Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Polymer Classification: Crystallinity

Polymer Classification: Crystallinity

Unlike ionic or small covalent molecules, polymers do not form crystalline solids due to the diffusion limitations of their long-chain structures. However, polymers contain microscopic crystalline domains separated by amorphous domains.
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...

Network Covalent Solids

Network Covalent Solids

Network covalent solids contain a three-dimensional network of covalently bonded atoms as found in the crystal structures of nonmetals like diamond, graphite, silicon, and some covalent compounds, such as silicon dioxide (sand) and silicon carbide (carborundum, the abrasive on sandpaper). Many minerals have networks of covalent bonds.
To break or to melt a covalent network solid, covalent bonds must be broken. Because covalent bonds are relatively strong, covalent network solids are typically...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Large Magnetoresistance in Tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) Charge-Transfer Complex of a Stable <i>S</i> = 1/2 Tetrazolinyl Radical.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026

Same author

Selective Bidentate Coordination Reconstructs Residual PbI<sub>2</sub> to Homogenize Interfacial Energetics in Perovskite Solar Cells.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026

Same author

Electron Alchemy with Machine-Learned Interatomic Potentials: Case Studies of Local Charge in Bond Dissociation Curves.

Journal of chemical theory and computation·2026

Same author

Fluoride Electrolyte Discovery via Reactivity Guided Genetic Algorithms.

The journal of physical chemistry. B·2026

Same author

Organic Chemistry as a Catalyst for AI Innovation: Challenges, Methods, and Emerging Paradigms.

Chemical reviews·2026

Same author

On the fundamentals of organic mixed ionic/electronic conductors.

Journal of materials chemistry. C·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Excitonic Hamiltonians for Calculating Optical Absorption Spectra and Optoelectronic Properties of Molecular Aggregates and Solids

Excitonic Hamiltonians for Calculating Optical Absorption Spectra and Optoelectronic Properties of Molecular Aggregates and Solids

Published on: May 27, 2020

Mesoscale molecular network formation in amorphous organic materials.

Brett M Savoie¹, Kevin L Kohlstedt², Nicholas E Jackson²

¹Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208; and brettsavoie@u.northwestern.edu t-marks@northwestern.edu ratner@northwestern.edu.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|July 2, 2014

Summary

Organic semiconductors create robust electrical networks for high performance, even with defects. Molecular structure and added groups significantly impact network connectivity and charge transport in organic photovoltaics.

Keywords:

charge generation disordered properties soft materials

More Related Videos

Layer-by-layer Synthesis and Transfer of Freestanding Conjugated Microporous Polymer Nanomembranes

Layer-by-layer Synthesis and Transfer of Freestanding Conjugated Microporous Polymer Nanomembranes

Published on: December 15, 2015

Author Spotlight: Exploring Self-Assembled MOF-Polymer Composites

Author Spotlight: Exploring Self-Assembled MOF-Polymer Composites

Published on: June 14, 2024

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Excitonic Hamiltonians for Calculating Optical Absorption Spectra and Optoelectronic Properties of Molecular Aggregates and Solids

Excitonic Hamiltonians for Calculating Optical Absorption Spectra and Optoelectronic Properties of Molecular Aggregates and Solids

Published on: May 27, 2020

Layer-by-layer Synthesis and Transfer of Freestanding Conjugated Microporous Polymer Nanomembranes

Layer-by-layer Synthesis and Transfer of Freestanding Conjugated Microporous Polymer Nanomembranes

Published on: December 15, 2015

Author Spotlight: Exploring Self-Assembled MOF-Polymer Composites

Author Spotlight: Exploring Self-Assembled MOF-Polymer Composites

Published on: June 14, 2024

Area of Science:

Organic electronics
Materials science
Photovoltaics

Background:

High-performance organic semiconductors exhibit macroscopic functionality despite microscopic disorder.
The robustness of these materials is crucial for applications like organic photovoltaics (OPVs).

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the origin of functional robustness in solution-processed organic semiconductors.
To establish a connection between molecular structure, network formation, and charge transport efficiency.

Main Methods:

Analysis of hierarchical network structures using a novel graph methodology.
Evaluation of two key organic photovoltaic acceptor families: functionalized fullerenes and perylene diimides.

Main Results:

Functional robustness stems from the formation of connected mesoscopic electrical networks, independent of periodic order.
Molecular topology significantly influences network robustness.
Solubilizing groups can disrupt the molecular networks essential for charge transport.

Conclusions:

A direct link exists between the efficacy of fullerene acceptors in OPVs and their capacity to form mesoscopically connected electrical networks.
Understanding molecular network formation is key to designing high-performance organic electronic materials.