Chapter 5 - Design and construction of arlene diimide based self-assembled nanostructures

Abstract

Control over the supramolecular nanostructures from the self-assembly of π-conjugated systems has received considerable attention in organic electronics such as solar cells, field-effect transistors, light-emitting diodes, sensors, and biological applications. In particular, the size and shape of the self-assembled structures and their interaction with a given substrate are of great significance. Nevertheless, the design of linear π-conjugated systems plays a vital role to achieve nanostructures with definite size and shape which aid to improve the optical and electronic properties. In this context, arlene diimide is attracted in π-conjugated systems which have shown notable optical, electrochemical, self-assembly, and electronic properties. In this chapter, we have demonstrated the design and self-assemblies of naphthalene diimide and perylene diimide with different functional groups were reported until now. Interestingly, these derivatives exhibit miscellaneous supramolecular nano-architectures by using non-covalent interactions such as π-π stacking, H-bonding, van der Waals and ionic interactions. Additionally, these materials possess electron-withdrawing imide groups in electron-rich perylene systems promotes the electron-accepting nature which facilitates the expansion of the donor-acceptor systems for efficient charge transfer, energy, or electron phenomenon and photoconductivity. Thus, the remarkable optical and electronic properties of self-assembled arlene diimide-based derivatives lead to prominent materials within π-conjugated systems to electronics and biological applications.