Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Tuning charge transport in organic semiconductors with nanoparticles and hexamethyldisilazane

  • Research paper
  • Published:
Journal of Nanoparticle Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study, we showcase the use of silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) treatment to regulate the thin film morphology and manipulate charge transport of solution-processed, small-molecular, organic semiconductors. 6,13-Bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS pentacene) was blended with SiO2 nanoparticles as an exemplary organic semiconductor. A higher concentration of SiO2 nanoparticles were observed near the edge of TIPS pentacene crystals and enlarged the width of crystal edges. This greatly reduced the dendritic crystal growth pattern of TIPS pentacene and contributed to its enhanced orientation uniformity. In addition, the HMDS treatment effectively passivated the silanol groups on the hydrophilic gate dielectrics. As a result, bottom-gate, top-contact TIPS pentacene/SiO2 nanoparticle-based organic thin-film transistors boosted a performance consistency enhancement (defined by the ratio of average mobility to the standard deviation of mobility). The combinational approach to employ SiO2 nanoparticles and HMDS treatment as demonstrated in this work sheds light on important applications in high-performance organic electronics devices on flexible substrate.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdellatif MH, Abdelrasoul GN, Scarpellini A, Marras S, Diaspro A (2015) Induced growth of dendrite gold nanostructure by controlling self-assembly aggregation dynamics. J Colloid Interface Sci 15:266–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abdellatif MH, Abdelrasoul GN, Salerno M, Liakos I, Scarpellini A, Marras S, Diaspro A (2016) Fractal analysis of inter-particle interaction forces in gold nanoparticle aggregates. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 20:225–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akkerman HB, Li HY, Bao ZN (2012) TIPS-pentacene crystalline thin film growth. Org Electron 10:2056–2062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amer K, Elshaer AM, Anas M, Ebrahim S (2019) Fabrication, characterization, and electrical measurements of gas ammonia sensor based on organic field effect transistor. J Mater Sci Mater Electron 1:391–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asare-Yeboah K, Bi S, He Z, Li D (2016) Temperature gradient controlled crystal growth from TIPS pentacene-poly(alpha-methyl styrene) blends for improving performance of organic thin film transistors. Org Electron:195–199

  • Asare-Yeboah K, Li Q, Jiang C, He Z, Bi S, Liu Y, Liu C (2020) High performance and efficiency resonant photo-effect-transistor by near-field nano-strip-controlled organic light emitting diode gate. J Phys Chem Lett 16:6526–6534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basu S, Adriyanto F, Wang YH (2014) Blending effect of 6,13-bis (triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene-graphene composite layers for flexible thin film transistors with a polymer gate dielectric. Nanotechnology 8

  • Bi S, He Z, Chen J, Li D (2015) Solution-grown small-molecule organic semiconductor with enhanced crystal alignment and areal coverage for organic thin film transistors. AIP Adv 7:077170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bi S, Li Q, He Z, Guo Q, Asare-Yeboah K, Liu Y, Jiang C (2019a) Highly enhanced performance of integrated piezo photo-transistor with dual inverted OLED gate and nanowire array channel. Nano Energy:104101

  • Bi S, Li Y, He ZR, Ouyang ZL, Guo QL, Jiang CM (2019b) Self-assembly diketopyrrolopyrrole-based materials and polymer blend with enhanced crystal alignment and property for organic field-effect transistors. Org Electron:96–99

  • Bi S, Li Q, Yan Y, Asare-Yeboah K, Ma T, Tang C, Ouyang Z, He Z, Liu Y, Jiang C (2019c) Layer-dependent anisotropic frictional behavior in two-dimensional monolayer hybrid perovskite/ITO layered heterojunctions. Phys Chem Chem Phys 5:2540–2546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borchert JW, Peng BY, Letzkus F, Burghartz JN, Chan PKL, Zojer K, Ludwigs S, Klauk H (2019) Small contact resistance and high-frequency operation of flexible low-voltage inverted coplanar organic transistors. Nat Commun

  • Byoun W, Jang M, Yoo H (2018) Fabrication of highly fluorescent multiple Fe3O4 nanoparticles core-silica shell nanoparticles. J Nanopart Res 1:1

    Google Scholar 

  • Chai Z, Abbasi SA, Busnaina AA (2019) Solution-processed organic field-effect transistors using directed assembled carbon nanotubes and 2,7-dioctyl 1 benzothieno 3,2-b 1 benzothiophene (C8-BTBT). Nanotechnology 48:485203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen JH, Anthony J, Martin DC (2006a) Thermally induced solid-state phase transition of bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene crystals. J Phys Chem B 33:16397–16403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen JH, Tee CK, Yang JY, Shaw C, Shtein M, Anthony J, Martin DC (2006b) Thermal and mechanical cracking in bis(triisopropylsilyiethnyl) pentacene thin films. J Polym Sci Polym Phys 24:3631–3641

