Conformation, Defects, and Dynamics of a Discotic Liquid Crystal and Their Influence on Charge Transport

Future applications of discotic liquid crystals (DLCs) in electronic devices depend on a marked improvement of their conductivity properties. We present a study of 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexakishexyloxytriphenylene (HAT6) and show how local conformation, structural defects, and thermal motions on the picosecond time scale strongly affect the efficient charge transport in DLCs. A direct and successful comparison of classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with both neutron powder diffraction and quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) give a full insight into the structural and dynamical properties of HAT6. The local conformation of HAT6 molecules is characterized by a mutual rotation (twist) angle of about 37° and typically a mutual aromatic-core distance of 3.4 Å instead of the average distance of 3.65 Å usually quoted. We show that a considerable number of structural traps is present in HAT6, which persist at the picosecond time scale. We find that the high disorder in the mutual positions of the aromatic cores is an important factor contributing to the limited conductivity of HAT6 compared to larger DLCs

New Insights into the Molecular Dynamics of P3HT:PCBM Bulk Heterojunction: A Time-of-Flight Quasi-Elastic Neutron Scattering Study

The molecular dynamics of organic semiconductor blend layers are likely to affect the optoelectronic properties and the performance of devices such as solar cells. We study the dynamics (5–50 ps) of the poly­(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT): phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend by time-of-flight quasi-elastic neutron scattering, at temperatures in the range 250–360 K, thus spanning the glass transition temperature region of the polymer and the operation temperature of an OPV device. The behavior of the QENS signal provides evidence for the vitrification of P3HT upon blending, especially above the glass transition temperature, and the plasticization of PCBM by P3HT, both dynamics occurring on the picosecond time scale

High-Spin Cobalt(II) Ions in Square Planar Coordination: Structures and Magnetism of the Oxysulfides Sr₂CoO₂Cu₂S₂ and Ba₂CoO₂Cu₂S₂ and Their Solid Solution

The antiferromagnetic structures of the layered oxychalcogenides (Sr1−xBax)2CoO2Cu2S2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) have been determined by powder neutron diffraction. In these compounds Co2+ is coordinated by four oxide ions in a square plane and two sulfide ions at the apexes of an extremely tetragonally elongated octahedron; the polyhedra share oxide vertexes. The magnetic reflections present in the diffraction patterns can in all cases be indexed using a √2a × √2a × c expansion of the nuclear cell, and nearest-neighbor Co2+ moments couple antiferromagnetically within the CoO2 planes. The ordered magnetic moment of Co2+ in Sr2CoO2Cu2S2 (x = 0) is 3.8(1) μB at 5 K, consistent with high-spin Co2+ ions carrying three unpaired electrons and with an additional significant unquenched orbital component. Exposure of this compound to moist air is shown to result in copper deficiency and a decrease in the size of the ordered moment to about 2.5 μB; there is a strong correlation between the size of the long-range ordered moment and the occupancy of the Cu site. Both the tetragonal elongation of the CoO4S2 polyhedron and the ordered moment in (Sr1−xBax)2CoO2Cu2S2 increase with increasing Ba content, and in Ba2CoO2Cu2S2, which has Co2+ in an environment that is close to purely square planar, the ordered moment of 4.5(1) μB at 5 K is over 0.7 μB larger than that in Sr2CoO2Cu2S2, so the unquenched orbital component in this case is even larger than that observed in octahedral Co2+ systems such as CoO. The experimental observations of antiferromagnetic ground states and the changes in properties resulting from replacement of Sr by Ba are supported by ab initio calculations on Sr2CoO2Cu2S2 and Ba2CoO2Cu2S2. The large orbital moments in these systems apparently result from spin−orbit mixing of the unequally populated dxz, dyz, and dz2 orbitals, which are reckoned to be almost degenerate when the CoO4S2 polyhedron reaches its maximum elongation. The magnitudes of the ordered moments in high-spin Co2+ oxide, oxychalcogenide, and oxyhalide systems are shown to correlate well with the tetragonal elongation of the coordination environment. The large orbital moments lead to an apparently magnetostrictive distortion of the crystal structures below the Neél temperature, with the symmetry lowered from tetragonal I4/mmm to orthorhombic Immm and the size of the distortion correlating well with the size of the long-range ordered moment for all compositions and for temperature-dependent data gathered on Ba2CoO2Cu2S2

High-Spin Cobalt(II) Ions in Square Planar Coordination: Structures and Magnetism of the Oxysulfides Sr₂CoO₂Cu₂S₂ and Ba₂CoO₂Cu₂S₂ and Their Solid Solution

