In this contribution, we have demonstrated the ability to tune the morphologies of organic charge transfer complex (CuTCNQ) nanomaterials by controlling the shape and thickness of copper patterns on silicon (100) at mild experimental conditions. The results showed that the CuTCNQ nanorods grew on the copper patterns (65 and 70 nm) and the CuTCNQ nanoparticles generated on the thin copper patterns (26 and 37 nm). Excellent field emission properties were observed in these nanostructures of different morphologies. Importantly, the field emission current density of those nanomaterials is higher than that of organic semiconductor nanomaterials and many inorganic semiconductor nanomaterials.

Two-dimensional (2D) all-carbon materials hold great fascination because of their superior properties and promising applications. Herein, we presented the first demonstration for the use of graphdiyne (GDY) as photothermo-acoustic wave nanotransducers for simultaneous effective photoacoustic imaging (PAI) and photothermal therapy (PTT) in living mice. With a large extinction coefficient in near-infrared (NIR) region, upon irradiated by 808 nm laser, GDY not only exhibits a stable photothermal performance with a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 42%, but also provides an excellent photoacoustic response. Owing to its good biocompatibility modified with PEGylation, GDY can be simultaneously used as PAI probe and PTT agent and exhibits an efficient photothermal ablation of cancer cells in living mice. This work opens a new way into the development of 2D graphdiynes as novel theranostic platform for cancer treatment.

AbstractClear structure–property correlation is of crucial importance for molecular materials for optical and electronic application. Here, a new intramolecular charge transfer compound (E)-2-{4-[4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)styryl]benzylidene}malononitrile (TCBR) with a dicyanovinyl group as the electron acceptor and a carbazole group as the electron donor is designed and synthesized. Four different single crystals based on the cis and trans isomeric forms of this compound are grown simultaneously, which are both kinetically and thermodynamically stable. The different packing modes give rise to a dynamic crystal structure change, leading to dramatically different optical and electronic properties. The closer packing can effectively promote the π–π interactions to increase the exciton coupling and orbital overlap between neighbor molecules in crystals, which produces a redshift fluorescence emission and good conductivity. This permits one to tune the packing molecules in the solid state to specific applications in a more precise way. The results of this study highlight the power of designing new functional molecules for optical and electronic applications.

A new method of in situ electrically induced self-assembly technology combined with electrochemical deposition has been developed for the controllable preparation of organic/inorganic core/shell semiconductor heterojunction nanowire arrays. The size of the interface of the heterojunction nanowire can be tuned by the growing parameter. The heterojunction nanowires of graphdiyne/CuS with core/shell structure showed the strong dependence of rectification ratio and perfect diode performance on the size of the interface. It will be a new way for controlling the structures and properties of one-dimensional heterojunction nanomaterials.Keywords: core/shell; CuS; graphdiyne; heterojunction nanowires; organic/inorganic; rectification ratio

A high conductive 2D COF polyporphyrin (TThPP) linked by 4-thiophenephenyl groups was synthesized through an in situ chemical oxidative polymerization on the surface of copper foil. The TThPP films were used as the anode of lithium-ion battery, which exhibited high specific capacities, excellent rate performances, and long cycle lives due to the alignment of 2D polyporphyrin nanosheets, and they (i) can highly efficiently adsorb Li atoms, (ii) have short-ended paths for the fast lithium ion diffusion, and (iii) open nanopores holding electrolyte. The reversible capacity is up to 666 mAh/g. This is the first example of an organic 2D COF for an anode of lithium-ion battery and represents an important step toward the use of COFs in the next-generation high-performance lithium-ion battery.Keywords: 2D COF; high capacity; high conductive; lithium storage; polyporphyrin

Graphdiyne (GD), a new kind of two-dimensional carbon allotrope consisting of a hexagonal ring and a diacetylenic linkage unit, is observed to exhibit a high fluorescence quenching ability and can be used as a new platform for fluorescence sensing, where GD oxide, the oxidized form of GD, is found to exhibit higher quenching ability than GD. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, GD oxide is used to establish a new platform for effective fluorescence sensing of DNA and thrombin with a high sensitivity and selectivity.

