Work

Orienting Periodic Organic−Inorganic Nanoscale Domains Through One-Step Electrodeposition

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: One of the challenges in the synthesis of hybrid materials with nanoscale structure is to precisely control morphology across length scales. Using a one-step electrodeposition process on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates followed by annealing, we report here the preparation of materials with preferentially oriented lamellar domains of electron donor surfactants and the semiconductor ZnO. We found that either increasing the concentration of surfactant or the water to dimethyl sulfoxide ratio of solutions used resulted in the suppression of bloomlike morphologies and enhanced the density of periodic domains on ITO substrates. Furthermore, by modifying the surface of the ITO substrate with the conductive polymer blend poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate), we were able to alter the orientation of these electrodeposited lamellar domains to be perpendicular to the substrate. The long-range orientation achieved was characterized by 2D grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering. This high degree of orientation in electronically active hybrids with alternating nanoscale p-type and n-type domains is of potential interest in photovoltaics or thermoelectric materials.

Source: ACS Nano

DOI: 10.1021/nn102697r

Authors: David J. Herman, Joshua E. Goldberger, Stephen Chao, Daniel T. Martin, Samuel I. Stupp

Institution: Northwestern University

Language: English

Topic: ZnO doping and properties

Subfield: Materials Chemistry

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: green

Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Environment Research Council, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering