TY - JOUR A1 - Pratihar, Pampa A1 - Ghosh, Suhrit A1 - Stepanenko, Vladimir A1 - Patwardhan, Sameer A1 - Grozema, Ferdinand C. A1 - Siebbeles, Laurens D. A. A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Self-assembly and semiconductivity of an oligothiophene supergelator N2 - A bis(trialkoxybenzamide)-functionalized quaterthiophene derivative was synthesized and its self-assembly properties in solution were studied. In non-polar solvents such as cyclohexane, this quaterthiophene π-system formed fibril aggregates with an H-type molecular arrangement due to synergistic effect of hydrogen bonding and π-stacking. The self-assembled fibres were found to gelate numerous organic solvents of diverse polarity. The charge transport ability of such elongated fibres of quaterthiophene π-system was explored by the pulse radiolysis time resolved microwave conductivity (PR-TRMC) technique and moderate mobility values were obtained. Furthermore, initial AFM and UV-vis spectroscopic studies of a mixture of our electron-rich quaterthiophene derivative with the electron acceptor [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) revealed a nanoscale segregated assembly of the individual building blocks in the blend. KW - Organische Chemie KW - charge transport; hydrogen bonding; oligothiophene; organogel; self-assembly Y1 - 2010 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-67817 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolter, Steffen A1 - Aizezers, Janis A1 - Fennel, Franziska A1 - Seidel, Marcus A1 - Würthner, Frank A1 - Kühn, Oliver A1 - Lochbrunner, Stefan T1 - Size-dependent exciton dynamics in one-dimensional perylene bisimide aggregates JF - New Journal of Physics N2 - The size-dependent exciton dynamics of one-dimensional aggregates of substituted perylene bisimides are studied by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy and kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations as a function of the excitation density and the temperature in the range of 25-90 degrees C. For low temperatures, the aggregates can be treated as infinite chains and the dynamics is dominated by diffusion-driven exciton-exciton annihilation. With increasing temperature the aggregates dissociate into small fragments consisting of very few monomers. This scenario is also supported by the time-dependent anisotropy deduced from polarization-dependent experiments. KW - rotational diffusion KW - spectroscopy KW - dyes KW - annihilation KW - migration KW - films Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-135190 VL - 14 IS - 105027 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - He, Tao A1 - Stolte, Matthias A1 - Burschka, Christian A1 - Hansen, Nis Hauke A1 - Musiol, Thomas A1 - Kälblein, Daniel A1 - Pflaum, Jens A1 - Tao, Xutang A1 - Brill, Jochen A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Single-crystal field-effect transistors of new Cl\(_{2}\)-NDI polymorph processed by sublimation in air JF - Nature Communications N2 - Physical properties of active materials built up from small molecules are dictated by their molecular packing in the solid state. Here we demonstrate for the first time the growth of n-channel single-crystal field-effect transistors and organic thin-film transistors by sublimation of 2,6-dichloro-naphthalene diimide in air. Under these conditions, a new polymorph with two-dimensional brick-wall packing mode (\(\beta\)-phase) is obtained that is distinguished from the previously reported herringbone packing motif obtained from solution (\(\alpha\)-phase). We are able to fabricate single-crystal field-effect transistors with electron mobilities in air of up to 8.6 cm\(^{2}\)V\(^{-1}\)s\(^{-1}\) (\(\alpha\)-phase) and up to 3.5 cm\(^{2}\)V\(^{-1}\)s\(^{-1}\) (\(\beta\)-phase) on n-octadecyltriethoxysilane-modified substrates. On silicon dioxide, thin-film devices based on \(\beta\)-phase can be manufactured in air giving rise to electron mobilities of 0.37 cm\(^{2}\)V\(^{-1}\)s\(^{-1}\). The simple crystal and thin-film growth procedures by sublimation under ambient conditions avoid elaborate substrate modifications and costly vacuum equipment-based fabrication steps. KW - thin-film transistors KW - carrier transport KW - \(\beta\)-phase KW - organic semiconductors KW - induced phase transition KW - charge transport KW - materials design KW - \(\alpha\)-phase KW - mobility KW - pentacene Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-149255 VL - 6 IS - 5954 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sung, Jooyoung A1 - Kim, Pyosang A1 - Fimmel, Benjamin A1 - Würthner, Frank A1 - Kim, Dongho T1 - Direct observation of ultrafast coherent exciton dynamics in helical π-stacks of self-assembled perylene bisimides JF - Nature Communications N2 - Ever since the discovery of dye self-assemblies in nature, there have been tremendous efforts to exploit biomimetic supramolecular assemblies for tailored artificial photon processing materials. This feature necessarily has resulted in an increasing demand for understanding exciton dynamics in the dye self-assemblies. In a sharp contrast with pi-type aggregates, however, the detailed observation of exciton dynamics in H-type aggregates