One platform solid multicolour emission of terthiophene compounds controlled by mixed self-assembly

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Organic Electronics

Background:

• Developing solid-state materials with tunable multicolour emission is crucial for advanced optical and electronic applications.
• Terthiophene derivatives offer promise due to their unique photophysical properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create solid multicolour emission materials from a unimolecular platform using mixed self-assembly.
• To control the emission colour by tuning the self-assembly structure and molecular packing.

Main Methods:

• Mixed self-assembly of an amphiphilic terthiophene compound (TTC4L) with a cationic surfactant (dodecyltriethyl ammonium bromide, DEAB).
• Systematically varying the DEAB concentration to influence TTC4L self-assembly structures (plates, spheres, needles).
• Spectroscopic analysis to correlate structural changes with emission properties.

Main Results:

• Achieved solid multicolour emission materials through controlled mixed self-assembly.
• Demonstrated diverse structures (plates, spheres, needles) with distinct emission colours.
• Linked emission colours to varying distances between terthiophene groups, corresponding to monomer, excimer, and aggregate states.

Conclusions:

• Mixed self-assembly provides a simple method to control oligothiophene stacking and achieve unimolecular-platform multicolour emissions.
• The ratio of DEAB to TTC4L effectively tunes the relative contributions of monomer, excimer, and aggregate emissions.
• This approach offers a pathway for developing novel light-emitting materials with tunable properties.