Heterojunction nanomaterials have attracted the interest of numerous scientists and engineers to explore the fundamental scientific understanding of the formation of heterojunction nanostructures, their special properties with enhanced electrical and optical performance and the relationship between the functionality and the molecular structures. In this work, we synthesized novel axial nested P–N heterojunction nanowires combining the inorganic semiconductor PbS and the organic conjugated polymer polypyrrole (PPy). The nested P–N heterojunction nanowires (NWs) show a higher rectification ratio (exceeding 100), long-term stability and high unilateral conductivity due to the bigger area of junction produced.

Highly polarized compounds exhibiting intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) are used widely as nonlinear optical (NLO) materials and red emitters and in organic light emitting diodes. Low-molecular-weight donor/acceptor (D/A)-substituted ICT compounds are ideal candidates for use as the building blocks of hierarchically structured, multifunctional self-assembled supramolecular systems. This Account describes our recent studies into the development of functional molecular systems with well-defined self-assembled structures based on charge-transfer (CT) interactions. From solution (sensors) to the solid state (assembled structures), we have fully utilized intrinsic and stimulus-induced CT interactions to construct these functional molecular systems.We have designed some organic molecules capable of ICT, with diversity and tailorability, that can be used to develop novel self-assembled materials. These ICT organic molecules are based on a variety of simple structures such as perylene bisimide, benzothiadiazole, tetracyanobutadiene, fluorenone, isoxazolone, BODIPY, and their derivatives. The degree of ICT is influenced by the nature of both the bridge and the substituents. We have developed new methods to synthesize ICT compounds through the introduction of heterocycles or heteroatoms to the π-conjugated systems or through extending the conjugation of diverse aromatic systems via another aromatic ring.Combining these ICT compounds featuring different D/A units and different degrees of conjugation with phase transfer methodologies and solvent-vapor techniques, we have self-assembled various organic nanostructures, including hollow nanospheres, wires, tubes, and ribbonlike architectures, with controllable morphologies and sizes. For example, we obtained a noncentrosymmetric microfiber structure that possessed a permanent dipole along its fibers’ long axis and a transition dipole perpendicular to it; the independent NLO responses of this material can be separated and tuned spectroscopically and spatially. The ready processability and intrinsically high NLO efficiency of these microfibers offer great opportunities for applications in photonic devices. We have also designed molecular sensors based on changes in the efficiency of the ICT process upon complexation of an analyte with the D or A moieties in the ICT compounds. Such sensors, which display evident Stokes shifts or changes in quantum yields or fluorescence lifetimes, have promise for applications in chemical and biological recognition and sensing.In this Account, we shed light on the structure–function relationships of these functional molecular systems with well-defined self-assembled structures based on ICT interactions. The encouraging results that we have obtained suggest that such self-assembled ICT molecular materials can guide the design of new nanostructures and materials from organic systems, and that these materials, across a range of compositions, sizes, shapes, and functionalities, can potentially be applied in the fields of electronics, optics, and optoelectronics.

We developed a new method combining the in situ liquid–solid phase reaction and self-assembly in solution to synthesize novel inorganic/organic small molecular semiconductor core–shell nanoparticles of ZnS/PTCDA (ZPNPs). This method is a one-step process which can produce stoichiometric inorganic/organic core–shell nanoparticles and does not introduce any impurity. The film of ZPNPs exhibited an ultrasensitive detection of aniline vapor. The film of ZPNPs can highly selectively distinguish aniline vapor from many volatile organic compounds and water due to the strong synergistic interactions of π–π and hydrogen-bonds between electron donor (aniline) and acceptor (PTCDA) molecules, in which the detection limit was lowered to 100 ppb at room temperature.

In this study, we constructed a novel solid state supramolecular system—the molecular cage ZnOTCPP, based on an inorganic/organic hybrid nanostructure, through the assembly of 5,10,15,20-tetra(3-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP) onto the surfaces of ZnO nanorod (NR) arrays. The ZnOTCPP molecular cage exhibited highly selective recognition of 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) by optical and photoelectrical signals. The ZnOTCPP@TPP exhibited high emission efficiency, with a six-fold increase in the intensity of the emission relative to that of ZnOTCPP after the molecular cage ZnOTCPP captured TPP. The optical, electrical, and optoelectrical properties of the molecular cage ZnOTCPP could be controlled by tuning the interactions between the guest and the host's inorganic or organic moieties. Such a solid state molecular cage opens the door to controlled-delivery applications and provides an attractive platform for studying solid state supramolecular electronics and optoelectronics.

