(fullerene) assemblies are interesting materials for organic electronics and especially
photovoltaic applications if they can be oriented at surfaces.
Lamella Supramolecular Structure with Sandwiched 2D Crystals
As pointed above, the π-π interactions, which are considered as weak intermolecular
forces comparable to hydrogen bond interactions, can promote the formation of
fullerene LCs via supramolecular assembly. Very recently, we found that in a
properly designed system of fullerene dyads, the fullerenes can self-organize to
form two-dimensional (2D) crystals sandwiched within the flexible alkyl chain
layers. The structure of the [60]fullerene derivatives 40–43 is shown in Fig. 15.
A typical molecule from these dyads consists of a rigid [60]fullerene, a gallic ester
segment substituted with three long alkyl chains as the soft part, and a multimethylene unit as a flexible spacer connecting the two segments (Zhang et al.
2015). The design strategy is to introduce a soft group onto fullerene (the rigid
component), so the molecules will self-organize to form supramolecules as a result
of π-π interactions between fullerenes and phase separation between the rigid and the
soft parts.
The [60]fullerene dyads undergo self-organization by π-π interactions between
fullerenes to form triple-layer 2D crystals, with the soft alkyl chains forming
Fig. 14 OPV stars (37) and fullerene-OPV hybrid stars (38 and 39)
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X. Yang et al.
photovoltaic applications if they can be oriented at surfaces.
Lamella Supramolecular Structure with Sandwiched 2D Crystals
As pointed above, the π-π interactions, which are considered as weak intermolecular
forces comparable to hydrogen bond interactions, can promote the formation of
fullerene LCs via supramolecular assembly. Very recently, we found that in a
properly designed system of fullerene dyads, the fullerenes can self-organize to
form two-dimensional (2D) crystals sandwiched within the flexible alkyl chain
layers. The structure of the [60]fullerene derivatives 40–43 is shown in Fig. 15.
A typical molecule from these dyads consists of a rigid [60]fullerene, a gallic ester
segment substituted with three long alkyl chains as the soft part, and a multimethylene unit as a flexible spacer connecting the two segments (Zhang et al.
2015). The design strategy is to introduce a soft group onto fullerene (the rigid
component), so the molecules will self-organize to form supramolecules as a result
of π-π interactions between fullerenes and phase separation between the rigid and the
soft parts.
The [60]fullerene dyads undergo self-organization by π-π interactions between
fullerenes to form triple-layer 2D crystals, with the soft alkyl chains forming
Fig. 14 OPV stars (37) and fullerene-OPV hybrid stars (38 and 39)
164
X. Yang et al.