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About Oligothiophene Self-Assembly: From Aggregation in Solution to Solid-State Nanostructures

2004; American Chemical Society; Volume: 16; Issue: 23 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1021/cm049673x

1520-5002

Philippe Leclère, Mathieu Surin, Pascal Viville, Roberto Lazzaroni, Andreas F. M. Kilbinger, Oliver Henze, W. James Feast, Massimiliano Cavallini, Fabio Biscarini, Albertus P. H. J. Schenning, E. W. Meijer,

Conducting polymers and applications

Well-defined π-conjugated oligomers play an important role in the field of organic electronics, because their precise chemical structure and conjugation length give rise to well-defined functional properties and facilitate control over their supramolecular organization. In this review, we present different complementary approaches for the control of molecular assembly into well-defined structures on the nanoscale, applied to oligothiophenes as a typical conjugated system. We consider self-assembly in solution, sublimation of individual molecules in the vapor phase, and aggregation in thin deposits from compounds molecularly dispersed in a solution. We demonstrate that the development of substituted, soluble π-conjugated materials allows not only a control of their organization in the solid state but also the possibility of determining the degree of order in solution. During these self-assembly processes, the interplay between the conjugated molecules, the solvent, and the substrate surface is of primary importance. Depending on the interactions between the molecules and the substrate, one-dimensional (nanowires) or two-dimensional (platelets) objects can be generated. The self-organization of conjugated building blocks in solution or on surfaces, leading to the construction of nanoscopic and mesoscopic architectures, represents a starting point for the construction of molecular electronics or even circuits, through surface patterning with nanometer-sized objects.