We report a novel nanodevice using π-conjugated polymers and inorganic semiconductor dual composite P–N junctions single nanowire constructed by PEDOT–PbS–PPY (EPP) nanowire as a two-input OR gate. The nanodevices logic gate may show some key value in nanoelectronic components.

Large area (26.7 cm2) nanotip arrays of porous conducting poly [5, 10, 15, 20-tetra (4-ethynylphenyl) porphyrin] diyne (TEPPD) have been successfully fabricated by an in situ cross-coupling reaction on the surface of the copper foil, which will open a new routine for large-area nanofabrication of porous conducting polymer on a conducting substrate. The surface-area of TEPPD nanotip arrays is up to 146 m2/ g. Interestingly, the nanotip arrays of TEPPD display a good field-emission property and exhibit a better stability of field emission than that of organic and polymeric nanostructures because of the good heat radiation of porous, which is comparable to some important nanostructures of inorganic semiconductor. The porous conducting polymer could be used for new field-emission emitter and other molecular electronic devices.Keywords: field emitter; large area; nanotip arrays; porous conjugated polymer;

Large-area and ordered arrays (16 cm2) of an inorganic–organic p-n heterojunction nanotree (NT) were successfully fabricated. The nanotree arrays consist of ZnO nanorods (NRs) as backbones and CuTCNQ (TCNQ = 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) NRs as branches. The sizes of CuTCNQ NRs can be tuned by the thickness of the Cu layer deposited on the surface of ZnO NR. The CuTCNQ/ZnO NT arrays displayed excellent diode nature and obvious size-dependent rectification ratios were observed. Moreover, the CuTCNQ/ZnO NT arrays were first applied for the fabrication of a diode-type humidity sensor, which displayed ultrahigh sensitivity and quick response/recovery properties at room temperature. The detection limitation of this new diode-type humidity sensor lowers to 5% relative humidity (RH).Keywords: 2D ordered aligned arrays; diode; humidity sensor; inorganic−organic p-n heterojunction; nanotrees;

We have successfully synthesized and separated a series of tert-butyl 4-C61-benzoate (t-BCB) organofullerenes, including monoadduct, diadduct, and triadduct compounds, and investigated their photophysics, electrochemistry, thermal properties, and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. The photovoltaic devices were fabricated based on monoadduct, diadduct, and triadduct products, and the devices based on them exhibited power conversion efficiencies of 2.43%, 0.48%, and 1.68%, respectively. This was the first time to study the dependent relationship on the device performance and the different isomer numbers.Keywords: bulk heterojunction; fullerene; multiadduct; photovoltaic property;

Consideration of the material design and components match on structure and energy, the solid–solid combined nanowires of p-type conductive polymer of poly[3-thiophene carboxylic acid methyl ester] (PTCM) and n-type inorganic semiconductor PbS was prepared with a 2.57 μm2 heterojunction interface. The axial deeply inserting heterojunction nanowire arrays exhibited excellent rectifying features and diode nature, as well as obvious electrical switching behavior, which are much excelled individual components of PTCM and PbS nanowire arrays for realizing synergistic performance.

In this report, we present a novel platform to study the formation of two π-conjugated conducting copolymer nanowire arrays based on 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and thieno[3,4-b]thiophene (T34bT). The resulting nanostructures have a highly uniform wire array architecture with tunable diameters. This combination of nanoporous templates and in situ electropolymerization strategy offers a versatile route to prepare copolymers, forming uniform one-dimensional nanomaterials potentially useful in electronic conductor and field emission applications.

