic state,it exhibits larger bandgap and blue-shifted absorption.On the other hand,the reversible oxidation activity of 1 enables the preparation of its dication 1^(2+),and the studies on its single-crystal and aromatic structures demonstrate that its two positive charges are delocalized onto the oxygen atoms,thus achieving fullyπ-extended structure and near-infrared absorption.This study not only gains insight into quinoidalπ-subunits,but also provides an important basis for the development of antiaromatic and open-shellπ-electron materials.展开更多
Comprehensive Summary Conjugated polymers(CPs)containing quinoidal units are promising in n-type organic thermoelectric materials because of their deep-positioned lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)energy levels...Comprehensive Summary Conjugated polymers(CPs)containing quinoidal units are promising in n-type organic thermoelectric materials because of their deep-positioned lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)energy levels and planar conjugated backbones.Herein,three CPs have been synthesized by copolymerizing an indandione-terminated quinoidal unit with bithiophene derivatives.Owning to the high electron affinity of the indandione-terminated quinoidal unit,all polymers showed deep LUMO energy levels below-4.10 eV.Incorporating electron-withdrawing substituents(F or CN)on the bithiophene comonomer can further downshift the LUMO energy levels.As a result,a more efficient n-doping process can be realized when employing 4-(2,3-dihydro-1,3-dimethyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-N,N-dimethylbenzenamine(N-DMBI)as the dopant.Ultimately,the polymer with CN substituents delivered the best thermoelectric performance with a power factor of up to 2.14μW·m^(−1)·K^(−2),because it possessed the lowest LUMO energy level among the three CPs.This work highlights that the modulation of LUMO energy level is an effective strategy to optimize the thermoelectric performance of CPs.展开更多
The investigation of n-type doping holds a significant interest for the application of thermoelectrics.Herein,the doping of an indandione-terminated compound Q-4F with a singlet open-shell ground state was studied usi...The investigation of n-type doping holds a significant interest for the application of thermoelectrics.Herein,the doping of an indandione-terminated compound Q-4F with a singlet open-shell ground state was studied using two n-dopants N-DMBI and LCV.Both of these two dopants can effectively dope Q-4F due to the large offset between the singly occupied molecular orbital(SOMO)of dopants and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)of Q-4F.N-DMBI has a higher doping ability than LCV as demonstrated by the UV-vis-NIR and EPR measurements.However,in comparison to N-DMBI doped Q-4F,LCV doped system exhibits much higher electrical conductivity and power factor due to its unperturbed molecular packing and favorable morphology after doping.The optimal conductivity of LCV doped Q-4F is 7.16×10^(-2)±0.16 S·cm^(-1) and the highest power factor reaches 12.3±0.85μW·m–1·K^(-2).These results demonstrate that the modulation of n-dopants is a powerful strategy to balance the doping efficiency and microstructure toward a maximum thermoelectric performance.展开更多
Quinoidal small molecule semiconductors hold huge potential in ambipolar organic field-effect transistors(OFETs)and organic spintronic devices.Here,two quinoidal molecules with methylthio side chains were synthesized ...Quinoidal small molecule semiconductors hold huge potential in ambipolar organic field-effect transistors(OFETs)and organic spintronic devices.Here,two quinoidal molecules with methylthio side chains were synthesized to develop molecular semiconductors with high ambipolar mobility,designated QBDTS and QTBDTS.The theoretical calculation results reveal that QBDTS has a closed-shell structure while QTBDTS showed an open-shell structure with a biradical character(y0)of 0.46 and its magnetic properties were further investigated using electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR)and superconducting quantum interference device(SQUID)methods.The methyl side chains showed a large impact on the molecular orbital levels.The HOMO/LUMO levels of QBDTS and QTBDTS were measured to be-5.66/-4.56 and-5.27/-4.48 eV,respectively,which are favorable for ambipolar charge transport in OFETs.Importantly,the spin-coated QBDTS displayed hole and electron mobilities of 0.01 and 0.5 cm^(2)V^(-1)s^(-1)while QTBDTS showed a record high hole mobility of 1.8 cm^(2)V^(-1)s^(-1)and electron mobility of 0.3 cm^(2)V^(-1)s^(-1).Moreover,comparative studies of the thin film morphologies also manifested the beneficial influence of methyl side chains on film crystallinity and molecule orientation.These results strongly proved that methyl side chain engineering can be a simple but efficient strategy for modulating electronic properties and molecular stacking behaviors.This work also represents a big advancement for quinoidal molecular semiconductors in ambipolar OFET applications.展开更多