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen JH, Martin DC, Anthony JE (2007) Morphology and molecular orientation of thin-film bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene. J Mater Res 6:1701–1709

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen JH, Tee CK, Shtein M, Anthony J, Martin DC (2008) Grain-boundary-limited charge transport in solution-processed 6,13 bis(tri-isopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene thin film transistors. J Appl Phys 11:114513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen JH, Tee CK, Shtein M, Martin DC, Anthony J (2009) Controlled solution deposition and systematic study of charge-transport anisotropy in single crystal and single-crystal textured TIPS pentacene thin films. Org Electron 4:696–703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen J, Shao M, Xiao K, He Z, Li D, Lokitz BS, Hensley DK, Kilbey SM II, Anthony JE, Keum JK, Rondinone AJ, Lee W-Y, Hong S, Bao Z (2013) Conjugated polymer-mediated polymorphism of a high performance, small-molecule organic semiconductor with tuned intermolecular interactions, enhanced long-range order, and charge transport. Chem Mater 21:4378–4386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chou L-H, Chang W-C, He G-Y, Chiu Y-C, Liu C-L (2016) Controllable electrical performance of spray-coated semiconducting small molecule/insulating polymer blend thin film for organic field effect transistors application. React Funct Polym:130–136

  • Fan HD, Han SJ, Song ZH, Yu JS, Katz HE (2019) Organic field-effect transistor gas sensor based on GO/PMMA hybrid dielectric for the enhancement of sensitivity and selectivity to ammonia. Org Electron:247–252

  • Garvie LAJ, Buseck PR (1999) Bonding in silicates: investigation of the Si L2,3 edge by parallel electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Am Mineral 5-6:946–964

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gu W (2020) Recent progress on rubrene as active layer in organic field-effect transistors. J Nanopart Res 9:249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Xiao K, Durant W, Hensley DK, Anthony JE, Hong K, Kilbey SM II, Chen J, Li D (2011) Enhanced performance consistency in nanoparticle/TIPS pentacene-based organic thin film transistors. Adv Funct Mater 19:3617–3623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Chen J, Sun Z, Szulczewski G, Li D (2012) Air-flow navigated crystal growth for TIPS pentacene-based organic thin-film transistors. Org Electron 10:1819–1826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Li D, Hensley DK, Rondinone AJ, Chen J (2013) Switching phase separation mode by varying the hydrophobicity of polymer additives in solution-processed semiconducting small-molecule/polymer blends. Appl Phys Lett 11:113301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Chen J, Keum JK, Szulczewski G, Li D (2014) Improving performance of TIPS pentacene-based organic thin film transistors with small-molecule additives. Org Electron 1:150–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Lopez N, Chi X, Li D (2015a) Solution-based 5,6,11,12-tetrachlorotetracene crystal growth for high-performance organic thin film transistors. Org Electron:191–196

  • He Z, Shaik S, Bi S, Chen J, Li D (2015b) Air-stable solution-processed n-channel organic thin film transistors with polymer-enhanced morphology. Appl Phys Lett 18:183301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Zhang Z, Bi S (2019a) Polyacrylate polymer assisted crystallization: improved charge transport and performance consistency for solution-processable small-molecule semiconductor based organic thin film transistors. J Sci Adv Mater Devices 3:467–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Asare-Yeboah K, Zhang Z, Bi S (2019b) Self-assembly crystal microribbons with nucleation additive for high-performance organic thin film transistors. Jpn J Appl Phys:061009

  • He Z, Zhang Z, Asare-Yeboah K, Bi S (2019c) Poly(α-methylstyrene) polymer and small-molecule semiconductor blend with reduced crystal misorientation for organic thin film transistors. J Mater Sci Mater Electron:14335–14343

  • He Z, Chen J, Li D (2019d) Crystal alignment for high performance organic electronics devices. J Vac Sci Technol A 4:040801

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Zhang Z, Bi S (2019e) Small-molecule additives for organic thin film transistors. J Mater Sci Mater Electron:20899–20913

  • He Z, Chen J, Li D (2019f) Polymer additive controlled morphology for high performance organic thin film transistors. Soft Matter 29:5790–5803

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Zhang Z, Bi S (2019g) Long-range crystal alignment with polymer additive for organic thin film transistors. J Polym Res 7

