Work

Self-Assembled 3,4,9,10-Perylenetetracarboxylic Dianhydride is a Molecular Graphite

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: Viable organic charge storage materials must display rapid cation insertion. Typically, these materials are composed of monomers that undergo slow outer-sphere electron transfer coupled to significant bond rearrangement. Here we show that 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) self-assembles into an organic material that undergoes graphite-like cation insertion-coupled electron transfer rather than forming a radical anion or an enolate, as previously thought. This charge storage pathway is enabled by a semiconducting band structure, coincident with cation insertion between self-assembled PTCDA molecules. Based on these results, we propose that self-assembled PTCDA is best thought of as a synthetically tunable “molecular graphite” that combines the best features of molecules with the rapid insertion pathways of traditional intercalation solids.

Source: ChemRxiv

DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-7sq05/v2

Authors: Jaeyoung Lee, Nuren Lara, Tyler Case, Carrie Donley, Natalie Druffner, Nathaniel Yeboah, Aleksandrs Prokofjevs, David Halat, Megan Jackson

Institutions: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Colorado School of Mines, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Topic: Organic and Molecular Conductors Research

Subfield: Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Miami, Colorado School of Mines, Office of Science, Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems, Division of Chemistry, Basic Energy Sciences, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Awards: G1616309272, NNCI: North Carolina Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network (RTNN), G1676019983, G1972100439, MRI: Acquisition of a 600 MHz Spectrometer with Cryogenic Probe, G3731664523, G3981648682, G4048340080, G4108146759, G4845723186, G5973914729, G630564664

OpenAlex ID: W7216296512

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