The practical efficiency of singlet fission(SF)-based photovoltaic devices is still far from satisfactory due to the limited scope of SF materials suitable for device application and the scarcity of schemes available ...The practical efficiency of singlet fission(SF)-based photovoltaic devices is still far from satisfactory due to the limited scope of SF materials suitable for device application and the scarcity of schemes available for triplet utilization.Most SF materials identi-fied to date are typically electron donors while acceptor-type SF materials remain largely unexplored.Basically,the combination of a conventional electron donor and SF-active electron acceptor could circumvent the competitive energy transfer channel and better play the unique advantages of the SF process,which might be an adequate alternative for practical application.In this work,we presented a new acceptor-type SF material based on a tetracyanothienoquinoid skeleton.Such a quinoid skeleton exhibited strong absorption,ultrafast SF process,and excellent stability.Using transient spectroscopy and multireference calculations(XDWCASPT2),the SF dynamics were examined featuring the rapid generation and subsequent annihilation and/or partial dissociation of multiexciton states.Therefore,our results not only provide a robust acceptor-type SF material but also suggest an adequate donor–acceptor alternative for SF-based solar cells,which could pave the way for the practical application of such a potential process.展开更多
The growing demand for waste heat energy recovery from electronic devices,solar energy,and industrial production has led to increased attention on thermoelectric materials.In the past decades,significant progress has ...The growing demand for waste heat energy recovery from electronic devices,solar energy,and industrial production has led to increased attention on thermoelectric materials.In the past decades,significant progress has been achieved in inorganic thermoelectric materials.Moreover,flexible,lightweight,and bio-friendly organic thermoelectric(OTE)materials have emerged as promising candidates for thermoelectric devices.In particular,quinoidal conjugated small molecules and polymers with high mobility are suitable for thermoelectric conversion.Such kind of materials have gained increasing research interest due to their unique structural features and characteristics of polarons’delocalization.Concurrently,quinoidal materials with high mobility and conductivity have been developed,and their use for thermoelectric conversion has been increasingly reported.This perspective summarizes the recent advancements in the design and synthesis of quinoidal conjugated small molecules and polymers,their advantages for thermoelectric conversion,and the latest reports on their charge carrier transport mechanisms.Moreover,to further enhance the TE performances of quinoidal materials,the existing challenges are discussed and the future developments are also outlooked.展开更多
Singlet fission(SF)has attracted much attention on account of its great potential for applications in high efficiency solar energy conversion.The major roadblock to realize this potential is rooted in the limited avai...Singlet fission(SF)has attracted much attention on account of its great potential for applications in high efficiency solar energy conversion.The major roadblock to realize this potential is rooted in the limited availability of practical SF material with strong absorption,suitable triplet energy level,an efficient SF process,and good chemical stability.Quinoidal structures feature an innate diradical character,which endows these skeletons with SF potential yet results in some structural instability.展开更多