  • He Z, Zhang Z, Bi S (2019h) Nanoscale alignment of semiconductor crystals for high-fidelity organic electronics applications. Appl Nanosci

  • He Z, Zhang Z, Bi S, Chen J, Li D (2020a) Conjugated polymer controlled morphology and charge transport of small-molecule organic semiconductors. Sci Rep 1:4344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Zhang Z, Bi S, Asare-Yeboah K, Chen J, Li D (2020b) A facile and novel route to improve TIPS pentacene based organic thin film transistor performance with elastomer. Synth Met:116337

  • He Z, Bi S, Asare-Yeboah K, Zhang Z (2020c) Phase segregation effect on TIPS pentacene crystallization and morphology for organic thin film transistors. J Mater Sci Mater Electron 6:4503–4510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Zhang Z, Bi S, Asare-Yeboah K, Chen J (2020d) Ultra-low misorientation angle in small-molecule semiconductor/polyethylene oxide blends for organic thin film transistors. J Polym Res 3:75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He Z, Zhang Z, Bi S, Chen J (2020e) Effect of polymer molecular weight on morphology and charge transport of small-molecular organic semiconductors. Electron Mater Lett:441–450

  • He Z, Zhang Z, Bi S (2020f) Nanoparticles for organic electronics applications. Mater Res Express:012004

  • Holzwarth U, Ponti J (2020) 44Ti diffusion labelling of commercially available, engineered TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles. J Nanopart Res 9:248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou S, Yu J, Zhuang X, Li D, Liu Y, Gao Z, Sun T, Wang F, Yu X (2019) Phase separation of P3HT/PMMA blend film formed semiconducting and dielectric layers in organic thin film transistors for high sensitivity NO2 detection. ACS Appl Electron Mater 47:44521–44527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang J, Shin N, Jang DY, Prabhu VM, Yoon DY (2008) Structure and properties of small molecule-polymer blend semiconductors for organic thin film transistors. JACS 37:12273–12275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim MJ, Heo HW, Suh YK, Song CK (2011) Morphology control of TIPS-pentacene grains with inert gas injection and effects on the performance of OTFTs. Org Electron 7:1170–1176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim DH, Lee DY, Lee SG, Cho K (2012) High-mobility organic single-crystal microtubes of soluble pentacene semiconductors with hollow tetragonal structures. Chem Mater 14:2752–2756

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim CH, Hlaing H, Carta F, Bonnassieux Y, Horowitz G, Kymissis I (2013) Templating and charge injection from copper electrodes into solution-processed organic field-effect transistors. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 9:3716–3721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwak D, Lim JA, Kang B, Lee WH, Cho K (2013) Self-organization of inkjet-printed organic semiconductor films prepared in inkjet-etched microwells. Adv Funct Mater 42:5224–5231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon J, Takeda Y, Shiwaku R, Tokito S, Cho K, Jung S (2019a) Three-dimensional monolithic integration in flexible printed organic transistors. Nat Commun 54:54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon H, Ye H, An TK, Hong J, Park CE, Choi Y, Shin S, Lee J, Kim SH, Li X (2019b) Highly stable flexible organic field-effect transistors with parylene-C gate dielectrics on a flexible substrate. Org Electron:105391

  • Lee WH, Lim JA, Kwak D, Cho JH, Lee HS, Choi HH, Cho K (2009) Semiconductor-dielectric blends: a facile all solution route to flexible all-organic transistors. Adv Mater 42:4243–4248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Q, Jiang C, Bi S, Asare-Yeboah K, He Z, Liu Y (2020a) Photo-triggered logic circuits assembled on integrated illuminants and resonant nanowires. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 24:46501–46508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li H, He Z, Ouyang Z, Palchoudhury S, Ingram CW, Harruna II, Li D (2020b) Modifying electrical and magnetic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes by decorating with Iron oxide nanoparticles. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 4:2611–2616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim JA, Lee WH, Lee HS, Lee JH, Park YD, Cho K (2008) Self-organization of ink-jet-printed triisopropylsilylethynyl pentacene via evaporation-induced flows in a drying droplet. Adv Funct Mater 2:229–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma F, Xu B, Wu S, Wang L, Zhang B, Huang G, Du A, Zhou B, Mei Y (2019) Thermal-controlled releasing and assembling of functional nanomembranes through polymer pyrolysis. Nanotechnology 35:354001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mimura K-i, Kato K (2020) High refractive index and dielectric properties of BaTiO3 nanocube/polymer composite films. J Nanopart Res 8:241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niazi MR, Li RP, Li EQ, Kirmani AR, Abdelsamie M, Wang QX, Pan WY, Payne MM, Anthony JE, Smilgies DM, Thoroddsen ST, Giannelis EP, Amassian A (2015) Solution-printed organic semiconductor blends exhibiting transport properties on par with single crystals. Nat Commun:8598

  • Niu M-S, Yang X-Y, Qin C-C, Bi P-Q, Lyu C-K, Feng L, Qin W, Gao K, Hao X-T (2019) Competition between singlet fission and singlet exciton dissociation at the interface in TIPS-pentacene: IT-4F blend. Org Electron:296–302

  • Onojima N, Akiyama N, Mori Y, Sugai T, Obata S (2020) Small molecule/polymer blends prepared by environmentally-friendly process for mechanically-stable flexible organic field-effect transistors. Org Electron 105597:105597

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ozorio MD, Nogueira GL, Morais RM, Martin CD, Constantino CJL, Alves N (2016) Poly(3-hexylthiophene): TIPS-pentacene blends aiming transistor applications. Thin Solid Films 608:97–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfaehler S, Angı A, Chryssikos D, Cattani-Scholz A, Rieger B, Tornow M (2019) Space charge-limited current transport in thin films of alkyl-functionalized silicon nanocrystals. Nanotechnology 39:395201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pons-Flores CA, Mejia I, Hernandez I, Garduño I, Estrada M (2019) High performance, low temperature processed Hf-In-Zn-O/HfO2 thin film transistors, using PMMA as etch-stop and passivation layer. Microelectron Eng:1–5

  • Qiu L, Lim JA, Wang X, Lee WH, Hwang M, Cho K (2008) Versatile use of vertical-phase-separation-induced bilayer structures in organic thin-film transistors. Adv Mater 6:1141–1145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slavov SV, Sanger AR, Chuang KT (2000) Mechanism of silation of silica with hexamethyldisilazane. J Phys Chem B 5:983–989

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takumi Y, Hiroki F, Yoshinari K, Yoshiaki H, Masatoshi K (2020) Wide-range work function tuning in gold surfaces modified with fluorobenzenethiols toward application to organic thin-film transistors. Flexible Printed Electron:014011

  • Xu WC, He HX, Jing XS, Wu SJ, Zhang Z, Gao JW, Gao XS, Zhou GF, Lu XB, Liu JM (2017) High performance organic nonvolatile memory transistors based on HfO2 and poly(α-methylstyrene) electret hybrid charge-trapping layers. Appl Phys Lett 6:063302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang Z, Lin S, Liu J, Zheng K, Lu G, Ye B, Huang J, Zhang Y, Ye Y, Guo T, Chen G (2020) Sharp phase-separated interface of 6, 13-bis (triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene/polystyrene blend films prepared by electrostatic spray deposition. Org Electron:206–210

  • Zhang R, Liao Y, Zhou Y, Qian J (2020a) A facile and economical process for high-performance and flexible transparent conductive film based on reduced graphene oxides and silver nanowires. J Nanopart Res 2:39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z, He Z, Bi S, Asare-Yeboah K (2020b) Phase segregation controlled semiconductor crystallization for organic thin film transistors. J Sci Adv Mater Devices 2:151–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Y, Wang J, Zheng L, Sun P, Huang N, Huang X, Sun X (2019) One-step in situ growing CoS1.097 nanoplates on flexible graphite paper as efficient and stable FTO-free counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. J Nanopart Res 6:123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhuang XM, Han SJ, Huai BX, Shi W, Yu JS (2019) Sub-ppm and high response organic thin-film transistor NO2 sensor based on nanofibrillar structured TIPS-pentacene. Sensors Actuators B Chem:238–244

Download references

Acknowledgements

Z. He would like to acknowledge the support from the University of Alabama. S. Bi would like to thank the support by the Science and Technology Project of Liaoning Province (20180540006). A part of this research was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Zhengran He

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York City, NY, 10027, USA

    Ziyang Zhang

  3. Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-traditional Machining Technology of the Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology Dalian, Dalian, 116024, Liaoning, China

    Sheng Bi

  4. Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

    Jihua Chen

Authors
  1. Zhengran He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ziyang Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sheng Bi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jihua Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhengran He or Jihua Chen.

Ethics declarations

This study does not involve human nor animal subjects.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

He, Z., Zhang, Z., Bi, S. et al. Tuning charge transport in organic semiconductors with nanoparticles and hexamethyldisilazane. J Nanopart Res 23, 5 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-021-05151-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-021-05151-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation