Tailored Assembly of Organic Molecular Nanofibers into Advanced Donor-Acceptor Architectures

Non-covalent self-assembly of organic molecules in organic solvents provides a multi-functional approach toward producing organic semiconducting nanostructures having versatile, well-ordered, architectures\footnote{ V. Duzhko and K.D. Singer, J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 27.} that are potentially integrable into useful electronic, optoelectronic and photonic device architectures. Aiming at molecular-scale tailoring of electron donor-acceptor blend architectures and rational engineering of their functionality for photovoltaic applications, we discuss our approach of solvent-based, electric-field-assisted\footnote{ V. Duzhko, J. Du, C.A. Zorman, and K.D. Singer, J. Phys. Chem. C 2008, 112, 12081.} integration of self-assembled donor (phthalocyanine) nanofibers into an acceptor (perylene diimide) matrix (or vice versa). We present results of our systematic spectroscopic, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy studies revealing the structure and morphology of neat fibers and fiber blends in various phases.