1
|
Tjhe DHL, Ren X, Jacobs IE, D'Avino G, Mustafa TBE, Marsh TG, Zhang L, Fu Y, Mansour AE, Opitz A, Huang Y, Zhu W, Unal AH, Hoek S, Lemaur V, Quarti C, He Q, Lee JK, McCulloch I, Heeney M, Koch N, Grey CP, Beljonne D, Fratini S, Sirringhaus H. Non-equilibrium transport in polymer mixed ionic-electronic conductors at ultrahigh charge densities. NATURE MATERIALS 2024; 23:1712-1719. [PMID: 39060469 PMCID: PMC11599050 DOI: 10.1038/s41563-024-01953-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024]
Abstract
Conducting polymers are mixed ionic-electronic conductors that are emerging candidates for neuromorphic computing, bioelectronics and thermoelectrics. However, fundamental aspects of their many-body correlated electron-ion transport physics remain poorly understood. Here we show that in p-type organic electrochemical transistors it is possible to remove all of the electrons from the valence band and even access deeper bands without degradation. By adding a second, field-effect gate electrode, additional electrons or holes can be injected at set doping states. Under conditions where the counterions are unable to equilibrate in response to field-induced changes in the electronic carrier density, we observe surprising, non-equilibrium transport signatures that provide unique insights into the interaction-driven formation of a frozen, soft Coulomb gap in the density of states. Our work identifies new strategies for substantially enhancing the transport properties of conducting polymers by exploiting non-equilibrium states in the coupled system of electronic charges and counterions.
Collapse
|
2
|
Rodriguez-Mayorga M, Blase X, Duchemin I, D'Avino G. From Many-Body Ab Initio to Effective Excitonic Models: A Versatile Mapping Approach Including Environmental Embedding Effects. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:8675-8688. [PMID: 39376072 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/09/2024]
Abstract
We present an original multistate projective diabatization scheme based on Green's function formalisms that allows the systematic mapping of many-body ab initio calculations onto effective excitonic models. This method inherits the ability of the Bethe-Salpeter equation to describe Frenkel molecular excitons and intermolecular charge-transfer states equally well, as well as the possibility for an effective description of environmental effects in a QM/MM framework. The latter is found to be a crucial element in order to obtain accurate model parameters for condensed phases and to ensure their transferability to excitonic models for extended systems. The method is presented through a series of examples illustrating its quality, robustness, and internal consistency.
Collapse
|
3
|
Bennecke W, Windischbacher A, Schmitt D, Bange JP, Hemm R, Kern CS, D'Avino G, Blase X, Steil D, Steil S, Aeschlimann M, Stadtmüller B, Reutzel M, Puschnig P, Jansen GSM, Mathias S. Author Correction: Disentangling the multiorbital contributions of excitons by photoemission exciton tomography. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3229. [PMID: 38622135 PMCID: PMC11018792 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47583-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/17/2024] Open
|
4
|
Bennecke W, Windischbacher A, Schmitt D, Bange JP, Hemm R, Kern CS, D'Avino G, Blase X, Steil D, Steil S, Aeschlimann M, Stadtmüller B, Reutzel M, Puschnig P, Jansen GSM, Mathias S. Disentangling the multiorbital contributions of excitons by photoemission exciton tomography. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1804. [PMID: 38413573 PMCID: PMC10899218 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45973-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Excitons are realizations of a correlated many-particle wave function, specifically consisting of electrons and holes in an entangled state. Excitons occur widely in semiconductors and are dominant excitations in semiconducting organic and low-dimensional quantum materials. To efficiently harness the strong optical response and high tuneability of excitons in optoelectronics and in energy-transformation processes, access to the full wavefunction of the entangled state is critical, but has so far not been feasible. Here, we show how time-resolved photoemission momentum microscopy can be used to gain access to the entangled wavefunction and to unravel the exciton's multiorbital electron and hole contributions. For the prototypical organic semiconductor buckminsterfullerene (C60), we exemplify the capabilities of exciton tomography and achieve unprecedented access to key properties of the entangled exciton state including localization, charge-transfer character, and ultrafast exciton formation and relaxation dynamics.
