Applications of phthalocyanines in organic light emitting devices

Macrocyclic Compounds: Metal Oxide Particles Nanocomposite Thin Films Deposited by MAPLE

Nanocomposite films based on macrocyclic compounds (zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl) 21H,23H-porphyrin (TPyP)) and metal oxide nanoparticles (ZnO or CuO) were deposited by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE). 1,4-dioxane was used as a solvent in the preparation of MAPLE targets that favor the deposition of films with a low roughness, which is a key feature for their integration in structures for optoelectronic applications. The influence of the addition of ZnO nanoparticles (~20 nm in size) or CuO nanoparticles (~5 nm in size) in the ZnPc:TPyP mixture and the impact of the added metal oxide amount on the properties of the obtained composite films were evaluated in comparison to a reference layer based only on an organic blend. Thus, in the case of nanocomposite films, the vibrational fingerprints of both organic compounds were identified in the infrared spectra, their specific strong absorption bands were observed in the UV-Vis spectra, and a quenching of the TPyP emission band was visible in the photoluminescence spectra. The morphological analysis evidenced agglomerated particles on the composite film surface, but their presence has no significant impact on the roughness of the MAPLE deposited layers. The current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics of the structures based on the nanocomposite films deposited by MAPLE revealed the critical role played by the layer composition and component ratio, an improvement in the electrical parameters values being achieved only for the films with a certain type and optimum amount of metal oxide nanoparticles.

The Rise of Silicon Phthalocyanine: From Organic Photovoltaics to Organic Thin Film Transistors

Silicon phthalocyanines are emerging n-type semiconductors for use in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). Their low synthetic complexity paired with their versatile axial group facilitates the fine-tuning of their chemical properties, solution properties and processing characteristics without significantly affecting their frontier orbital levels or their absorption properties. The crystal engineering and film forming characteristics of silicon phthalocyanine semiconductors can be tuned through appropriate axial group functionalization, therefore facilitating their integration into both OTFTs and OPVs by solution processing or vapor deposition. This Spotlight on Applications will discuss recent advances in the integration of this exciting class of phthalocyanine into OTFTs and OPVs and highlights their promising future.

Long-Range Surface-Assisted Molecule-Molecule Hybridization

Metalated phthalocyanines (Pc's) are robust and versatile molecular complexes, whose properties can be tuned by changing their functional groups and central metal atom. The electronic structure of magnesium Pc (MgPc)-structurally and electronically similar to chlorophyll-adsorbed on the Ag(100) surface is investigated by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, non-contact atomic force microscopy, and density functional theory. Single, isolated MgPc's exhibit a flat, fourfold rotationally symmetric morphology, with doubly degenerate, partially populated (due to surface-to-molecule electron transfer) lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMOs). In contrast, MgPc's with neighbouring molecules in proximity undergo a lift of LUMOs degeneracy, with a near-Fermi local density of states with reduced twofold rotational symmetry, indicative of a long-range attractive intermolecular interaction. The latter is assigned to a surface-mediated two-step electronic hybridization process. First, LUMOs interact with Ag(100) conduction electrons, forming hybrid molecule-surface orbitals with enhanced spatial extension. Then, these delocalized molecule-surface states further hybridize with those of neighbouring molecules. This work highlights how the electronic structure of molecular adsorbates-including orbital degeneracies and symmetries-can be significantly altered via surface-mediated intermolecular hybridization, over extended distances (beyond 3 nm), having important implications for prospects of molecule-based solid-state technologies.

Bis-indole substituted phthalocyanines: Photophysical and photochemical properties

Tetra substituted peripheral and non-peripheral Zn(II) phthalocyanines were successfully synthesized employing 4-(bis(3-methyl-1H-indol-2-yl)methyl)phenol as a starting material. The structure of these synthesized compounds was confirmed using 1H NMR, [Formula: see text]C NMR, infrared (IR), UV-vis, and MALDI-TOF spectral data. The photophysical (fluorescence quantum yields and lifetimes) and photochemical (singlet oxygen generation) properties of all synthesized peripheral and non-peripheral compounds were investigated in order to determine the potential of these compounds for application in photodynamic therapy.