The antiferromagnetic structures of the layered oxychalcogenides (Sr1−xBax)2CoO2Cu2S2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) have been determined by powder neutron diffraction. In these compounds Co2+ is coordinated by four oxide ions in a square plane and two sulfide ions at the apexes of an extremely tetragonally elongated octahedron; the polyhedra share oxide vertexes. The magnetic reflections present in the diffraction patterns can in all cases be indexed using a √2a × √2a × c expansion of the nuclear cell, and nearest-neighbor Co2+ moments couple antiferromagnetically within the CoO2 planes. The ordered magnetic moment of Co2+ in Sr2CoO2Cu2S2 (x = 0) is 3.8(1) μB at 5 K, consistent with high-spin Co2+ ions carrying three unpaired electrons and with an additional significant unquenched orbital component. Exposure of this compound to moist air is shown to result in copper deficiency and a decrease in the size of the ordered moment to about 2.5 μB; there is a strong correlation between the size of the long-range ordered moment and the occupancy of the Cu site. Both the tetragonal elongation of the CoO4S2 polyhedron and the ordered moment in (Sr1−xBax)2CoO2Cu2S2 increase with increasing Ba content, and in Ba2CoO2Cu2S2, which has Co2+ in an environment that is close to purely square planar, the ordered moment of 4.5(1) μB at 5 K is over 0.7 μB larger than that in Sr2CoO2Cu2S2, so the unquenched orbital component in this case is even larger than that observed in octahedral Co2+ systems such as CoO. The experimental observations of antiferromagnetic ground states and the changes in properties resulting from replacement of Sr by Ba are supported by ab initio calculations on Sr2CoO2Cu2S2 and Ba2CoO2Cu2S2. The large orbital moments in these systems apparently result from spin−orbit mixing of the unequally populated dxz, dyz, and dz2 orbitals, which are reckoned to be almost degenerate when the CoO4S2 polyhedron reaches its maximum elongation. The magnitudes of the ordered moments in high-spin Co2+ oxide, oxychalcogenide, and oxyhalide systems are shown to correlate well with the tetragonal elongation of the coordination environment. The large orbital moments lead to an apparently magnetostrictive distortion of the crystal structures below the Neél temperature, with the symmetry lowered from tetragonal I4/mmm to orthorhombic Immm and the size of the distortion correlating well with the size of the long-range ordered moment for all compositions and for temperature-dependent data gathered on Ba2CoO2Cu2S2

High-Spin Cobalt(II) Ions in Square Planar Coordination: Structures and Magnetism of the Oxysulfides Sr₂CoO₂Cu₂S₂ and Ba₂CoO₂Cu₂S₂ and Their Solid Solution

The antiferromagnetic structures of the layered oxychalcogenides (Sr1−xBax)2CoO2Cu2S2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) have been determined by powder neutron diffraction. In these compounds Co2+ is coordinated by four oxide ions in a square plane and two sulfide ions at the apexes of an extremely tetragonally elongated octahedron; the polyhedra share oxide vertexes. The magnetic reflections present in the diffraction patterns can in all cases be indexed using a √2a × √2a × c expansion of the nuclear cell, and nearest-neighbor Co2+ moments couple antiferromagnetically within the CoO2 planes. The ordered magnetic moment of Co2+ in Sr2CoO2Cu2S2 (x = 0) is 3.8(1) μB at 5 K, consistent with high-spin Co2+ ions carrying three unpaired electrons and with an additional significant unquenched orbital component. Exposure of this compound to moist air is shown to result in copper deficiency and a decrease in the size of the ordered moment to about 2.5 μB; there is a strong correlation between the size of the long-range ordered moment and the occupancy of the Cu site. Both the tetragonal elongation of the CoO4S2 polyhedron and the ordered moment in (Sr1−xBax)2CoO2Cu2S2 increase with increasing Ba content, and in Ba2CoO2Cu2S2, which has Co2+ in an environment that is close to purely square planar, the ordered moment of 4.5(1) μB at 5 K is over 0.7 μB larger than that in Sr2CoO2Cu2S2, so the unquenched orbital component in this case is even larger than that observed in octahedral Co2+ systems such as CoO. The experimental observations of antiferromagnetic ground states and the changes in properties resulting from replacement of Sr by Ba are supported by ab initio calculations on Sr2CoO2Cu2S2 and Ba2CoO2Cu2S2. The large orbital moments in these systems apparently result from spin−orbit mixing of the unequally populated dxz, dyz, and dz2 orbitals, which are reckoned to be almost degenerate when the CoO4S2 polyhedron reaches its maximum elongation. The magnitudes of the ordered moments in high-spin Co2+ oxide, oxychalcogenide, and oxyhalide systems are shown to correlate well with the tetragonal elongation of the coordination environment. The large orbital moments lead to an apparently magnetostrictive distortion of the crystal structures below the Neél temperature, with the symmetry lowered from tetragonal I4/mmm to orthorhombic Immm and the size of the distortion correlating well with the size of the long-range ordered moment for all compositions and for temperature-dependent data gathered on Ba2CoO2Cu2S2

High-Spin Cobalt(II) Ions in Square Planar Coordination: Structures and Magnetism of the Oxysulfides Sr₂CoO₂Cu₂S₂ and Ba₂CoO₂Cu₂S₂ and Their Solid Solution