Large-area P–N heterojunction organic semiconductor nanowire combined (4-hexyloxybenzoyl)butylsaure methyl amide (H-t-B) and Poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) were fabricated and the morphology and photoelectric properties were investigated by the growth of composition. The performance of light on/off switching of the H-t-B/P3HT heterojunction nanowire arrays was measured by the light irradiation on and off, the current in the devices showed two distinct states, the current was only 0.34 μA in the dark, while the current can reach 1.37 μA under the illumination of 45 mW/cm2. The on/off switching ratio for the device of the heterojunction nanowire arrays is about 4.03.Keywords: blending organic semiconductor; fullerene derivatives; large area heterojunction; light on/off switching; nanowire arrays; template wetting;

Coordination polymers PZn quantum dots with a uniform diameter of 3 ± 0.5 nm were successfully prepared. The PZn QDs exhibit excellent water dispersibility, high photoluminescence, outstanding photostability and remarkable biocompatibility. The results of cellular experiments show that the PZn QDs are highly suitable for long-term cell imaging.

GDNWs (graphdiyne nanowires) have successfully been constructed which exhibit a very high quality defect-free surface using the VLS growth process. Measurement of electrical properties showed that the GDNWs produced are excellent semiconductors with a conductivity of 1.9 × 103 S m−1 and a mobility of 7.1 ×102 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature. The results have confirmed that GDNW is indeed a promising and key novel material in electronic and photoelectric fields for both fundamental and potentially practical applications.

One-dimensional nanostructures of the organic charge-transfer (CT) complex CuTNAP (copper 11,11,12,12-tetracyano-2,6-naphthoquinodimethane) were successfully synthesized by an organic vapor–solid phase reaction. The morphologies and field-emission properties of the CuTNAP nanostructures can be easily tuned by controlling the reaction conditions. It was observed that the field emission property is dependent on the morphology. The current density of a CuTNAP film of nanowires reaches up to 13.1 mA cm−2, which is the highest among the organic semiconductors, even higher than most inorganic materials. These results demonstrate that the CuTNAP complex nanostructures are excellent potential candidates as field emitters.

We described a new structure photodetector, which is constructed by p–n heterojunction nanowire arrays of PANI (polyaniline)/CdS. The nanowire arrays exhibit excellent rectifying features and a diode nature and show a sensitive spectral response to blue light under 420 nm. The rectification ratio plots of different illumination intensities show straight line behavior, implying that the quantitative detection of illumination intensity can be achieved. The p–n heterojunction nanowire array is a great candidate for applications in high-sensitivity and high-speed blue light photodetectors.

The organic charge-transfer (CT) complex nanostructures of CuTCPQ (copper tetracyanopentacenequinodimethane) were first successfully fabricated by organic solid phase reaction. The morphologies of CuTCPQ nanosrods can be prepared by controlling the reaction temperature. The electron field-emission properties on these nanostructures were investigated. The current density and turn-on field are 3.5 mA cm−2 and 2.70 V μm−1 for the nanorods of CuTCPQ. The results demonstrate that the nanorods of CuTCPQ are potential candidates for field emission cathodes. Stable and reproducible current-controlled electrical switch has been observed in amorphous organic nanorods of CuTCPQ films. The current–voltage characteristics reveal an abrupt decrease in impedance form 1.2 MΩ to less than 1.1kΩ. The maximum ON/OFF ratio of CuTCPQ nanorod arrays is up to 1100.

Graphdiyne nanotube (GDNT) arrays were prepared through an anodic aluminum oxide template catalyzed by Cu foil. The as-grown nanotubes have a smooth surface with a wall thickness of about 40 nm; after annealing, the GDNTs are about 15 nm. The morphology-dependent field emission properties of graphdiyne arrays were measured and display high performance field emission properties. The turn-on field and threshold field of GDNTs annealed decreased to 4.20 and 8.83 V/μm, respectively.

We have demonstrated a methodology to generate large area graphdiyne films with 3.61 cm2 on the surface of copper via a cross-coupling reaction using hexaethynylbenzene. The device based on graphdiyne films for measurement of electrical property is fabricated and shows conductivity of 2.516 × 10−4 S m−1 indicating a semiconductor property.