Comparative Study of Conduction Mechanisms in Disodium Phthalocyanine-Based Organic Diodes for Flexible Electronics

In the current work, flexible diodes with flat heterojunction and dispersed heterojunction architecture were manufactured with to study the behavior of thin films of disodium phthalocyanine (Na2Pc). The thin film devices, using the electronic acceptor tetracyano-π-quinodimethane (TCNQ), were fabricated by high-vacuum thermal evaporation with annealing post-treatment in order to optimize their behavior. Theoretical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) with dispersion force analysis were carried out in order to simulate molecular interactions and to establish the nature of the weak interactions between the Na2Pc and TCNQ fragments. In the optimized structure of the coupled Na2Pc-TCNQ, the electronic relationship between phthalocyanine and TCNQ was observed to be through hydrogen bonds with bond lengths of 2.94 and 3.13 Å. Dispersed heterojunction device current density values were considerably larger than those of the flat heterojunction device. Barrier heights of 1.024 and 0.909 eV and charge mobilities of 10-10 and 10-9 m2/Vs for the flat heterojunction device and the dispersed heterojunction device, respectively, were observed. A small effect was observed on the electrical properties by thermal annealing on the flat heterojunction device. The threshold voltage decreased from 1.203 to 1.147 V and φb decreased by 0.001 eV.

Investigation of the photoconductive properties of thiophene substituted metallo-phthalocyanines

The synthesis of 4-(thiophen-3-ylethynyl)phthalonitrile was achieved via the Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction. Herein, we report the synthesis of symmetrical metallo-phthalocyanines with cobalt, zinc, and manganese as the metal ions, and tetrakis(ethynylthiophene) groups substituted at the peripheral positions. The new compounds have been characterized by using mass, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, FT-IR and UV-vis spectroscopy. Dark and photoconductivity measurements were carried out on spin coated thiophene substituted metallo-phthalocyanines at various temperatures fixed between 300 and 440 K. Photocurrent generation and charge transport mechanisms are discussed as well. The evaluation of the photoconductive properties of these compounds indicated that the photocurrent generation efficiency and charge transport mechanism exhibited a strong temperature dependence. On the other hand, conductivity measurements revealed that the temperature dependence of the conductivity can be described by the Arrhenius type exponential equation under dark conditions. Furthermore, it was found that the photoconductive behavior of the film can be described successfully by the variable range hopping model for the whole investigated temperature range.

Templating effect of single-layer graphene supported by an insulating substrate on the molecular orientation of lead phthalocyanine

The influence of single-layer graphene on top of a SiO₂/Si surface on the orientation of nonplanar lead phthalocyanine (PbPc) molecules is studied using two-dimensional grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. The studies indicate the formation of a mixture of polymorphs, i.e., monoclinic and triclinic forms of PbPc with face-on (lying down) and edge-on (standing up) PbPc orientations, respectively. The formation of monoclinic fractions is attributed to the presence of the graphene layer directing the π interactions between the highly delocalized macrocycles. The competing interfacial van der Waals forces and molecule-molecule interactions lead to the formation of a small fraction of triclinic moieties. The nanoscale electrical characterization of the thin PbPc layer on graphene by means of conducting atomic force microscopy shows enhanced vertical conductance with interconnected conducting domains consisting of ordered monoclinic crystallites through which the charge transfer occurs via tunneling. These results show the importance of a templating layer to induce the formation of a required phase of PbPc suitable for specific device applications.

Current mapping of lead phthalocyanine thin films in the presence of gaseous dopants

Iodine doping in nonplanar Pb(ii)phthalocyanine causes significant structural reorganization and enhanced conductance with nanoscale conducting pathways and improved sensitivity towards other gaseous adsorbates.