Collapse
|
5
|
Galleni L, Meulemans A, Sajjadian FS, Singh DP, Arvind S, Dorney KM, Conard T, D'Avino G, Pourtois G, Escudero D, van Setten MJ. Peak Broadening in Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Amorphous Polymers: The Leading Role of the Electrostatic Landscape. J Phys Chem Lett 2024; 15:834-839. [PMID: 38235964 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c02640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
The broadening in photoelectron spectra of polymers can be attributed to several factors, such as light source spread, spectrometer resolution, the finite lifetime of the hole state, and solid-state effects. Here, for the first time, we set up a computational protocol to assess the peak broadening induced for both core and valence levels by solid-state effects in four amorphous polymers by using a combination of density functional theory, many-body perturbation theory, and classical polarizable embedding. We show that intrinsic local inhomogeneities in the electrostatic environment induce a Gaussian broadening of 0.2-0.7 eV in the binding energies of both core and semivalence electrons, corresponding to a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 0.5-1.7 eV for the investigated systems. The induced broadening is larger in acrylate-based than in styrene-based polymers, revealing the crucial role of polar groups in controlling the roughness of the electrostatic landscape in the solid matrix.
Collapse
|
6
|
Jia X, Soprani L, Londi G, Hosseini SM, Talnack F, Mannsfeld S, Shoaee S, Neher D, Reineke S, Muccioli L, D'Avino G, Vandewal K, Beljonne D, Spoltore D. Molecularly induced order promotes charge separation through delocalized charge-transfer states at donor-acceptor heterojunctions. MATERIALS HORIZONS 2024; 11:173-183. [PMID: 37915305 DOI: 10.1039/d3mh00526g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
The energetic landscape at the interface between electron donating and accepting molecular materials favors efficient conversion of intermolecular charge-transfer (CT) states into free charge carriers (FCC) in high-performance organic solar cells. Here, we elucidate how interfacial energetics, charge generation and radiative recombination are affected by molecular arrangement. We experimentally determine the CT dissociation properties of a series of model, small molecule donor-acceptor blends, where the used acceptors (B2PYMPM, B3PYMPM and B4PYMPM) differ only in the nitrogen position of their lateral pyridine rings. We find that the formation of an ordered, face-on molecular packing in B4PYMPM is beneficial to efficient, field-independent charge separation, leading to fill factors above 70% in photovoltaic devices. This is rationalized by a comprehensive computational protocol showing that, compared to the more amorphous and isotropically oriented B2PYMPM, the higher structural order of B4PYMPM molecules leads to more delocalized CT states. Furthermore, we find no correlation between the quantum efficiency of FCC radiative recombination and the bound or unbound nature of the CT states. This work highlights the importance of structural ordering at donor-acceptor interfaces for efficient FCC generation and shows that less bound CT states do not preclude efficient radiative recombination.
Collapse
|
7
|
Jacobs IE, Lin Y, Huang Y, Ren X, Simatos D, Chen C, Tjhe D, Statz M, Lai L, Finn PA, Neal WG, D'Avino G, Lemaur V, Fratini S, Beljonne D, Strzalka J, Nielsen CB, Barlow S, Marder SR, McCulloch I, Sirringhaus H. High-Efficiency Ion-Exchange Doping of Conducting Polymers. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2022; 34:e2102988. [PMID: 34418878 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202102988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Revised: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Molecular doping-the use of redox-active small molecules as dopants for organic semiconductors-has seen a surge in research interest driven by emerging applications in sensing, bioelectronics, and thermoelectrics. However, molecular doping carries with it several intrinsic problems stemming directly from the redox-active character of these materials. A recent breakthrough was a doping technique based on ion-exchange, which separates the redox and charge compensation steps of the doping process. Here, the equilibrium and kinetics of ion exchange doping in a model system, poly(2,5-bis(3-alkylthiophen-2-yl)thieno(3,2-b)thiophene) (PBTTT) doped with FeCl3 and an ionic liquid, is studied, reaching conductivities in excess of 1000 S cm-1 and ion exchange efficiencies above 99%. Several factors that enable such high performance, including the choice of acetonitrile as the doping solvent, which largely eliminates electrolyte association effects and dramatically increases the doping strength of FeCl3 , are demonstrated. In this high ion exchange efficiency regime, a simple connection between electrochemical doping and ion exchange is illustrated, and it is shown that the performance and stability of highly doped PBTTT is ultimately limited by intrinsically poor stability at high redox potential.