Large-area single crystalline CuTCNQ nanotube arrays (ca. 24 cm2) have been fabricated using an in situ organic vapor solid phase reaction by instantaneous heating (TCNQ = 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane). The size of CuTCNQ nanotubes can tuned by controlling the reaction temperature. The facile approach provides an important finding for large-area synthesis of vertically aligned array organic nanotubes on conductive substrate, which is crucial to the direct fabricating of electronic and optoelectronic devices for a wide variety of potential applications. The CuTCNQ nanotube arrays exhibited excellent field emission (FE) properties and size-dependent FE properties were observed. The devices based on these highly ordered CuTCNQ nanotube arrays have been demonstrated and have exhibited excellent electrical switching effects. The maximal ON/OFF ratio of CuTCNQ nanotube arrays is about 1100. The morphology-dependent electrical-switching properties of the CuTCNQ nanotube arrays were investigated. These results suggest that the CuTCNQ nanotube array can be expected to find promising applications as field emitters and nanoelectronic devices.

Organic−inorganic hybrids have been fabricated through mild Diels−Alder cross-linking between maleimide bearing oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) (OPV) and furan functionalized gold nanoparticles with diameter smaller than 2 nm. The OPV ligands afford strong reaction ability toward furan group due to their maleimide moieties. These small gold nanoparticles form close-packed homogeneous hybrids with well-defined interfaces by incorporating OPV ligands in solutions. Covalent assembly and disassembly of gold nanoparticles can be achieved by repeated thermal stimuli on as-obtained hybrids, which can be monitored by fluorescence changes of OPVs and surface plasmon resonance absorption. Moreover, the dramatic photophysical properties and assembly behavior of these hybrids allow this procedure to be performed as a smart assay for monitoring the process of the Diels−Alder reaction.

A hybrid nanomaterial composed of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and CuTCNQ (copper 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) nanowires (NWs) was successfully fabricated in a simple solution method. The electron field emission properties of the hybrid NWs were dramatically improved over those of raw CuTCNQ NWs. The maximum current density of ZnO-CuTCNQ NWs was six times that of the CuTCNQ NWs array. Importantly for ZnO-CuTCNQ NWs, no obvious degradation of current density was observed and the emission current fluctuation was less than 10% during a period of over 4000 seconds. It is of significance that the coating layer of ZnO NPs produced by our approach makes a great contribution to stabilization of organic field emitters and enhancement of their field emission properties. The high emission stability can be also observed for In2O3-CuTCNQ NWs which are fabricated by the same method. It is confirmed that the moderate approach presented herein is of practical significance in stabilization of organic field emitters avoiding decomposition of the core organic materials.

The organic charge-transfer (CT) complexes nanostructures of CuTCNQF4 and AgTCNQF4 (copper/silver tetrafluorotetracyanoquinodimethane) were successfully fabricated by organic solid-phase reaction. The morphologies of CuTCNQF4 and AgTCNQF4 nanostructures can be easily tuned by controlling the reaction temperature. The electron field-emission properties on these nanostructures were investigated. The current density and turn-on field are 4.25 mA/cm2 and 5.48 V/μm for the nanowires of CuTCNQF4, and 1.82 mA/cm2 and 5.21 V/μm for AgTCNQF4, respectively. The results demonstrated that the nanostructures of complexes CuTCNQF4 and AgTCNQF4 were potential candidates for the field-emission cathode.

Controlled growth of organic−inorganic hybrid nanorods, through the incorporation of polythiophene (PTh) and cadmium sulfide (CdS), have been achieved by the growth processes of bottom-up and top-down, respectively. The subtly different structured (core−shell and segmented) nanorods show different field emission performances, which provide an effective route to tune the field emission property by tuning the subtle structure of hybrid materials.

A large area arrays (ca. 40 cm2) of CdS nanotube on silicon wafer are successfully fabricated by the method of layer-by-layer deposition cycle. The wall thicknesses of CdS nanotubes are tuned by controlling the times of layer-by-layer deposition cycle. The field emission (FE) properties of CdS nanotube arrays are investigated for the first time. The arrays of CdS nanotube with thin wall exhibit better FE properties, a lower turn-on field, and a higher field enhancement factor than that of the arrays of CdS nanotube with thick wall, for which the ratio of length to the wall thickness of the CdS nanotubes have played an important role. With increasing the wall thickness of CdS nanotube, the enhancement factorβ decreases and the values of turn-on field and threshold field increase.