Synthesis, characterization, and optical and surface properties of (4-(trifluoromethylthio)phenoxy) copper(ii) phthalocyanine

This paper reports on the synthesis and characterization of a non-peripherally tetra-substituted copper phthalocyanine containing a 4-(trifluoromethylthio)phenoxy group.

Near-Infrared Fluorescence of Silicon Phthalocyanine Carboxylate Esters

Seven silicon(IV) phthalocyanine carboxylate esters (SiPcs, 1–7) with non-, partially- and per-fluorinated aliphatic (linear or branched at the alpha-carbon) and aromatic ester groups have been synthesized, their solid-state structures determined and their optoelectronic properties characterized. The SiPcs exhibit quasi-reversible oxidation waves (vs. Fc⁺/Fc) at 0.58–0.75 V and reduction waves at −0.97 to −1.16 V centered on the phthalocyanine ring with a narrow redox gap range of 1.70–1.75 V. Strong absorbance in the near-infrared (NIR) region is observed for 1–7 with the lowest-energy absorption maximum (Q band) varying little as a function of ester between 682 and 691 nm. SiPcs 1–7 fluorescence in the near-infrared with emission maxima at 691–700 nm. The photoluminescence quantum yields range from 40 to 52%. As a function of esterification, the SiPcs 1–7 exhibit moderate-to-good solubility in chlorinated solvents, such as 1,2-dichlorobenzene and chloroform.

Control of the molecular packing of chloroboron(iii) and fluoroboron(iii) subnaphthalocyanines by designing peripheral substituents

Dipolar subnaphthalocyanines with alkynyl groups and a B–F moiety are packed in hexagonal columns.

Solution-Processable Silicon Phthalocyanines in Electroluminescent and Photovoltaic Devices

Phthalocyanines and their main group and metal complexes are important classes of organic semiconductor materials but are usually highly insoluble and so frequently need to be processed by vacuum deposition in devices. We report two highly soluble silicon phthalocyanine (SiPc) diester compounds and demonstrate their potential as organic semiconductor materials. Near-infrared (λ(EL) = 698-709 nm) solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) were fabricated and exhibited external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of up to 1.4%. Binary bulk heterojunction solar cells employing P3HT or PTB7 as the donor and the SiPc as the acceptor provided power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of up to 2.7% under simulated solar illumination. Our results show that soluble SiPcs are promising materials for organic electronics.

The effect of substitutents at alkylsulfanyl/arylsulfanyl non-peripherally substituted phthalocyanines: Spectral and photophysical properties, basicity and photostability

A series of magnesium, zinc and metal-free derivatives of non-peripherally substituted phthalocyanines (Pcs) bearing alkylsulfanyl or arylsulfanyl groups of different bulkiness was synthesized. Their spectral and photophysical properties including also the basicity of azomethine nitrogens and photostability were compared within the series as well as with similar peripherally substituted Pcs. Non-peripheral position of substituents led to the 70[Formula: see text]nm red-shift of Q-band in comparison to the peripherally substituted Pcs. However, unexpected blue-shift of approximately 50[Formula: see text]nm was observed in the series of non-peripherally substituted Pcs for the most bulky tert-butylsulfanyl derivative caused probably by extreme distortion of the macrocycle. The substitution had no effect on photophysical properties and compounds reached [Formula: see text] values 0.74–0.76 and [Formula: see text] 0.053–0.080 for zinc complexes, and [Formula: see text] 0.47–0.51 and [Formula: see text] 0.10–0.17 for magnesium complexes following the rule of heavy atom effect. Generally, non-peripherally substituted Pcs possessed improved singlet oxygen production in comparison to peripherally substituted ones. The photostability of the target compounds decreased with the red-shift of their absorption maxima with the arylsulfanyl derivatives being less photostable. The basicity of azomethine nitrogens was clearly dependent on the position and the character of substituent. Thus, non-peripherally substituted Pcs showed extraordinary increased basicity over the peripherally substituted ones with the most pronounced effect at alkylsulfanyl derivatives.