Collapse
|
8
|
Comin M, Fratini S, Blase X, D'Avino G. Doping-Induced Dielectric Catastrophe Prompts Free-Carrier Release in Organic Semiconductors. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2022; 34:e2105376. [PMID: 34647372 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202105376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The control over material properties attainable through molecular doping is essential to many technological applications of organic semiconductors, such as organic light-emitting diodes or thermoelectrics. These excitonic semiconductors typically reach the degenerate limit only at impurity concentrations of 5-10%, a phenomenon that has been put in relation with the strong Coulomb binding between charge carriers and ionized dopants, and whose comprehension remained elusive so far. This study proposes a general mechanism for the release of carriers at finite doping in terms of collective screening phenomena. A multiscale model for the dielectric properties of doped organic semiconductor is set up by combining first principles and microelectrostatic calculations. The results predict a large nonlinear enhancement of the dielectric constant (tenfold at 8% load) as the system approaches a dielectric instability (catastrophe) upon increasing doping. This can be attributed to the presence of highly polarizable host-dopant complexes, plus a nontrivial leading contribution from dipolar interactions in the disordered and heterogeneous system. The enhanced screening in the material drastically reduces the (free) energy barriers for electron-hole separation, rationalizing the possibility for thermal charge release. The proposed mechanism is consistent with conductivity data and sets the basis for achieving higher conductivities at lower doping loads.
Collapse
|
9
|
Stoeckel MA, Olivier Y, Gobbi M, Dudenko D, Lemaur V, Zbiri M, Guilbert AAY, D'Avino G, Liscio F, Migliori A, Ortolani L, Demitri N, Jin X, Jeong YG, Liscio A, Nardi MV, Pasquali L, Razzari L, Beljonne D, Samorì P, Orgiu E. Analysis of External and Internal Disorder to Understand Band-Like Transport in n-Type Organic Semiconductors. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2021; 33:e2007870. [PMID: 33629772 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202007870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Charge transport in organic semiconductors is notoriously extremely sensitive to the presence of disorder, both internal and external (i.e., related to interactions with the dielectric layer), especially for n-type materials. Internal dynamic disorder stems from large thermal fluctuations both in intermolecular transfer integrals and (molecular) site energies in weakly interacting van der Waals solids and sources transient localization of the charge carriers. The molecular vibrations that drive transient localization typically operate at low-frequency (<a-few-hundred cm-1 ), which makes it difficult to assess them experimentally. Hitherto, this has prevented the identification of clear molecular design rules to control and reduce dynamic disorder. In addition, the disorder can also be external, being controlled by the gate insulator dielectric properties. Here a comprehensive study of charge transport in two closely related n-type molecular organic semiconductors using a combination of temperature-dependent inelastic neutron scattering and photoelectron spectroscopy corroborated by electrical measurements, theory, and simulations is reported. Unambiguous evidence that ad hoc molecular design enables the electron charge carriers to be freed from both internal and external disorder to ultimately reach band-like electron transport is provided.