A new glucose sensor based on field emitter of ZnO nanorod arrays (ZNA) was fabricated. This new type of ZNA field emitter-based sensor shows high sensitivity with experimental limit of detection of 1 nM glucose solution and a detection range from 1 nM to 50 μM in air at room temperature, which is lower than that of glucose sensors based on surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy, fluorescence signal transmission, and electrochemical signal transduction. The new glucose sensor provides a key technique for promising consuming application in biological system for detecting low levels of glucose on single cells or bacterial cultures.

Homogeneous hybrid organic/inorganic nanorods composed of OPV3 and CdS have been fabricated by a facile template method. The structures of CdS−OPV3 hybrid nanorods have been investigated by field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). It was found that inorganic semiconductor CdS and organic semiconductor OPV3 homogeneously distributed into the hybrid nanorod. Fluorescence spectroscopy was also used to characterize the optical property of the CdS−OPV3 nanorods. And such prepared CdS−OPV3 homogeneous hybrid nanorods exhibit different optical properties compared with individual component CdS nanorods and OPV3 nanorods. The as-prepared new kind of homogeneous hybrid organic/inorganic semiconductor nanorods are potential candidates for nanoscale electronic and photonic devices.

ZnO nanorod arrays are prepared on a silicon wafer through a multi-step hydrothermal process. The aspect ratios and densities of the ZnO nanorod arrays are controlled by adjusting the reaction times and concentrations of solution. The investigation of field emission properties of ZnO nanorod arrays revealed a strong dependency on the aspect ratio and their density. The aspect ratio and spacing of ZnO nanorod arrays are 39 and 167 nm (sample C), respectively, to exhibit the best field emission properties. The turn-on field and threshold field of the nanorod arrays are 3.83 V/μm and 5.65 V/μm, respectively. Importantly, the sample C shows a highest enhancement of factorβ, which is 2612. The result shows that an optimum density and aspect ratio of ZnO nanorod arrays have high efficiency of field emission.

Heterojunction nanomaterials have attracted the interest of numerous scientists and engineers to explore the fundamental scientific understanding of the formation of heterojunction nanostructures, their special properties with enhanced electrical and optical performance and the relationship between the functionality and the molecular structures. In this work, we synthesized novel axial nested P–N heterojunction nanowires combining the inorganic semiconductor PbS and the organic conjugated polymer polypyrrole (PPy). The nested P–N heterojunction nanowires (NWs) show a higher rectification ratio (exceeding 100), long-term stability and high unilateral conductivity due to the bigger area of junction produced.

Graphdiyne (GD), a new kind of two-dimensional carbon allotrope consisting of a hexagonal ring and a diacetylenic linkage unit, is observed to exhibit a high fluorescence quenching ability and can be used as a new platform for fluorescence sensing, where GD oxide, the oxidized form of GD, is found to exhibit higher quenching ability than GD. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, GD oxide is used to establish a new platform for effective fluorescence sensing of DNA and thrombin with a high sensitivity and selectivity.

Coordination polymers PZn quantum dots with a uniform diameter of 3 ± 0.5 nm were successfully prepared. The PZn QDs exhibit excellent water dispersibility, high photoluminescence, outstanding photostability and remarkable biocompatibility. The results of cellular experiments show that the PZn QDs are highly suitable for long-term cell imaging.

We have demonstrated a methodology to generate large area graphdiyne films with 3.61 cm2 on the surface of copper via a cross-coupling reaction using hexaethynylbenzene. The device based on graphdiyne films for measurement of electrical property is fabricated and shows conductivity of 2.516 × 10−4 S m−1 indicating a semiconductor property.

In this study, we constructed a novel solid state supramolecular system—the molecular cage ZnOTCPP, based on an inorganic/organic hybrid nanostructure, through the assembly of 5,10,15,20-tetra(3-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP) onto the surfaces of ZnO nanorod (NR) arrays. The ZnOTCPP molecular cage exhibited highly selective recognition of 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) by optical and photoelectrical signals. The ZnOTCPP@TPP exhibited high emission efficiency, with a six-fold increase in the intensity of the emission relative to that of ZnOTCPP after the molecular cage ZnOTCPP captured TPP. The optical, electrical, and optoelectrical properties of the molecular cage ZnOTCPP could be controlled by tuning the interactions between the guest and the host's inorganic or organic moieties. Such a solid state molecular cage opens the door to controlled-delivery applications and provides an attractive platform for studying solid state supramolecular electronics and optoelectronics.