The synthesis and characterization of nonperipherally tetra terminal alkynyl substituted phthalocyanines and glycoconjugation via the click reaction

In order to obtain nonperipherally tetra terminal alkynyl substituted phthalocyanines (Pcs), new 3-pent-4-ynyloxy phthalonitrile (3) was prepared by the nucleophilic displacement reaction of 3-nitrophthalonitrile (1) and 4-pentyn-1-ol (2) and then cyclotetramerization was attained in the presence of zinc acetate, cobalt acetate, and/or DBU in n-pentanol without protection/deprotection. For the first time, the glycoconjugation of the nonperipherally tetra terminal alkynyl substituted zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) (6) can be easily achieved via the click reaction in a high yield. The electronic absorption spectrum of the glucopyranosyl substituted ZnPc (10) derivative showed a red-shifted Q band at 751 nm in dichloromethane due to the protonation of the meso nitrogens of the Pc macrocycle. Deacylation yielded ZnPc (11) bearing glucose substituents at nonperipheral positions with an improved water-solubility and non-aggregation in DMSO. The chemical structures of the new compounds were characterized by (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, FT-IR, UV-Vis, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. Moreover, the phthalonitrile compound was characterized using X-ray.

Phthalocyanine blue in aqueous solutions

Natively insoluble, unsubstituted Cu(II) phthalocyanines can be solubilised in water by the aid of nano-clays as colloidal α-CuPc and monomeric CuPc.

Optical Absorption and Visible Photoluminescence from Thin Films of Silicon Phthalocyanine Derivatives

The interest of microelectronics industry in new organic compounds for the manufacture of luminescent devices has increased substantially in the last decade. In this paper, we carried out a study of the usage feasibility of three organic bidentate ligands (2,6-dihydroxyanthraquinone, anthraflavic acid and potassium derivative salt of anthraflavic acid) for the synthesis of an organic semiconductor based in silicon phthalocyanines (SiPcs). We report the visible photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature obtained from thermal-evaporated thin films of these new materials. The surface morphology of these films was analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). AFM indicated that the thermal evaporation technique is an excellent resource in order to obtain low thin film roughness when depositing these kinds of compounds. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy was employed to investigate possible changes in the intra-molecular bonds and to identify any evidence of crystallinity in the powder compounds and in the thin films after their deposition. FTIR showed that there was not any important change in the samples after the thermal deposition. The absorption coefficient (α) in the absorption region reveals non-direct transitions. Furthermore, the PL of all the investigated samples were observed with the naked eye in a bright background and also measured by a spectrofluorometer. The normalized PL spectra showed a Stokes shift ≈ 0.6 eV in two of our three samples, and no PL emission in the last one. Those results indicate that the Vis PL comes from a recombination of charge carriers between conduction band and valence band preceded by a non-radiative relaxation in the conduction band tails.

Protonation of some non-transition metal phthalocyanines — spectral and photophysicochemical consequences

The photophysics and photochemistry of phthalocyanine complexes of magnesium (MgPc), aluminum chloride (ClAlPc) and zinc (ZnPc) are studied in N,N′-dimethylformamide (DMF). The values obtained for the photophysical and photochemical parameters are normal for simple metallophthalocyanine (MPc) complexes. Protonation of the azomethine bridges reduced the photoactivities of the complexes considerably; however the excited triplet states of the protonated species are more stable towards ground state oxygen. The interaction of the non-protonated MPcs with ground state oxygen is shown to be diffusion-assisted, with bimolecular rate constant values of the order of 1010 M-1.s-1. MgPc could not be protonated; it was easily demetalated by the protonating acid. The kinetics of the demetalation yielded the rate equation: Rate = 0.1[MgPc][H+]2/3