Diradicaloid polycyclic hydrocarbons(PHs)own unique open-shell electronic structures and exhibit potential utility in the fields of organic electronics and spintronics.Herein,we disclose precise fusion of B/O-heterocy...Diradicaloid polycyclic hydrocarbons(PHs)own unique open-shell electronic structures and exhibit potential utility in the fields of organic electronics and spintronics.Herein,we disclose precise fusion of B/O-heterocycles onto PHs for control over their electronic structures and diradical properties.We designed and synthesized four B/O-containing diradicaloid isomers that feature the fluoreno[3,2-b]fluorene and fluoreno[2,1-a]fluoreneπ-skeletons,respectively.The precise B/O-heterocycle fusion modes along with the changed conjugation patterns lead to their modulated electronic structures and properties,such as diradical and aromatic structures,energy levels and band gaps,as well as magnetic,electrochemical and photophysical properties.Notably,the mode A may decrease the open-shell extent,whereas the mode B can enhance the diradical nature,leading to their well-tuned diradical characters in the range of0.46-0.70.Moreover,the mode A stabilizes the LUMOs and the mode B obviously increases the HOMO levels,which are remarkably contributed by the B and O atoms,respectively,further giving rise to the decreased band gaps and redshifted absorptions.This study clearly illustrates the electronic effects of B/O-heterocycle fusion on PHs and gains insight into B/O-type organic diradicaloids.These findings will provide an important guideline for the design of more fascinating heteroatom-containing diradicaloids.展开更多
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.U23A20594,22375066 and 21788102)Guang Dong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation(No.2023B1515040003)。
文摘Quinoid structures are considered to be conducive to the charge transport of organic molecules,but this hypothesis is rarely proven at single-molecule level.Herein,as a proof of concept,the single-molecule conductance of two furan-based isomers,3,3'-bis(4-(methylthio)phenyl)-2,2'-bifuran(2,2'-SMPBF)and 4,4'-bis(4-(methylthio)phenyl)-3,3'-bifuran(3,3'-SMPBF),is investigated by the scanning tunneling microscopy break junction(STM-BJ)technique and theoretical simulation.2,2'-SMPBF prefers to adopt a nearly planar conformation with intact alternating single and double bonds extended via2,2'-bifuran moiety and therefore exhibits goodπ-conjugation and a prominent quinoid structure.However,theπ-conjugation of 3,3'-SMPBF is interrupted due to ineffective cross-conjugation in the 3,3'-bifuran moiety,leading to the absence of a quinoid structure.2,2'-SMPBF displays switchable multiple conductances induced by the interconversion between folded and unfolded conformations and an abnormal rebound of conductance along with the increases of electrode displacement,which is demonstrated to be caused by the quinoid structure in a nearly planar conformation during the stretching process.However,3,3'-SMPBF without a quinoid structure in unfolded conformation exhibits extremely low conductance that cannot be captured in STM-BJ measurements.These results reveal the significant contribution of quinoid structure to molecular charge transport and provide valuable information on the structure-transport relationship for the design of efficient organic semiconductors.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.22175074 and 52373182)Jilin Scientific and Technological Development Program(No.20220101054JC).
文摘Quinoidalπ-conjugated structures,a kind of fundamental subunits for organicπ-systems,may produce some intriguing optical,electronic and magnetic properties of polycyclic hydrocarbons(PHs).Herein,we report two thienothiophene-centered ladder-type polycyclic molecules(1 and 2),which possess one quinoidal thienothiophene moiety and two para-quinodimethane(p-QDM)subunits,respectively.As theoretically and experimentally studied,while 1 is a fully closed-shell molecule,2 owns an open-shell structure along with partial contribution of tetraradical state that is induced by the resonance of p-QDM.Moreover,although 2 has a largerπ-conjugated skeleton and open-shell electronic state,it exhibits larger bandgap and blue-shifted absorption.On the other hand,the reversible oxidation activity of 1 enables the preparation of its dication 1^(2+),and the studies on its single-crystal and aromatic structures demonstrate that its two positive charges are delocalized onto the oxygen atoms,thus achieving fullyπ-extended structure and near-infrared absorption.This study not only gains insight into quinoidalπ-subunits,but also provides an important basis for the development of antiaromatic and open-shellπ-electron materials.
基金supported by National Key R&D Program of China(2021YFA0717900)National Natural Science Foundation of China(52073209,52121002 and 22222506)the Fundamental Research Funds forthe Central Universities.
