KCS

Organic semiconductors have been extensively investigated as promising materials for cost-effective flexible electronic devices. The performance of the devices are highly dependent on the crystallinity of semiconductors as well as intrinsic molecular structure. Vacuum deposition and solution deposition techniques are often adopted for growing crystals. Nerverless, it is known that highly crystalline organic semiconductors are hard to prepare by simple vapor evaporation or by solution growh. Furthermore, crystallization of polymeric semiconductors with high molecular weights is often hindered by difficulty of vaporization and poor solubility in most common solvents.
Herein, we report controlled growth of single-crystalline organic semiconducting nanowires using crystallizable solvents as templates. In this work, we utilized the melting temperature depression induced by eutectic mixtures of organic semiconductors and crystallizable solvents. Due to the formation of eutectic mixtures, organic semiconductors which originally have high melting temperature (> 350 °C) melted at moderately low temperature (~62 °C). Upon cooling, eutectic mixtures of organic semiconductors and crystallizable solvents form various thermodynamic micro- or nanostructures including lamellae, cylinders or spheres by eutectic reaction, a phase transition between liquid and mixture of solid phases. During the eutectic reaction, the crystallizable solvents templates the crystal structure of organic semiconductors.