Controlled chain polymerisation and chemical soldering for single-molecule electronics

Single functional molecules offer great potential for the development of novel nanoelectronic devices with capabilities beyond today's silicon-based devices. To realise single-molecule electronics, the development of a viable method for connecting functional molecules to each other using single conductive polymer chains is required. The method of initiating chain polymerisation using the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) is very useful for fabricating single conductive polymer chains at designated positions and thereby wiring single molecules. In this feature article, developments in the controlled chain polymerisation of diacetylene compounds and the properties of polydiacetylene chains are summarised. Recent studies of "chemical soldering", a technique enabling the covalent connection of single polydiacetylene chains to single functional molecules, are also introduced. This represents a key step in advancing the development of single-molecule electronics.

The trisubstituted-triazole approach to extended functional naphthalocyanines

Recently, a novel modular approach to octatriazole-derived phthalocyanines (Pcs; 1) was developed and optimized in our group; herein, the pool of the functional Pc materials was expanded for an additional candidate (2), a fused derivative of 1. Compared with 1, the aromaticity in 2 is extended by an additional four benzene and eight triazole rings and, in addition, the triazole units and the Pc core co-create four functional, in-plane cavities. Various methods to link the unsubstituted carbon atoms of the neighboring triazoles in 1 to afford atomically flat naphthalocyanine (Nc) analogs (2), containing eight fused triazole moieties, were studied. Several synthetic routes were designed, among them the trisubstituted-triazole approach, which was found to be the most suitable route. The crucial steps of this approach, the copper-catalyzed azide-haloalkyne cycloaddition and the intramolecular homocoupling reactions, were first studied on a model system; subsequently, this methodology was applied in the synthesis of the desired Nc 2. The increased core size and the π-electron deficient structure predict this class of Ncs to possess very strong aggregation properties. Moreover, owing to the presence of four tridentate half-cavities, the final properties of the molecule or the assembly can, in principle, be further tuned by doping with metals or guest molecules.

Interface doping of conjugated organic films by means of diffusion of atomic components from the surfaces of semiconductors and of metal oxides

The paper reports the results on the interface formation of 5-10 nm thick conjugated layers of Cu-phthalocyanine (CuPc) with a number of solid surfaces: polycrystalline Au, (SiO(2))n-Si, ZnO(0 0 0 1), Si(1 0 0), Ge(1 1 1), CdS(0 0 0 1) and GaAs(1 0 0). The results were obtained using Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and low-energy target current electron spectroscopy (TCS). The organic overlayers were thermally deposited in situ in UHV onto substrate surfaces. The island-like organic deposits were excluded from the analysis so that only uniform organic deposits were considered. In the cases of polycrystalline Au, Si(1 0 0) and Ge(1 1 1) substrates the AES peaks of the substrate material attenuated down to the zero noise level upon the increase of the CuPc film thickness of 8-10 nm. The peaks corresponding to oxygen atoms in the case of SiO(2) substrate, and to atoms from the ZnO, GaAs and CdS substrates were clearly registered in the AES spectra of the 8-10 nm thick CuPc deposits. The relative concentration of the substrate atomic components diffused into the film was different from their relative concentration at the pure substrate surface. The concentration of the substrate dopant atoms in the CuPc film was estimated as one atom per one CuPc molecule. Using the target current electron spectroscopy, it was shown that the substrate atoms admixed in the CuPc film account for the appearance of a new peak in the density of unoccupied electronic states. Formation of intermediate TCS spectra until the CuPc deposit reaches 2-3 nm was observed in the cases of GaAs(1 0 0), ZnO(0 0 0 1), Ge(1 1 1) surfaces. The intermediate spectra show a less pronounced peak structure different from the one typical for the CuPc films. It was suggested that the intermediate layer was formed by the CuPc molecules fully or partially decomposed due to the interaction with the relatively reactive semiconductor surfaces.