Led by Professor Kang Bosoek from the SKKU Advanced Institute of Nano Technology (SAINT), the Department of Nano Engineering, and the Department of Semiconductor Convergence Engineering, the team published its findings in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and Nature Communications.
Organic Semiconductors and Practical Implementation Hurdles
Organic semiconductors are lightweight and flexible materials viewed as promising candidates for next-generation displays, wearable electronics, and sensors. However, practical implementation requires sufficient charge generation and rapid charge movement. The research team tackled these two hurdles through complementary studies focusing on charge generation and transport pathways.
Enhancing Charge Carriers and Transport Pathways
The first study introduced a molecular-level design to generate more charge carriers within a polymer. By covalently attaching the polar molecule aminoalkylsilane to the n-type conducting polymer PBFDO, the team increased electron concentration and raised the doping limit to a near-theoretical level. This approach yielded an electrical conductivity exceeding 3,000 S cm−1 and a doping efficiency of approximately 1.79 free electrons per polymer repeat unit.
Conducting Polymer Coating on a Thin Film
The second study focused on the charge transport pathway by coating a conducting polymer onto a thin film of a two-dimensional covalent organic framework (2D COF). This created a molecular bridge structure that links separated COF crystals, allowing smoother charge movement. The optimized heterostructure thin film achieved an electrical conductivity improvement of 109 times compared to a single COF thin film, and about 10 times compared to a single conducting polymer thin film.
Nitrogen Dioxide Gas Sensor Fabrication and Testing
The team successfully fabricated a uniform, large-area thin film at a 2-inch wafer scale. When tested in a nitrogen dioxide gas sensor, the film detected concentrations as low as 74 ppb with a response time of roughly 20 seconds. Moving forward, the research group plans to explore heterojunction structures with various semiconductor materials and investigate charge states for new information-processing functions.
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