Geometrical and electrical properties of indium tin oxide clusters in ink dispersions.

The analysis of the TEM images of indium tin oxide (ITO) clusters in ink solutions deposited from ink dispersions reveals that their geometry arises from a diffusion limited cluster aggregation (DLCA) process. We model films of ITO clusters as built through deposition of DLCA clusters made of primary spherical nanoparticles of 13 nm in diameter. The deposition is then followed by a further compactification process that imitates sintering. We determine the conductivity of the sintered films by mapping the problem to that of the resistor network in which the contact regions between the touching spheres provide the dominant electric resistance. For a given volume fraction, conductivity of the sintered films is shown to be larger than that for the randomly packed spheres. However, the larger a typical radius of gyration of the clusters the smaller the enhancement. We also provide numerical tests for the routines used in the interpretation of the TEM images.

Electronic properties and supramolecular organization of terminal bis(alkylethynyl)-substituted benzodithiophenes.

Benzodithiophene (BDT) was symmetrically bisubstituted in the terminal positions with five different alkynes C≡C-(C(n)H(2n+1)) with n = 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. The materials were characterized as potential materials for field-effect transistor applications. Electrochemical measurements in solution and photophysical measurements in solution and in the solid state, together with UV photoelectron spectroscopy in air and quantum-chemical calculations, elucidate the nature of the frontier orbitals and of the excited states as well as their deactivation pathways. Structural information on the molecular assembly in the solid state, both at room temperature and at elevated temperatures, is obtained by a combination of DSC, polarized optical microscopy, and 2D-WAXS, which point to the crystallinity of the compounds in all phases and reveal π-stacking arrangements independently of the length of the alkyl side chains.

Alignment and relaxation dynamics of dye molecules in host-guest inclusion compounds as probed by dielectric spectroscopy.

The alignment and relaxation dynamics of a polar dye molecule, N,N-dimethyl-4(4-nitrophenylazo)aniline (DNAA), in zeolite L and perhydrotriphenylene (PHTP) channels were investigated by means of a combination of optical, dielectric, and quantum-chemical methods. Both the zeolite L and PHTP channels enable the dye molecules to align along the channel axis. An amplified net dipole moment of DNAA in PHTP is observed and attributed to enhanced 1D close alignment of dye molecules. In zeolite L channels, a concentration gradient is found with aggregation at the channel entrances. The dynamics of the dye in zeolite L channels reveals localized conical rotational fluctuation modes following Arrhenius-type activation with energy of 0.31 eV, which we assign to small noninteracting fluctuating polar units of the dyes being loosely aligned or isolated. Unlike zeolite L, relaxations in PHTP are characterized by cooperative wobbling motions interpreted as increased intermolecular dipole interaction due to a closely packed one-dimensional array. Temperature-dependent activation energies of 0.25 eV below 0 degrees C and 0.37 eV at ambient temperature reflect the role of the soft channel walls in the activation process.

Microwave-assisted polyol synthesis of aluminium- and indium-doped ZnO nanocrystals.

Microwave heating is applied to prepare suspensions of ZnO:In (IZO) and ZnO:Al (AZO) nanocrystals in diethylene glycol as a high-boiling multidentate alcohol (so-called polyol). Both n-doped zinc oxides are realized with high yields and in suspensions with solid contents up to 10 wt-%. These suspensions are colloidally stable for months. According to dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction patterns and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis as-prepared particles turn out to be single crystalline with an average diameter of 10-15 nm, a near monodisperse size distribution, and a low degree of agglomeration. As-prepared samples exhibit high resistivities due to the adhesion of DEG as a stabilizer on the particle surface. Subsequent to specific thermal post-treatment resistivities of 2.0 x 10(-1) and 5.7 x 10(-1) Omegacm are obtained for IZO and AZO powders, respectively. As a proof of the concept, thin layers are deposited on glass plates using a simple solvent evaporation technique. Post-treated layers exhibit a visible transmittance of about 80% and resistivities of 2.1 x 10(-1) Omegacm (IZO) and 2.6 x 10(-1) Omegacm (AZO). The bandgap of post-treated powders and thin layers is calculated to 3.2 and 3.3 eV, respectively.