Conductivity and photoconductivity in a two-dimensional zinc bis(triarylamine) coordination polymer

Chin May Ngue; Kuan Fu Ho; Batjargal Sainbileg; Erdembayalag Batsaikhan; Michitoshi Hayashi; Kuei Yi Lee; Ruei San Chen; Man Kit Leung

doi:10.1039/d2sc06085j

Conductivity and photoconductivity in a two-dimensional zinc bis(triarylamine) coordination polymer

Chem Sci. 2023 Jan 9;14(5):1320-1328. doi: 10.1039/d2sc06085j. eCollection 2023 Feb 1.

Authors

Chin May Ngue¹, Kuan Fu Ho², Batjargal Sainbileg³, Erdembayalag Batsaikhan³, Michitoshi Hayashi³, Kuei Yi Lee², Ruei San Chen⁴, Man Kit Leung¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University Taipei 106 Taiwan chinmayngue@ntu.edu.tw mkleung@ntu.edu.tw.
² Graduate Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Taipei 106 Taiwan.
³ Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, Center of Atomic Initiative for New Materials, National Taiwan University Taipei 106 Taiwan.
⁴ Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Taipei 106 Taiwan rsc@mail.ntust.edu.tw.

Abstract

We report the synthesis and characterization of a 2D semiconductive and photoconductive coordination polymer. [Zn(TPPB)(Cl₂)]·H₂O (1) (TPPB = N ¹,N ¹,N ⁴,N ⁴-tetrakis(4-(pyridin-4-yl)phenyl)benzene-1,4-diamine) consists of a TPPB redox-active linker with bis(triarylamine) as the core. It consists of two redox sites connected with a benzene ring as a bridge. Thus, this forms an extended conjugation pathway when the TPPB ligand is coordinated with the Zn²⁺ metal ions. The single crystal conductivity measurement revealed conductivity of 1 to be in the range of 0.83 to 1.9 S cm^-1. Band structure analysis predicted that 1 is a semiconductor from the delocalization of electronic transport in the network. The computational calculations show the difference in charge distribution between holes and electrons, which led to spatial separation. This implies a long charge carrier lifetime as indicated by lifetime measurement. Incorporating a bis(triarylamine)-based redox-active linker could lead to a new semiconductive scaffold material with photocatalytic applications.