Electrochemical deposition of small molecules for electronic materials
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Date
27/11/2014Author
Allwright, Emily Marieke
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Abstract
The method of the deposition of films of small molecules for use in electronic
applications is just as important as the molecule design itself as the film’s
morphology and continuity influence the performance of the devices that they are
incorporated in. The purpose of the work in this thesis was to develop a method of
electrochemically depositing films of small molecules for potential use in electronic
applications.
A method of electrochemically depositing films of chemically reduced low solubility
dye molecules was successfully pioneered. The process was developed using
N,N dibutyl-3,4,9,10-perylene-bis(dicarboxime), a simplified version of
3,4,9,10-perylene-tetracarboxylic bisbenzimidalzole. Both of these dyes have been
used in electronic applications, but low solubility makes them difficult to deposit by
traditional solution techniques. A series of films was electrochemically deposited
onto FTO coated glass and field effect transistors using coulometry. These films
were characterised by absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence, scanning
electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and photo-electrochemistry.
The same deposition method was applied to copper phthalocyanine. These films
were characterised by absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence, scanning
electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The developed method was used to
deposit films of bilayers of dyes and to investigate the dye penetration during the
deposition of copper phthalocyanine onto porous titanium dioxide.
Films of neutral copper and nickel dithiolenes were electrodeposited from air-stable
TMA salts to investigate the absorbance of the near infrared species formed, as well
as to investigate the conductivity of both complexes and the magnetoresponse of the
neutral copper dithiolene which is air unstable when formed chemically.