Abstract
This review provides an update on advances in the area of electrical mode sensors using organic small molecule n-type semiconductors based on perylene. Among small organic molecules, perylene diimides (PDIs) are an important class of materials due to their outstanding thermal, chemical, electronic, and optical properties, all of which make them promising candidates for a wide range of organic electronic devices including sensors, organic solar cells, organic field-effect transistors, and organic light-emitting diodes. This is mainly due to their electron-withdrawing nature and significant charge transfer properties. Perylene-based sensors of this type show high sensing performance towards various analytes, particularly reducing gases like ammonia and hydrazine, but there are several issues that need to be addressed including the selectivity towards a specific gas, the effect of relative humidity, and operating temperature. In this review, we focus on the strategies and design principles applied to the gas-sensing performance of PDI-based devices, including resistive sensors, amperometric sensors, and operating at room temperature. The device properties and sensing mechanisms for different analytes, focusing on hydrazine and ammonia, are studied in detail, and some future research perspectives are discussed for this promising field. We hope the discussed results and examples inspire new forms of molecular engineering and begin to open opportunities for other rylene diimide classes to be applied as active materials.
Highlights
The increase in globalization, digitization, and the rapid production techniques of industry come with the need to be able to measure our environment, either local or more global, to ensure safe working and living environments for our communities to prosper.In particular, the monitoring and detection of toxic and harmful gases, air pollutants, and explosives are an essential need in industries such as pharmaceuticals, propulsion systems, fertilizers, renewable energy, and manufacturing, as well as in everyday life including the need to safely travel by air
We have demonstrated that organic-derived sensors have the capability of ushering new technology, and this is true for the class of rylene aromatics of which perylene diimides (PDIs)-based gas sensors are a part
Their strong evolution as active materials for electronic sensors or as part of heterojunction materials has been demonstrated to be effective in the sensing of hazardous and reducing gases such as hydrazine and ammonia
Summary
The increase in globalization, digitization, and the rapid production techniques of industry come with the need to be able to measure our environment, either local or more global, to ensure safe working and living environments for our communities to prosper. Their resistance to oxidation is the main reason why PDIs generally act as stable n-type organic materials [42] Together with their additional properties, including facile structural functionalization, excellent light-absorption in the visible region, and near-unity fluorescence quantum yields in the molecular state, PDIs have been known as appealing candidates for preparing organic optoelectronic materials and devices, such as organic photovoltaics (OPVs), organic field effect transistors (OFETs), dye lasers, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and sensors [22,42,43,44]. As is the focus of this review, PDI derivatives have been widely used in gas-sensing applications, mainly due to their electron-deficient nature, desired self-assembled and crystal structures, and high chemical and thermal stabilities [36]. We describe the future outlook of PDIs and other rylene diimides as appropriate active components for electrical gas sensors
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