A novel supramolecular Zn(ii)-metallogel: an efficient microelectronic semiconducting device application

RSC Adv. 2023 Jan 17;13(4):2561-2569. doi: 10.1039/d2ra07374a. eCollection 2023 Jan 11.

Abstract

A unique strategy for the synthesis of a supramolecular metallogel employing zinc ions and adipic acid in DMF medium has been established at room temperature. Rheological analysis was used to investigate the mechanical characteristics of the supramolecular Zn(ii)-metallogel. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to analyse the hexagonal shape morphological features of the Zn(ii)-metallogel. Interestingly, the electrical conductivity is observed in the electronic device with Zn(ii)-metallogel based metal-semiconductor (MS) junctions. All aspects of the metallogel's electrical properties were investigated. The electrical conductivity of the metallogel-based thin film device was 7.38 × 10-5 S m-1. The synthesised Zn(ii)-metallogel based device was investigated for its semi-conductive properties, such as its Schottky barrier diode nature.