文摘Comprehensive Summary Conjugated polymers(CPs)containing quinoidal units are promising in n-type organic thermoelectric materials because of their deep-positioned lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)energy levels and planar conjugated backbones.Herein,three CPs have been synthesized by copolymerizing an indandione-terminated quinoidal unit with bithiophene derivatives.Owning to the high electron affinity of the indandione-terminated quinoidal unit,all polymers showed deep LUMO energy levels below-4.10 eV.Incorporating electron-withdrawing substituents(F or CN)on the bithiophene comonomer can further downshift the LUMO energy levels.As a result,a more efficient n-doping process can be realized when employing 4-(2,3-dihydro-1,3-dimethyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-N,N-dimethylbenzenamine(N-DMBI)as the dopant.Ultimately,the polymer with CN substituents delivered the best thermoelectric performance with a power factor of up to 2.14μW·m^(−1)·K^(−2),because it possessed the lowest LUMO energy level among the three CPs.This work highlights that the modulation of LUMO energy level is an effective strategy to optimize the thermoelectric performance of CPs.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(2021YFA0717900)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.22222506,52073209,and 52121002)and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
文摘The investigation of n-type doping holds a significant interest for the application of thermoelectrics.Herein,the doping of an indandione-terminated compound Q-4F with a singlet open-shell ground state was studied using two n-dopants N-DMBI and LCV.Both of these two dopants can effectively dope Q-4F due to the large offset between the singly occupied molecular orbital(SOMO)of dopants and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)of Q-4F.N-DMBI has a higher doping ability than LCV as demonstrated by the UV-vis-NIR and EPR measurements.However,in comparison to N-DMBI doped Q-4F,LCV doped system exhibits much higher electrical conductivity and power factor due to its unperturbed molecular packing and favorable morphology after doping.The optimal conductivity of LCV doped Q-4F is 7.16×10^(-2)±0.16 S·cm^(-1) and the highest power factor reaches 12.3±0.85μW·m–1·K^(-2).These results demonstrate that the modulation of n-dopants is a powerful strategy to balance the doping efficiency and microstructure toward a maximum thermoelectric performance.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21801201,51773160,21975194,22175134)the Research Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Hubei Province(2019CFA042)。
文摘Quinoidal small molecule semiconductors hold huge potential in ambipolar organic field-effect transistors(OFETs)and organic spintronic devices.Here,two quinoidal molecules with methylthio side chains were synthesized to develop molecular semiconductors with high ambipolar mobility,designated QBDTS and QTBDTS.The theoretical calculation results reveal that QBDTS has a closed-shell structure while QTBDTS showed an open-shell structure with a biradical character(y0)of 0.46 and its magnetic properties were further investigated using electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR)and superconducting quantum interference device(SQUID)methods.The methyl side chains showed a large impact on the molecular orbital levels.The HOMO/LUMO levels of QBDTS and QTBDTS were measured to be-5.66/-4.56 and-5.27/-4.48 eV,respectively,which are favorable for ambipolar charge transport in OFETs.Importantly,the spin-coated QBDTS displayed hole and electron mobilities of 0.01 and 0.5 cm^(2)V^(-1)s^(-1)while QTBDTS showed a record high hole mobility of 1.8 cm^(2)V^(-1)s^(-1)and electron mobility of 0.3 cm^(2)V^(-1)s^(-1).Moreover,comparative studies of the thin film morphologies also manifested the beneficial influence of methyl side chains on film crystallinity and molecule orientation.These results strongly proved that methyl side chain engineering can be a simple but efficient strategy for modulating electronic properties and molecular stacking behaviors.This work also represents a big advancement for quinoidal molecular semiconductors in ambipolar OFET applications.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,grant no.22005210)by the Fundamental Research Program of Shanxi Province,China(grant nos.202203021224004 and 20210302124469).
