Surface chemical reactions on self-assembled silane based monolayers

In this review, we aim to update our review "Chemical modification of self-assembled silane-based monolayers by surface reactions" which was published in 2010 and has developed into an important guiding tool for researchers working on the modification of solid substrate surface properties by chemical modification of silane-based self-assembled monolayers. Due to the rapid development of this field of research in the last decade, the utilization of chemical functionalities in self-assembled monolayers has been significantly improved and some new processes were introduced in chemical surface reactions for tailoring the properties of solid substrates. Thus, it is time to update the developments in the surface functionalization of silane-based molecules. Hence, after a short introduction on self-assembled monolayers, this review focuses on a series of chemical reactions, i.e., nucleophilic substitution, click chemistry, supramolecular modification, photochemical reaction, and other reactions, which have been applied for the modification of hydroxyl-terminated substrates, like silicon and glass, which have been reported during the last 10 years.

Surface Grafting of Functionalized Poly(thiophene)s Using Thiol-Ene Click Chemistry for Thin Film Stabilization

Regioregular poly[(3-hexylthiophene)-ran-(3-undecenylthiophene)] (pP3HT) and vinyl terminated poly(3-hexylthiophene) (xP3HT) were synthesized by the McCullough method and surface grafted to thiol modified silicon dioxide wafers using thiol-ene click chemistry. Utilizing this method, semiconducting, solvent impervious films were easily generated. Thiol-ene click chemistry is convenient for film stabilization in electronics because it does not produce side products that could be inimical to charge transport in the active layer. It was found through grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) that there is no change in microstructure between as-spun films and thiol-ene grafted films, while there was a change after the thiol-ene grafted film was exposed to solvent. Organic field-effect transistors (oFETs) were fabricated from grafted films that had been swelled with chloroform, and these devices had mobilities on the order of 10^-6 cm² V^-1 s^-1, which are consistent with poly(thiophene) monolayer devices.

Nanochemistry and nanomaterials for photovoltaics

Nanochemistry and nanomaterials provide numerous opportunities for a new generation of photovoltaics with high solar energy conversion efficiencies at low fabrication cost. Quantum-confined nanomaterials and polymer-inorganic nanocomposites can be tailored to harvest sun light over a broad range of the spectrum, while plasmonic structures offer effective ways to reduce the thickness of light-absorbing layers. Multiple exciton generation, singlet exciton fission, photon down-conversion, and photon up-conversion realized in nanostructures, create significant interest for harvesting underutilized ultraviolet and currently unutilized infrared photons. Nanochemical interface engineering of nanoparticle surfaces and junction-interfaces enable enhanced charge separation and collection. In this review, we survey these recent advances employed to introduce new concepts for improving the solar energy conversion efficiency, and reduce the device fabrication cost in photovoltaic technologies. The review concludes with a summary of contributions already made by nanochemistry. It then describes the challenges and opportunities in photovoltaics where the chemical community can play a vital role.

Crafting semiconductor organic-inorganic nanocomposites via placing conjugated polymers in intimate contact with nanocrystals for hybrid solar cells

Semiconductor organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells incorporating conjugated polymers (CPs) and nanocrystals (NCs) offer the potential to deliver efficient energy conversion with low-cost fabrication. The CP-based photovoltaic devices are complimented by an extensive set of advantageous characteristics from CPs and NCs, such as lightweight, flexibility, and solution-processability of CPs, combined with high electron mobility and size-dependent optical properties of NCs. Recent research has witnessed rapid advances in an emerging field of directly tethering CPs on the NC surface to yield an intimately contacted CP-NC nanocomposite possessing a well-defined interface that markedly promotes the dispersion of NCs within the CP matrix, facilitates the photoinduced charge transfer between these two semiconductor components, and provides an effective platform for studying the interfacial charge separation and transport. In this Review, we aim to highlight the recent developments in CP-NC nanocomposite materials, critically examine the viable preparative strategies geared to craft intimate CP-NC nanocomposites and their photovoltaic performance in hybrid solar cells, and finally provide an outlook for future directions of this extraordinarily rich field.