Collapse
|
10
|
De Nicola A, Correa A, Giunchi A, Muccioli L, D'Avino G, Kido J, Milano G. Bidimensional H‐Bond Network Promotes Structural Order and Electron Transport in BPyMPMs Molecular Semiconductor. ADVANCED THEORY AND SIMULATIONS 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/adts.202000302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
|
11
|
Londi G, Khan SUZ, Muccioli L, D'Avino G, Rand BP, Beljonne D. Fate of Low-Lying Charge-Transfer Excited States in a Donor:Acceptor Blend with a Large Energy Offset. J Phys Chem Lett 2020; 11:10219-10226. [PMID: 33206537 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c02858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
In an effort to gain a comprehensive picture of the interfacial states in bulk heterojunction solar cells, we provide a combined experimental-theoretical analysis of the energetics and dynamics of low-lying electronic charge-transfer (CT) states in donor:acceptor blends with a large frontier orbital energy offset. By varying the blend composition and temperature, we unravel the static and dynamic contributions to the disordered density of states (DOS) of the CT-state manifold and assess their recombination to the ground state. Namely, we find that static disorder (conformational and electrostatic) shapes the CT DOS and that fast nonradiative recombination crops the low-energy tail of the distribution probed by external quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements (thereby largely contributing to voltage losses). Our results then question the standard practice of extracting microscopic parameters such as exciton energy and energetic disorder from EQE.
Collapse
|
12
|
Dong Y, Nikolis VC, Talnack F, Chin YC, Benduhn J, Londi G, Kublitski J, Zheng X, Mannsfeld SCB, Spoltore D, Muccioli L, Li J, Blase X, Beljonne D, Kim JS, Bakulin AA, D'Avino G, Durrant JR, Vandewal K. Orientation dependent molecular electrostatics drives efficient charge generation in homojunction organic solar cells. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4617. [PMID: 32934236 PMCID: PMC7494863 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18439-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Organic solar cells usually utilise a heterojunction between electron-donating (D) and electron-accepting (A) materials to split excitons into charges. However, the use of D-A blends intrinsically limits the photovoltage and introduces morphological instability. Here, we demonstrate that polycrystalline films of chemically identical molecules offer a promising alternative and show that photoexcitation of α-sexithiophene (α-6T) films results in efficient charge generation. This leads to α-6T based homojunction organic solar cells with an external quantum efficiency reaching up to 44% and an open-circuit voltage of 1.61 V. Morphological, photoemission, and modelling studies show that boundaries between α-6T crystalline domains with different orientations generate an electrostatic landscape with an interfacial energy offset of 0.4 eV, which promotes the formation of hybridised exciton/charge-transfer states at the interface, dissociating efficiently into free charges. Our findings open new avenues for organic solar cell design where material energetics are tuned through molecular electrostatic engineering and mesoscale structural control.
Collapse
|
13
|
Kim VO, Broch K, Belova V, Chen YS, Gerlach A, Schreiber F, Tamura H, Della Valle RG, D'Avino G, Salzmann I, Beljonne D, Rao A, Friend R. Singlet exciton fission via an intermolecular charge transfer state in coevaporated pentacene-perfluoropentacene thin films. J Chem Phys 2019; 151:164706. [PMID: 31675857 DOI: 10.1063/1.5130400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Singlet exciton fission is a spin-allowed process in organic semiconductors by which one absorbed photon generates two triplet excitons. Theory predicts that singlet fission is mediated by intermolecular charge-transfer states in solid-state materials with appropriate singlet-triplet energy spacing, but direct evidence for the involvement of such states in the process has not been provided yet. Here, we report on the observation of subpicosecond singlet fission in mixed films of pentacene and perfluoropentacene. By combining transient spectroscopy measurements to nonadiabatic quantum-dynamics simulations, we show that direct excitation in the charge-transfer absorption band of the mixed films leads to the formation of triplet excitons, unambiguously proving that they act as intermediate states in the fission process.
