15 May 2024 | Wenlong Jin, Chi-Yuan Yang, Riccardo Pau, Qingqing Wang, Eelok K. Tekelenburg, Han-Yan Wu, Zhang Wu, Sang Young Jeong, Federico Pitzalis, Tiefeng Liu, Qiao He, Qifan Li, Jun-Da Huang, Renee Kroon, Martin Heeney, Han Young Woo, Andrea Mura, Alessandro Motta, Antonio Facchetti, Mats Fahlman, Maria Antonietta Loi & Simone Fabiano
The paper introduces a novel concept of photocatalytic doping for organic semiconductors (OSCs), which uses air as a weak oxidant (p-dopant) and operates at room temperature. This method is a general approach applicable to various OSCs and photocatalysts, achieving electrical conductivities exceeding 3,000 S cm\(^{-1}\). The authors demonstrate successful photocatalytic reduction (n-doping) and simultaneous p-doping and n-doping of OSCs, where the organic salt used to maintain charge neutrality is the only chemical consumed. The photocatalytic doping method offers significant potential for advancing OSC doping and developing next-generation organic electronic devices. The mechanism involves the photoexcitation of a photocatalyst, which can oxidize or reduce the OSC and be regenerated by weak dopants. The study also investigates the generality of the photocatalytic p-doping process for a range of conjugated polymers and demonstrates the simultaneous p-doping and n-doping of OSCs, enabling the direct insertion of redox-inert counterions without negatively affecting the microstructure of the OSC films.The paper introduces a novel concept of photocatalytic doping for organic semiconductors (OSCs), which uses air as a weak oxidant (p-dopant) and operates at room temperature. This method is a general approach applicable to various OSCs and photocatalysts, achieving electrical conductivities exceeding 3,000 S cm\(^{-1}\). The authors demonstrate successful photocatalytic reduction (n-doping) and simultaneous p-doping and n-doping of OSCs, where the organic salt used to maintain charge neutrality is the only chemical consumed. The photocatalytic doping method offers significant potential for advancing OSC doping and developing next-generation organic electronic devices. The mechanism involves the photoexcitation of a photocatalyst, which can oxidize or reduce the OSC and be regenerated by weak dopants. The study also investigates the generality of the photocatalytic p-doping process for a range of conjugated polymers and demonstrates the simultaneous p-doping and n-doping of OSCs, enabling the direct insertion of redox-inert counterions without negatively affecting the microstructure of the OSC films.