Organic semiconducting micro- and nano-crystals (MNCs) are useful for optical active waveguiding, solid-state lasers, photonic transistors, photonic integrated circuits, and field-effect photonic applications. Particle shape as well as molecular assembly within particles is known to control the photonic and optoelectronic properties. Thus, development of synthetic strategies that result in organic MNCs of different shapes and provide control over molecular packing within the particles is crucial to advance the field of organic photonics. Nature uses peptides and proteins to control the nanocrystal size and shape to achieve key functionalities in biological systems. Examples include the size and shape control of Fe3O4 or Fe3S4 nanostructures by magnetotactic bacteria for their alignment and migration, and growth and assembly of apatite nanocrystals in apatite bone for optimal mechanical performance. Synthesis of organic MNCs with precise control over their size and shape requires directed assembly of molecules onto the growing nucleating seed. Currently, there are no existing synthetic strategies for organic MNCs that can rival nature’s precision in controlling the size and shape. Availability of synthetic strategies that predictively generate different shaped organic MNCs, especially of organic π-conjugated molecular MNCs, will enable efficient use and realization of the full potential of π-conjugated organic molecules in photonic and electronic applications. Currently, aliphatic surfactants such as CTAB and SDS are used for the synthesis of organic MNCs. Most of the time there is no advantage of using one over the other because both these surfactants use their aliphatic tail to interact with the particle facet and control growth rate. Thus, the lack of tunable interaction energies between particle facets and aliphatic surfactants results in limited control over particle growth and hence the possible particle shapes. Recently, we proposed to use aryl surfactants to control the organic MNC growth and the shape. Using the novel aryl surfactants, psuedooctahedron and elongated octahedron shaped triptycene MNCs were synthesized. In this talk, I will discuss the synthesis of a series of aryl surfactants and their impact on the growth and shape of triptycene and perylene MNCs.

Assembly of organic semiconductors into micro- and nano-crystals

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.