Layer-Defining Strategy to Grow Two-Dimensional Molecular Crystals on a Liquid Surface down to the Monolayer Limit

Jiarong Yao; Yu Zhang; Xinzi Tian; Xiali Zhang; Huijuan Zhao; Xiaotao Zhang; Jiansheng Jie; Xinran Wang; Rongjin Li; Wenping Hu

doi:10.1002/anie.201909552

Layer-Defining Strategy to Grow Two-Dimensional Molecular Crystals on a Liquid Surface down to the Monolayer Limit

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2019 Nov 4;58(45):16082-16086. doi: 10.1002/anie.201909552. Epub 2019 Sep 18.

Authors

Jiarong Yao¹, Yu Zhang¹, Xinzi Tian¹, Xiali Zhang², Huijuan Zhao³, Xiaotao Zhang¹, Jiansheng Jie², Xinran Wang³, Rongjin Li¹, Wenping Hu^{1

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tianjin University, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin, 300072, China.
² Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China.
³ National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
⁴ Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
⁵ Joint School of National University of Singapore, Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Binhai New City, Fuzhou, 350207, China.

PMID: 31432576
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201909552

Abstract

Two-dimensional molecular crystals (2DMCs) open a new door for the controllable growth of 2D materials by molecular design with a energy gap and solution processability. However, the growth of 2DMCs with defined molecular layers remains full of challenges. Herein, we report a novel method to produce various 2DMCs with a defined number of molecular layers. When the surface tension and viscosity are tuned to control the spreading of the solution on the liquid surface, large-area quasi-freestanding 2DMCs from bulk size down to the monolayer limit are obtained, which makes it possible to probe the intrinsic layer-dependent optoelectronic properties of organic semiconductors down to the physical limit, and paves the way for the application of 2DMCs in new optoelectronic devices and technologies.

Keywords: interfaces; organic crystals; organic electronics; organic semiconductors; photodetectors.

Abstract

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