We developed a new method combining the in situ liquid–solid phase reaction and self-assembly in solution to synthesize novel inorganic/organic small molecular semiconductor core–shell nanoparticles of ZnS/PTCDA (ZPNPs). This method is a one-step process which can produce stoichiometric inorganic/organic core–shell nanoparticles and does not introduce any impurity. The film of ZPNPs exhibited an ultrasensitive detection of aniline vapor. The film of ZPNPs can highly selectively distinguish aniline vapor from many volatile organic compounds and water due to the strong synergistic interactions of π–π and hydrogen-bonds between electron donor (aniline) and acceptor (PTCDA) molecules, in which the detection limit was lowered to 100 ppb at room temperature.

GDNWs (graphdiyne nanowires) have successfully been constructed which exhibit a very high quality defect-free surface using the VLS growth process. Measurement of electrical properties showed that the GDNWs produced are excellent semiconductors with a conductivity of 1.9 × 103 S m−1 and a mobility of 7.1 ×102 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature. The results have confirmed that GDNW is indeed a promising and key novel material in electronic and photoelectric fields for both fundamental and potentially practical applications.

One-dimensional nanostructures of the organic charge-transfer (CT) complex CuTNAP (copper 11,11,12,12-tetracyano-2,6-naphthoquinodimethane) were successfully synthesized by an organic vapor–solid phase reaction. The morphologies and field-emission properties of the CuTNAP nanostructures can be easily tuned by controlling the reaction conditions. It was observed that the field emission property is dependent on the morphology. The current density of a CuTNAP film of nanowires reaches up to 13.1 mA cm−2, which is the highest among the organic semiconductors, even higher than most inorganic materials. These results demonstrate that the CuTNAP complex nanostructures are excellent potential candidates as field emitters.

The organic charge-transfer (CT) complex nanostructures of CuTCPQ (copper tetracyanopentacenequinodimethane) were first successfully fabricated by organic solid phase reaction. The morphologies of CuTCPQ nanosrods can be prepared by controlling the reaction temperature. The electron field-emission properties on these nanostructures were investigated. The current density and turn-on field are 3.5 mA cm−2 and 2.70 V μm−1 for the nanorods of CuTCPQ. The results demonstrate that the nanorods of CuTCPQ are potential candidates for field emission cathodes. Stable and reproducible current-controlled electrical switch has been observed in amorphous organic nanorods of CuTCPQ films. The current–voltage characteristics reveal an abrupt decrease in impedance form 1.2 MΩ to less than 1.1kΩ. The maximum ON/OFF ratio of CuTCPQ nanorod arrays is up to 1100.

In this report, we present a novel platform to study the formation of two π-conjugated conducting copolymer nanowire arrays based on 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and thieno[3,4-b]thiophene (T34bT). The resulting nanostructures have a highly uniform wire array architecture with tunable diameters. This combination of nanoporous templates and in situ electropolymerization strategy offers a versatile route to prepare copolymers, forming uniform one-dimensional nanomaterials potentially useful in electronic conductor and field emission applications.

A hybrid nanomaterial composed of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and CuTCNQ (copper 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) nanowires (NWs) was successfully fabricated in a simple solution method. The electron field emission properties of the hybrid NWs were dramatically improved over those of raw CuTCNQ NWs. The maximum current density of ZnO-CuTCNQ NWs was six times that of the CuTCNQ NWs array. Importantly for ZnO-CuTCNQ NWs, no obvious degradation of current density was observed and the emission current fluctuation was less than 10% during a period of over 4000 seconds. It is of significance that the coating layer of ZnO NPs produced by our approach makes a great contribution to stabilization of organic field emitters and enhancement of their field emission properties. The high emission stability can be also observed for In2O3-CuTCNQ NWs which are fabricated by the same method. It is confirmed that the moderate approach presented herein is of practical significance in stabilization of organic field emitters avoiding decomposition of the core organic materials.