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DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-968207
Nanotube Photoconductors
Contributor(s):Timothy M. Swager, Zhihua ChenJapan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo, The University of Tokyo, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Ibaraki and Osaka University, Japan
Photoconductive Coaxial Nanotubes of Molecularly Connected Electron Donor and Acceptor Layers
Science 2006, 314: 1761-1764
Publication History
Publication Date:
20 February 2007 (online)
Key words
supramolecular chemistry - nanotubes - self-assembly
Significance
This work describes a cleverly designed hexabenzocoronene trinitrofluorenone (HBC-TNF) supramolecular structure 1, which could self-assemble into nanotubes when its dilute THF solution was exposed to methanol vapor. The nanotubes are 16 nanometers in diameter and several micrometers long, with 3-nm-thick walls consisting of a segregated HBC region sandwiched between two TNF layers, as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction studies. More interestingly, these hollow nanotubes demonstrated a significant photoconductive response when illuminated, showing a current 104 times greater than in the dark.
Comment
Supramolecular electronics with well-organized π-conjugated molecules as active components have been an emerging research field because of their potential applications as transistors, photodetectors, and photovoltaic devices. The work described here demonstrated a molecular design strategy to build donor-acceptor heterojunction with an extremely wide interface, which is crucial for photoconductive and photovoltaic materials. This study also serves to give a further understanding of the self-assembly of π-conjugated systems.