has remained challenging. In this study, as we succeed in measuring transient fluorescence from Frenkel state of π-stacked perylene tetracarboxylic acid bisimide dimer and oligomer aggregates, we present an experimental demonstration on Frenkel exciton dynamics of archetypal columnar π-π stacks of dyes. The analysis of the vibronic peak ratio of the transient fluorescence spectra reveals that unlike the simple π-stacked dimer, the photoexcitation energy in the columnar π-stacked oligomer aggregates is initially delocalized over at least three molecular units and moves coherently along the chain in tens of femtoseconds, preceding excimer formation process. KW - systems KW - molecules KW - J-aggregate behavior KW - absorption KW - spectroscopy KW - photoluminescence KW - diffusion KW - fluorescence KW - excimer formation KW - organic semiconductors Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-148157 VL - 6 IS - 8646 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Görl, Daniel A1 - Zhang, Xin A1 - Stepanenko, Vladimir A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Supramolecular block copolymers by kinetically controlled co-self-assembly of planar and core-twisted perylene bisimides JF - Nature Communications N2 - New synthetic methodologies for the formation of block copolymers have revolutionized polymer science within the last two decades. However, the formation of supramolecular block copolymers composed of alternating sequences of larger block segments has not been realized yet. Here we show by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), 2D NMR and optical spectroscopy that two different perylene bisimide dyes bearing either a flat (A) or a twisted (B) core self-assemble in water into supramolecular block copolymers with an alternating sequence of (A\(_{m}\)BB)\(_{n}\). The highly defined ultralong nanowire structure of these supramolecular copolymers is entirely different from those formed upon self-assembly of the individual counterparts, that is, stiff nanorods (A) and irregular nanoworms (B), respectively. Our studies further reveal that the as-formed supramolecular block copolymer constitutes a kinetic self-assembly product that transforms into thermodynamically more stable self-sorted homopolymers upon heating. KW - cylindrical micelles KW - water KW - amplification KW - association KW - emission KW - organization KW - polymerization KW - dyes KW - fluorescent KW - aqueous medium Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-148657 VL - 6 IS - 7009 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Spenst, Peter A1 - Young, Ryan M. A1 - Wasielewski, Michael R. A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Guest and solvent modulated photo-driven charge separation and triplet generation in a perylene bisimide cyclophane JF - Chemical Science N2 - Cofacial positioning of two perylene bisimide (PBI) chromophores at a distance of 6.5 angstrom in a cyclophane structure prohibits the otherwise common excimer formation and directs photoexcited singlet state relaxation towards intramolecular symmetry-breaking charge separation (τ\(_{CS}\) = 161 +/- 4 ps) in polar CH\(_2\)Cl\(_2\), which is thermodynamically favored with a Gibbs free energy of ΔG\(_{CS}\) = -0.32 eV. The charges then recombine slowly in τ\(_{CR}\) = 8.90 +/- 0.06 ns to form the PBI triplet excited state, which can be used subsequently to generate singlet oxygen in 27% quantum yield. This sequence of events is eliminated by dissolving the PBI cyclophane in non-polar toluene, where only excited singlet state decay occurs. In contrast, complexation of electron-rich aromatic hydrocarbons by the host PBI cyclophane followed by photoexcitation of PBI results in ultrafast electron transfer (<10 ps) from the guest to the PBI in CH\(_2\)Cl\(_2\). The rate constants for charge separation and recombination increase as the guest molecules become easier to oxidize, demonstrating that charge separation occurs close to the peak of the Marcus curve and the recombination lies far into the Marcus inverted region. KW - photoinduced electron transfer KW - Marcus inverted region KW - cyclic perylene bisimide KW - PBI cyclophane Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-191252 VL - 7 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Plötz, P.-A. A1 - Polyutov, S. P. A1 - Ivanov, S. D. A1 - Fennel, F. A1 - Wolter, S. A1 - Niehaus, T. A1 - Xie, Z. A1 - Lochbrunner, S. A1 - Würthner, Frank A1 - Kühn, O. T1 - Biphasic aggregation of a perylene bisimide dye identified by exciton-vibrational spectra JF - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics N2 - The quantum efficiency of light emission is a crucial parameter of supramolecular aggregates that can be tuned by the molecular design of the monomeric species. Here, we report on a strong variation of the fluorescence quantum yield due to different phases of aggregation for the case of a perylene bisimide dye. In particular, a change of the dominant aggregation character from H- to J-type within the first aggregation steps is found, explaining the observed dramatic change in quantum yield. This behaviour is rationalised by means of a systematic study of the intermolecular potential