Work

n-doping of organic semiconductors catalysed by organometallic complexes

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Molecular doping is essential for optimizing carrier concentration, charge mobility, and energy levels of organic semiconductors (OSCs), thereby enhancing device performance. However, efficient n(electron)-type doping remains challenging, as conventional techniques often fail to achieve high doping efficiency with minimal counterion-induced disorder under mild conditions. Here, we present a catalysed n-doping strategy for OSCs using air-stable, cost-effective, and commercially available soluble organometallic complexes, such as Pt(COD)Cl2, which enable rapid n-dopant activation with just 10 s of annealing at 120 oC. This approach demonstrates excellent generality across diverse OSCs, dopants and catalysts, achieving electrical conductivities exceeding 230 S cm-1 with up to 10-fold improvements over existing catalyst-assisted n-doping methods. Importantly, it mitigates counterion-induced structural disorder in doped OSCs, leading to a high power factor of 175 µW m-1 K-2 and thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of 0.43 at room temperature for catalytically N-DMBI-doped polymer films. This strategy addresses long-standing challenges in n-doping while unlocking new avenues for next-generation organic electronics. Molecular doping is essential for optimizing carrier concentration, charge mobility, and energy levels of organic semiconductors, but efficient n(electron)-type doping remains challenging. Here, the authors present a catalysed n-doping strategy using air-stable, cost-effective, and commercially available soluble organometallic complexes.

Source: Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-66052-9