Electrochemical deposition as a unique solution processing method for insoluble organic optoelectronic materials

Electrochemical deposition is shown to be a novel technique to deposit films of N,N′-dibutylperylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide) (BuPTCDI) dye that avoids the need for high vacuum or solubilising side chains on the molecule. The technique exploits the higher solubility of the reduced ionic form of the dye over the neutral form. BuPTCDI was chemically reduced to solubilise and then electrochemically oxidised to form a film on various substrates. The properties of the films were investigated by UV/Vis spectroscopy, Photoluminescence, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, SEM and photoconductivity showing the successful deposition of the BuPTCDI molecules. The technique was also used to deposit films on interdigitated-electrode substrates enabling measurement of field-effect mobility.