Collapse
|
14
|
Londi G, Dilmurat R, D'Avino G, Lemaur V, Olivier Y, Beljonne D. Comprehensive modelling study of singlet exciton diffusion in donor-acceptor dyads: when small changes in chemical structure matter. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:25023-25034. [PMID: 31690890 DOI: 10.1039/c9cp05201a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
We compare two small π-conjugated donor-bridge-acceptor organic molecules differing mainly in the number of thiophene rings in their bridging motifs (1 ring in 1; 2 rings in 2) with the aim of rationalizing the origin of the enhancement in the singlet exciton diffusion coefficient and length of 1 with respect to 2. By combining force field molecular dynamics and micro electrostatic schemes with time-dependent density functional theory and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, we dissect the nature of the lowest electronic excitations in amorphous thin films of these molecules and model the transport of singlet excitons across their broadly disordered energy landscapes. In addition to a longer excited-state lifetime associated with a more pronounced intramolecular charge-transfer character, our calculations reveal that singlet excitons in 1 are capable of funneling through long-distance hopping percolation pathways, presumably as a result of the less anisotropic shape of the molecule, which favours long-range 3D transport.
Collapse
|
15
|
Schweicher G, D'Avino G, Ruggiero MT, Harkin DJ, Broch K, Venkateshvaran D, Liu G, Richard A, Ruzié C, Armstrong J, Kennedy AR, Shankland K, Takimiya K, Geerts YH, Zeitler JA, Fratini S, Sirringhaus H. Chasing the "Killer" Phonon Mode for the Rational Design of Low-Disorder, High-Mobility Molecular Semiconductors. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2019; 31:e1902407. [PMID: 31512304 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201902407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Molecular vibrations play a critical role in the charge transport properties of weakly van der Waals bonded organic semiconductors. To understand which specific phonon modes contribute most strongly to the electron-phonon coupling and ensuing thermal energetic disorder in some of the most widely studied high-mobility molecular semiconductors, state-of-the-art quantum mechanical simulations of the vibrational modes and the ensuing electron-phonon coupling constants are combined with experimental measurements of the low-frequency vibrations using inelastic neutron scattering and terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. In this way, the long-axis sliding motion is identified as a "killer" phonon mode, which in some molecules contributes more than 80% to the total thermal disorder. Based on this insight, a way to rationalize mobility trends between different materials and derive important molecular design guidelines for new high-mobility molecular semiconductors is suggested.
Collapse
|
16
|
Roscioni OM, D'Avino G, Muccioli L, Zannoni C. Pentacene Crystal Growth on Silica and Layer-Dependent Step-Edge Barrier from Atomistic Simulations. J Phys Chem Lett 2018; 9:6900-6906. [PMID: 30449102 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b03063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Understanding and controlling the growth of organic crystals deposited from the vapor phase is important for fundamental materials science and necessary for applications in pharmaceutical and organic electronics industries. Here, this process is studied for the paradigmatic case of pentacene on silica by means of a specifically tailored computational approach inspired by the experimental vapor deposition process. This scheme is able to reproduce the early stages of the thin-film formation, characterized by a quasi layer-by-layer growth, thus showcasing its potential as a tool complementary to experimental techniques for investigating organic crystals. Crystalline islands of standing molecules are formed at a critical coverage, as a result of a collective reorientation of disordered aggregates of flat-lying molecules. The growth then proceeds by sequential attachment of molecules at the cluster and then terrace edges. Free-energy calculations allowed us to characterize the step-edge barrier for descending the terraces, a fundamental parameter for growth models for which only indirect experimental measurements are available. The barrier is found to be layer-dependent (approximately 1 kcal/mol for the first monolayer on silica, 2 kcal/mol for the second monolayer) and to extend over a distance comparable with the molecular length.
Collapse
|
17
|
Olivier Y, Sancho-Garcia JC, Muccioli L, D'Avino G, Beljonne D. Computational Design of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials: The Challenges Ahead. J Phys Chem Lett 2018; 9:6149-6163. [PMID: 30265539 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b02327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) offers promise for all-organic light-emitting diodes with quantum efficiencies competing with those of transition-metal-based phosphorescent devices. While computational efforts have so far largely focused on gas-phase calculations of singlet and triplet excitation energies, the design of TADF materials requires multiple methodological developments targeting among others a quantitative description of electronic excitation energetics, fully accounting for environmental electrostatics and molecular conformational effects, the accurate assessment of the quantum mechanical interactions that trigger the elementary electronic processes involved in TADF, and a robust picture for the dynamics of these fundamental processes. In this Perspective, we describe some recent progress along those lines and highlight the main challenges ahead for modeling, which we hope will be useful to the whole TADF community.
Collapse
|
18
|
Gobbi M, Bonacchi S, Lian JX, Liu Y, Wang XY, Stoeckel MA, Squillaci MA, D'Avino G, Narita A, Müllen K, Feng X, Olivier Y, Beljonne D, Samorì P, Orgiu E. Periodic potentials in hybrid van der Waals heterostructures formed by supramolecular lattices on graphene. Nat Commun 2017; 8:14767. [PMID: 28322229 PMCID: PMC5364416 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2016] [Accepted: 01/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The rise of 2D materials made it possible to form heterostructures held together by weak interplanar van der Waals interactions. Within such van der Waals heterostructures, the occurrence of 2D periodic potentials significantly modifies the electronic structure of single sheets within the stack, therefore modulating the material properties. However, these periodic potentials are determined by the mechanical alignment of adjacent 2D materials, which is cumbersome and time-consuming. Here we show that programmable 1D periodic potentials extending over areas exceeding 104 nm2 and stable at ambient conditions arise when graphene is covered by a self-assembled supramolecular lattice. The amplitude and sign of the potential can be modified without altering its periodicity by employing photoreactive molecules or their reaction products. In this regard, the supramolecular lattice/graphene bilayer represents the hybrid analogue of fully inorganic van der Waals heterostructures, highlighting the rich prospects that molecular design offers to create ad hoc materials.
Collapse
|
19
|
D'Avino G, Muccioli L, Castet F, Poelking C, Andrienko D, Soos ZG, Cornil J, Beljonne D. Electrostatic phenomena in organic semiconductors: fundamentals and implications for photovoltaics. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2016; 28:433002. [PMID: 27603960 DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/28/43/433002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
This review summarizes the current understanding of electrostatic phenomena in ordered and disordered organic semiconductors, outlines numerical schemes developed for quantitative evaluation of electrostatic and induction contributions to ionization potentials and electron affinities of organic molecules in a solid state, and illustrates two applications of these techniques: interpretation of photoelectron spectroscopy of thin films and energetics of heterointerfaces in organic solar cells.
Collapse
|
20
|
Li J, D'Avino G, Duchemin I, Beljonne D, Blase X. Combining the Many-Body GW Formalism with Classical Polarizable Models: Insights on the Electronic Structure of Molecular Solids. J Phys Chem Lett 2016; 7:2814-2820. [PMID: 27388926 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b01302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
We present an original hybrid QM/MM scheme merging the many-body Green's function GW formalism with classical discrete polarizable models and its application to the paradigmatic case of a pentacene crystal. Our calculated transport gap is found to be in excellent agreement with reference periodic bulk GW calculations, together with properly parametrized classical microelectrostatic calculations, and with photoionization measurements at crystal surfaces. More importantly, we prove that the gap is insensitive to the partitioning of pentacene molecules in QM and MM subsystems, as a result of the mutual compensation of quantum and classical polarizabilities, clarifying the relation between polarization energy and delocalization. The proposed hybrid method offers a computationally attractive strategy to compute the full spectrum of charged excitations in complex molecular environments, accounting for both QM and MM contributions to the polarization energy, a crucial requirement in the limit of large QM subsystems.