文摘The practical efficiency of singlet fission(SF)-based photovoltaic devices is still far from satisfactory due to the limited scope of SF materials suitable for device application and the scarcity of schemes available for triplet utilization.Most SF materials identi-fied to date are typically electron donors while acceptor-type SF materials remain largely unexplored.Basically,the combination of a conventional electron donor and SF-active electron acceptor could circumvent the competitive energy transfer channel and better play the unique advantages of the SF process,which might be an adequate alternative for practical application.In this work,we presented a new acceptor-type SF material based on a tetracyanothienoquinoid skeleton.Such a quinoid skeleton exhibited strong absorption,ultrafast SF process,and excellent stability.Using transient spectroscopy and multireference calculations(XDWCASPT2),the SF dynamics were examined featuring the rapid generation and subsequent annihilation and/or partial dissociation of multiexciton states.Therefore,our results not only provide a robust acceptor-type SF material but also suggest an adequate donor–acceptor alternative for SF-based solar cells,which could pave the way for the practical application of such a potential process.
基金he National Key R&D Program of China(Nos.2019YFA0705900 and 2017YFA0204701)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52225305 and 22175187)+1 种基金the International Partnership Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.027GJHZ2022036GC)the Natural Science Foundation of Changsha(No.kq2208024).
文摘The growing demand for waste heat energy recovery from electronic devices,solar energy,and industrial production has led to increased attention on thermoelectric materials.In the past decades,significant progress has been achieved in inorganic thermoelectric materials.Moreover,flexible,lightweight,and bio-friendly organic thermoelectric(OTE)materials have emerged as promising candidates for thermoelectric devices.In particular,quinoidal conjugated small molecules and polymers with high mobility are suitable for thermoelectric conversion.Such kind of materials have gained increasing research interest due to their unique structural features and characteristics of polarons’delocalization.Concurrently,quinoidal materials with high mobility and conductivity have been developed,and their use for thermoelectric conversion has been increasingly reported.This perspective summarizes the recent advancements in the design and synthesis of quinoidal conjugated small molecules and polymers,their advantages for thermoelectric conversion,and the latest reports on their charge carrier transport mechanisms.Moreover,to further enhance the TE performances of quinoidal materials,the existing challenges are discussed and the future developments are also outlooked.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(nos.22005210,21833005,and 21833006).
文摘Singlet fission(SF)has attracted much attention on account of its great potential for applications in high efficiency solar energy conversion.The major roadblock to realize this potential is rooted in the limited availability of practical SF material with strong absorption,suitable triplet energy level,an efficient SF process,and good chemical stability.Quinoidal structures feature an innate diradical character,which endows these skeletons with SF potential yet results in some structural instability.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52373182 and 22175074)Jilin Scientific and Technological Development Program(No.20220101054JC)Department of Education of Jilin Province(No.JJKH20221046KJ)。
文摘Diradicaloid polycyclic hydrocarbons(PHs)own unique open-shell electronic structures and exhibit potential utility in the fields of organic electronics and spintronics.Herein,we disclose precise fusion of B/O-heterocycles onto PHs for control over their electronic structures and diradical properties.We designed and synthesized four B/O-containing diradicaloid isomers that feature the fluoreno[3,2-b]fluorene and fluoreno[2,1-a]fluoreneπ-skeletons,respectively.The precise B/O-heterocycle fusion modes along with the changed conjugation patterns lead to their modulated electronic structures and properties,such as diradical and aromatic structures,energy levels and band gaps,as well as magnetic,electrochemical and photophysical properties.Notably,the mode A may decrease the open-shell extent,whereas the mode B can enhance the diradical nature,leading to their well-tuned diradical characters in the range of0.46-0.70.Moreover,the mode A stabilizes the LUMOs and the mode B obviously increases the HOMO levels,which are remarkably contributed by the B and O atoms,respectively,further giving rise to the decreased band gaps and redshifted absorptions.This study clearly illustrates the electronic effects of B/O-heterocycle fusion on PHs and gains insight into B/O-type organic diradicaloids.These findings will provide an important guideline for the design of more fascinating heteroatom-containing diradicaloids.