The antiferromagnetic structures of the layered oxychalcogenides (Sr1−xBax)2CoO2Cu2S2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) have been determined by powder neutron diffraction. In these compounds Co2+ is coordinated by four oxide ions in a square plane and two sulfide ions at the apexes of an extremely tetragonally elongated octahedron; the polyhedra share oxide vertexes. The magnetic reflections present in the diffraction patterns can in all cases be indexed using a √2a × √2a × c expansion of the nuclear cell, and nearest-neighbor Co2+ moments couple antiferromagnetically within the CoO2 planes. The ordered magnetic moment of Co2+ in Sr2CoO2Cu2S2 (x = 0) is 3.8(1) μB at 5 K, consistent with high-spin Co2+ ions carrying three unpaired electrons and with an additional significant unquenched orbital component. Exposure of this compound to moist air is shown to result in copper deficiency and a decrease in the size of the ordered moment to about 2.5 μB; there is a strong correlation between the size of the long-range ordered moment and the occupancy of the Cu site. Both the tetragonal elongation of the CoO4S2 polyhedron and the ordered moment in (Sr1−xBax)2CoO2Cu2S2 increase with increasing Ba content, and in Ba2CoO2Cu2S2, which has Co2+ in an environment that is close to purely square planar, the ordered moment of 4.5(1) μB at 5 K is over 0.7 μB larger than that in Sr2CoO2Cu2S2, so the unquenched orbital component in this case is even larger than that observed in octahedral Co2+ systems such as CoO. The experimental observations of antiferromagnetic ground states and the changes in properties resulting from replacement of Sr by Ba are supported by ab initio calculations on Sr2CoO2Cu2S2 and Ba2CoO2Cu2S2. The large orbital moments in these systems apparently result from spin−orbit mixing of the unequally populated dxz, dyz, and dz2 orbitals, which are reckoned to be almost degenerate when the CoO4S2 polyhedron reaches its maximum elongation. The magnitudes of the ordered moments in high-spin Co2+ oxide, oxychalcogenide, and oxyhalide systems are shown to correlate well with the tetragonal elongation of the coordination environment. The large orbital moments lead to an apparently magnetostrictive distortion of the crystal structures below the Neél temperature, with the symmetry lowered from tetragonal I4/mmm to orthorhombic Immm and the size of the distortion correlating well with the size of the long-range ordered moment for all compositions and for temperature-dependent data gathered on Ba2CoO2Cu2S2

Direct Observation of Oxide Ion Dynamics in La₂Mo₂O₉ on the Nanosecond Timescale

Quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS), underpinned by ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, has been used to directly observe oxide ion dynamics in solid electrolyte La₂Mo₂O₉ on the nanosecond timescale, the longest timescale probed in oxide ion conductors by neutron scattering to date. QENS gives the activation energy of 0.61(5) eV for this process, while AIMD simulations reveal that the exchange processes, which ultimately lead to long-range oxide ion diffusion in La₂Mo₂O₉, rely on the flexibility of the coordination environment around Mo⁶⁺, with oxide ions jumps occurring between vacant sites both within and between Mo coordination spheres. Simulations also differentiate between the crystallographic sites which participate in the oxide ion exchange processes, offering the first atomic-level understanding of the oxide ion dynamics in La₂Mo₂O₉, which is consistent with the macroscopic experimental observations on this material

Temperature-Dependent Dynamics of Polyalkylthiophene Conjugated Polymers: A Combined Neutron Scattering and Simulation Study

The dynamics of conjugated polymers are known to influence the performance of optoelectronic devices. Polyalkylthiophenes are a widely studied class of conjugated polymers, which exhibit a glass transition around room temperature and consequently are sensitive to temperature variations. We studied the dynamics of two polyalkylthiophenes of different side chain lengths (hexyl and octyl) as a function of temperature, by comparing their quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) with molecular dynamics simulations (MD). We found a good agreement between the simulated and experimental data within the explored time window (of ∼4 ns), demonstrating that the force fields used in MD simulations are appropriate and that the QENS technique can be used as a validation of such force fields. Using MD allows us to identify and to assign contributions to the QENS signal from different parts of the polymers and to determine the activation energies of the different motions

Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution from Water Using Fluorene and Dibenzothiophene Sulfone-Conjugated Microporous and Linear Polymers

Three series of conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) were studied as photocatalysts for hydrogen production from water using a sacrificial hole scavenger. In all cases, dibenzo­[b,d]­thiophene sulfone polymers outperformed their fluorene analogues. A porous network, S-CMP3, showed the highest hydrogen evolution rates of 6076 μmol h–1 g–1 (λ > 295 nm) and 3106 μmol h–1 g–1 (λ > 420 nm), with an external quantum efficiency of 13.2% at 420 nm. S-CMP3 outperforms its linear structural analogue, P35, whereas in other cases, nonporous linear polymers are superior to equivalent porous networks. This suggests that microporosity might be beneficial for sacrificial photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, if suitable linkers are used that do not limit charge transport and the material can be wetted by water as studied here by water sorption and quasi-elastic neutron scattering