energy surfaces using the time-dependent density functional based tight-binding (TD-DFTB) method. This provides a correlation between structural changes and a coupling strength and supports the notion of H- type stacked dimers and J-type stack-slipped dimers. The exciton-vibrational level structure is modelled by means of an excitonic dimer model including two effective vibrational modes per monomer. Calculated absorption and fluorescence spectra are found to be in reasonable agreement with experimental ones, thus supporting the conclusion on the aggregation behaviour. KW - Potential-energy curves KW - Simulations KW - Molecular-dynamics KW - Systems KW - Fluorescence KW - Sracking KW - Pathway KW - Dimers KW - State Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-187387 VL - 18 IS - 36 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gershberg, Jana A1 - Fennel, Franziska A1 - Rehm, Thomas H. A1 - Lochbrunner, Stefan A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Anti-cooperative supramolecular polymerization: a new K\(_2\)-K model applied to the self-assembly of perylene bisimide dye proceeding via well-defined hydrogen-bonded dimers JF - Chemical Science N2 - A perylene bisimide dye bearing amide functionalities at the imide positions derived from amino acid L-alanine and a dialkoxy-substituted benzyl amine self-assembles into tightly bound dimers by π-π-stacking and hydrogen bonding in chloroform. In less polar or unpolar solvents like toluene and methylcyclohexane, and in their mixtures, these dimers further self-assemble into extended oligomeric aggregates in an anti-cooperative process in which even numbered aggregates are highly favoured. The stepwise transition from dimers into oligomers can not be properly described by conventional K\(_2\)-K model, and thus a new K\(_2\)-K aggregation model has been developed, which interpretes the present anti-cooperative supramolecular polymerization more appropriately. The newly developed K\(_2\)-K model will be useful to describe self-assembly processes of a plethora of other π-conjugated molecules that are characterized by a favored dimer species. KW - π–π Stacking KW - nucleation elongation KW - upramolecular polymerization process KW - dimerization KW - K2–K model Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-191428 VL - 7 IS - 3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Görl, Daniel A1 - Soberats, Bartolome A1 - Herbst, Stefanie A1 - Stepanenko, Vladimir A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Perylene bisimide hydrogels and lyotropic liquid crystals with temperature-responsive color change JF - Chemical Science N2 - The self-assembly of perylene bisimide (PBI) dyes bearing oligo ethylene glycol (OEG) units in water affords responsive functional nanostructures characterized by their lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Tuning of the LCST is realized by a supramolecular approach that relies on two structurally closely related PBI–OEG molecules. The two PBIs socially co-assemble in water and the resulting nanostructures exhibit a single LCST in between the transition temperatures of the aggregates formed by single components. This permits to precisely tune the transition from a hydrogel to a lyotropic liquid crystal state at temperatures between 26 and 51 °C by adjusting the molar fraction of the two PBIs. Owing to concomitant changes in PBI–PBI interactions this phase transition affords a pronounced color change with “fluorescence-on” response that can be utilized as a smart temperature sensory system. KW - perylene bisimide hydrogels Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-162459 VL - 7 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bialas, David A1 - Zitzler-Kunkel, André A1 - Kirchner, Eva A1 - Schmidt, David A1 - Würthner, Frank T1 - Structural and quantum chemical analysis of exciton coupling in homo- and heteroaggregate stacks of merocyanines JF - Nature Communications N2 - Exciton coupling is of fundamental importance and determines functional properties of organic dyes in (opto-)electronic and photovoltaic devices. Here we show that strong exciton coupling is not limited to the situation of equal chromophores as often assumed. Quadruple dye stacks were obtained from two bis(merocyanine) dyes with same or different chromophores, respectively, which dimerize in less-polar solvents resulting in the respective homo- and heteroaggregates. The structures of the quadruple dye stacks were assigned by NMR techniques and unambiguously confirmed by single-crystal X-ray analysis. The heteroaggregate stack formed from the bis(merocyanine) bearing two different chromophores exhibits remarkably different ultraviolet/vis absorption bands compared with those of the homoaggregate of the bis(merocyanine) comprising two identical chromophores. Quantum chemical analysis based on an extension of Kasha’s exciton theory appropriately describes the absorption properties of both types of stacks revealing strong exciton coupling also between different chromophores within the heteroaggregate. KW - exciton coupling KW - merocyanines KW - quantum chemical analysis Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-170200 VL - 7 ER -