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Rubrene single crystals with well-developed ͑100͒ faces extending along the ͓010͔ direction were equipped with two planar gold electrodes deposited under low thermal load on the same crystal surface. The currentvoltage curves measured on crystals with various thicknesses were analyzed by means of the space-chargelimited current model. In all cases, the curves present a clear trap-filled transition that allows extracting the trap-free mobility along the b axis. Working in a gap-type geometry and by comparing the mobility calculated from the Geurst two-dimensional and Mott-Gurney three-dimensional models, a clear 2D to 3D transition is established for a thickness that roughly corresponds to half the distance between the two electrodes. Further quantitative analysis of the data with a differential method leads to the conclusion that charge-transport properties at room temperature are affected by a discrete trap level pointing at 0.48Ϯ 0.02 eV above the valence band.

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Featured Application: Sensing organic molecules in water.Abstract: This review first recalls the basic functioning principles of organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) then focuses on the transduction mechanisms applicable to OECTs. Materials constituting the active semiconducting part are reviewed, from the historical conducting polymers (polyaniline, polypyrrole) to the actual gold standard, poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene: polystyrene sulfonic acid (PEDOT:PSS), as well as the methods used to fabricate these transistors. The review then focuses on applications of OECTs for the detection of small molecules and more particularly of metabolites, with a distinction between enzymatic and non-enzymatic transduction pathways. Finally, the few patents registered on the topic of OECT-based biosensors are reviewed, and new tracks of improvement are proposed. applied to biosensing quite early, associated with enzymes [4][5][6]. This is because, due to their functioning mechanism (already identified at the time), they brought into play the same charge carriers as most biological functions, i.e., electrons but also ions, and were therefore sensitive both to electron transfer to/from redox enzymes or ions (e.g., protons) produced from other types of enzymes. This is a characteristic which distinguished them from organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), which started to raise the attention of researchers exactly at the same period (precisely, 1983 for the first polyacetylene-based OFET [7]), and a few years later for applications to gas sensing (halogens, ammonia, oxygen [8-10] or even vapors of H 2 O, NO or H 2 O 2 [11][12][13][14]). However, OFETs never really produced any applicable results in the framework of biosensors in aqueous environment because of high operating voltages, of several tens of volts, which impede any measurements because of water electrolysis. Ion-sensitive organic field-effect transistors (ISOFETs), based on the same working principles of their inorganic counterparts (ISFETs) developed earlier [15,16], solved this problem of high operating potential, the electrolyte being not in direct contact with the semiconductor. However, these devices were confined mostly to protons detection [17][18][19] or, in any case, to charged species.As we show in this review, OECTs use both potentiometry and amperometry in their working principles. In that sense, OECTs are devices that represent a bridge between ISOFETs and classical amperometry, which certainly explains their success. This area of research is very active and several reviews have already been published on OECTs in general, for example by Kergoat et al. [1] or Rivnay et al. [3], or on OECTs applied to biology, for example by Liao and Yan [20], Liao et al. [21], Strakosas et al. [22] or . This present review, after going back to the basic functioning principles, along with details on transductions applicable to OECTs, reviews materials, fabrication techniques and then sensing applications. We focus on the detection of small molecules and more part...

A method to produce hybrid systems of cellulose ultrathin films containing immobilized silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) generated and grown at the surface is presented. Ag NPs were produced via a mild wet chemistry technique on cellulose ultrathin films spin-coated on GaAs substrates and on modified films after grafting of diaminoalkanes activated by N,N'-carbonyldiimidazole. Appended amine groups operate as anchoring centers of the silver NPs enabling selective generation and immobilization of Ag NPs. The different phases of the modification process were followed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS) in attenuated total reflection in multiple internal reflections (ATR/MIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The generation of NPs is observed even on untreated cellulose surfaces with sizes ranging from 7 to 30 nm but not specifically at the surface. For modified surfaces with diaminoalkanes, higher NP density regions including extensive plates are obtained, which are specifically located at the film extreme surface. The highest NP density is achieved when the NP generation is performed on these modified surfaces in the presence of a carboxylic salt.

International audienceIn this paper, we investigate the self-organization of NTCDI molecules on Au(111) surface by combining Density Functional Theory (DFT) and experiments based on scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and infrared spectroscopy measurements. The competition between the cohesive and adsorption energy on the flat surface is discussed. It was shown that the network is mainly stabilized by cohesive interactions explaining the mobility of the network over the surface. The comparison between experimental and infrared spectra enables confirmation of the effect and importance of the H-bonds in the network stability. STM images at different voltages and in ambient conditions were interpreted by projected density of states calculations and compared with experiment. The theoretically proposed network geometry was characterized at the molecular level reproducing the experimental STM image

Melamine and naphthalene tetracarboxylic diimide (NTCDI) supramolecular assemblies have been elaborated by a solution-based approach on Au(111) and studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We discuss the role of π-oligomers and H-oligomers in the mechanism of the network formation. Whereas the role of the first seems negligible, thermodynamical considerations establish the key role of the H-oligomers in the network extension in relation with the solvent nature. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the networks support the experimental structures. We discuss the influence and advantages of the solution method on the assemblies comparatively to ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. The NTCDI−melamine network exhibits a honeycomb structure which is obtained for the first time on the Au(111) substrate. The supramolecular mixed network is remarkably robust due to the stabilization from the triple hydrogen bonds established between the neighboring NTCDI and melamine molecules.