This thesis deals with the family of small molecules known as perylene diimides, their synthesis, properties, and use in organic electronics. In particular it is focussed on the use of perylene diimides as small molecular organic semiconductors in organic photovoltaics and organic field-effect transistors.
Here is reported the synthesis, characterisation, properties and device testing of a range of new perylene diimide materials, designed to have properties amenable to use as acceptors in organic photovoltaics.
Also reported is a method for the kinetic resolution of dicyano substituted perylene diimides, an important sub-group commonly used in organic field-effect transistor applications, to obtain regioisomerically pure samples of the majority regioisomer from an otherwise inseparable mixture. The effect of this purification on the physical and device properties is reported.
A new kind of perylene diimide material was discovered during the course of this work. The identification of the new material, determined by a combination of spectroscopy and modern computational chemistry techniques is reported, as well as properties relevant to the use of the new material in organic electronics.
Finally, the synthesis, characterisation and properties of a new dicyano perylene diimide is reported, in order to investigate the use of targeted thermal treatment on organic field-effect transistor device performance.