Collapse
|
21
|
D'Avino G, Muccioli L, Olivier Y, Beljonne D. Charge Separation and Recombination at Polymer-Fullerene Heterojunctions: Delocalization and Hybridization Effects. J Phys Chem Lett 2016; 7:536-40. [PMID: 26785294 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.5b02680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
We address charge separation and recombination in polymer/fullerene solar cells with a multiscale modeling built from accurate atomistic inputs and accounting for disorder, interface electrostatics and genuine quantum effects on equal footings. Our results show that bound localized charge transfer states at the interface coexist with a large majority of thermally accessible delocalized space-separated states that can be also reached by direct photoexcitation, thanks to their strong hybridization with singlet polymer excitons. These findings reconcile the recent experimental reports of ultrafast exciton separation ("hot" process) with the evidence that high quantum yields do not require excess electronic or vibrational energy ("cold" process), and show that delocalization, by shifting the density of charge transfer states toward larger effective electron-hole radii, may reduce energy losses through charge recombination.
Collapse
|
22
|
Villone MM, D'Avino G, Hulsen MA, Maffettone PL. Dynamics of prolate spheroidal elastic particles in confined shear flow. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2015; 92:062303. [PMID: 26764688 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.92.062303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2015] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
We investigate through numerical simulations the dynamics of a neo-Hookean elastic prolate spheroid suspended in a Newtonian fluid under shear flow. Both initial orientations of the particle within and outside the shear plane and both unbounded and confined flow geometries are considered. In unbounded flow, when the particle starts on the shear plane, two stable regimes of motion are found, i.e., trembling, where the particle shape periodically elongates and compresses in the shear plane and the angle between its major semiaxis and the flow direction oscillates around a positive mean value, and tumbling, where the particle shape periodically changes and its major axis performs complete revolutions around the vorticity axis. When the particle is initially oriented out of the shear plane, more complex dynamics arise. Geometric confinement of the particle between the moving walls also influences its deformation and regime of motion. In addition, when the particle is initially located in an asymmetric position with respect to the moving walls, particle lateral migration is detected. The effects on the particle dynamics of the geometric and physical parameters that rule the system are investigated.
Collapse
|
23
|
De Corato M, Greco F, D'Avino G, Maffettone PL. Hydrodynamics and Brownian motions of a spheroid near a rigid wall. J Chem Phys 2015; 142:194901. [PMID: 26001478 DOI: 10.1063/1.4920981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
In this work, we study in detail the hydrodynamics and the Brownian motions of a spheroidal particle suspended in a Newtonian fluid near a flat rigid wall. We employ 3D Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations to compute how the mobility tensor of the spheroid varies with both the particle-wall separation distance and the particle orientation. We then study the Brownian motion of the spheroid by means of a discretized Langevin equation. We specifically focus on the additional drift terms arising from the position and orientational dependence of the mobility matrix. In this respect, we also propose a numerically convenient approximation of the orientational divergence of the mobility matrix that is required in the solution of the Langevin equation. Our results illustrate that both hydrodynamics and Brownian motions of a spheroidal particle near a confining wall display novel features from those of a sphere in the same type of confinement.
Collapse
|
24
|
D'Avino G, Verstraete MJ. Are hydrogen-bonded charge transfer crystals room temperature ferroelectrics? PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2014; 113:237602. [PMID: 25526158 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.113.237602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
We present a theoretical investigation of the anomalous ferroelectricity of mixed-stack charge transfer molecular crystals, based on the Peierls-Hubbard model, and first-principles calculations for its parametrization. This approach is first validated by reproducing the temperature-induced transition and the electronic polarization of TTF-CA, and then applied to a novel series of hydrogen-bonded crystals, for which room temperature ferroelectricity has recently been claimed. Our analysis shows that the hydrogen-bonded systems present a very low degree of charge transfer and hence support a very small polarization. A critical reexamination of experimental data supports our findings, shedding doubts on the ferroelectricity of these systems. More generally, our modeling allows the rationalization of general features of the ferroelectric transition in charge transfer crystals and suggests design principles for materials optimization.
Collapse
|
25
|
Castet F, D'Avino G, Muccioli L, Cornil J, Beljonne D. Charge separation energetics at organic heterojunctions: on the role of structural and electrostatic disorder. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2014; 16:20279-90. [DOI: 10.1039/c4cp01872a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
|