A tetrathiafulvalene derivative (TTF-1) was introduced into perovskite solar cells as a dopant-free hole-transporting material, yielding an efficiency over 11%.

Molecular self-assembly under kinetic control is expected to yield nanostructures that are inaccessible through the spontaneous thermodynamic process. Moreover, time-dependent evolution, which is reminiscent of biomolecular systems, may occur under such out-of-equilibrium conditions, allowing the synthesis of supramolecular assemblies with enhanced complexities. Here we report on the capacity of a metastable porphyrin supramolecular assembly to differentiate into nanofibre and nanosheet structures. Mechanistic studies of the relationship between the molecular design and pathway complexity in the self-assembly unveiled the energy landscape that governs the unique kinetic behaviour. Based on this understanding, we could control the differentiation phenomena and achieve both one- and two-dimensional living supramolecular polymerization using an identical monomer. Furthermore, we found that the obtained nanostructures are electronically distinct, which illustrates the pathway-dependent material properties.

The contact angle of a water droplet on the surface of a solid polymer or hydrogel (water‐swollen three‐dimensional network) depends on whether a hydrophilic moiety of the polymer molecule is oriented towards the air interface or towards the bulk of the solid, but not on the hydrophilicity of the molecule. Therefore, the short‐range rotational mobility of a polymer molecule has a major influence on the apparent hydrophilicity of a polymer surface as measured by the contact angle of water. By the came principle, the abnormally large hysteresis effect observed in advancing and receding contact angles of water on some polymer surfaces can be attributed to the reorientation of hydrophilic moieties of polymer molecules at the surface. These factors are demonstrated by selected polymer surfaces with different degrees of mobility at the polymer‐air interface.

Alternating conjugated polymers of ethylenedioxythiophene and fluorene are prepared using three different synthetic methods to investigate the effects of these synthetic methods on the purity, field‐effect transistor (FET) performance, and organic photovoltaic (OPV) performance of the polymer. In this study, microwave‐assisted direct arylation polycondensation is used to obtain a high‐purity, high‐molecular‐weight (147 kDa) polymer. This pure polymer exhibits a high FET hole mobility of 1.2 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1 and high OPV performance with a power conversion efficiency of 4%, even though the polymer forms an amorphous film, which absorbs in a limited region of the spectrum.

Field-effect transistors consisted of vacuum-sublimed polycrystalline pentacene films and calcium source-drain electrodes were prepared and device characteristics were evaluated in an oxygen-free condition. The field-effect transistor showed typical ambipolar characteristics and field-effect hole mobility of 4.5×10−4cm2/Vs and field-effect electron mobility of 2.7×10−5cm2∕Vs were estimated from saturation currents. Appearance of an electron enhancement mode in pentacene field-effect transistors was ascribed to the lowering of barrier for electron injection at source-drain electrodes. Effective elimination of electron traps using an oxygen-free condition was found to be another requirement for the observation of ambipolar behavior in pentacene.

Herein, we report on a self-threading polythiophene whose conjugated molecular wire is sheathed within its own cyclic side chains. The defect-free insulating layer prevents electronic cross-communication between the adjacent polythiophene backbone even in the solid film. Notably, the covalently linked cyclic side chains extend the effective conjugation length of the interior polythiophene backbone, which results in an excellent intrawire hole mobility of 0.9 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1).

A heptafluorene, F(Pr)5F(MB)2, a dodecafluorene, F(MB)10F(EH)2, and poly(9,9‘-dioctylfluorene), PFO, were used to prepare field-effect transistors. Monodomain and polydomain glassy-nematic films as well as glassy-amorphous films were prepared for the measurement of hole mobility. In a monodomain film, the μ∥ value is determined by the chain length in oligofluorene and the persistence length in polyfluorene. Mobility in a polydomain film lies between μ∥ and μ⊥ of a monodomain film. Amorphous films possess the lowest mobility of all presumably because of the geometric and energetic disorder. The OFET containing a monodomain glassy-nematic film of F(MB)10F(EH)2 exhibits a field-effect mobility of 0.012 cm2/Vs with an on/off current ratio of 1.0 × 104, a substantial improvement over a monodomain glassy-nematic film of PFO.

Printing semiconductor devices under ambient atmospheric conditions is a promising method for the large‐area, low‐cost fabrication of flexible electronic products. However, processes conducted at temperatures greater than 150 °C are typically used for printed electronics, which prevents the use of common flexible substrates because of the distortion caused by heat. The present report describes a method for the room‐temperature printing of electronics, which allows thin‐film electronic devices to be printed at room temperature without the application of heat. The development of π‐junction gold nanoparticles as the electrode material permits the room‐temperature deposition of a conductive metal layer. Room‐temperature patterning methods are also developed for the Au ink electrodes and an active organic semiconductor layer, which enables the fabrication of organic thin‐film transistors through room‐temperature printing. The transistor devices printed at room temperature exhibit average field‐effect mobilities of 7.9 and 2.5 cm2 V−1 s−1 on plastic and paper substrates, respectively. These results suggest that this fabrication method is very promising as a core technology for low‐cost and high‐performance printed electronics.