Semiconducting and Electroluminescent Nanowires Self-assembled from Organoplatinum(II) Complexes

One-dimensional (1-D) nanostructures such as nanowires and nanotubes have inspired surge research interest due to their unique electronic and optical properties. Over the past decade, remarkable progress has been made in the application of inorganic semiconducting 1-D nanostructures to optoelectronic devices. However, most inorganic semiconducting materials are insoluble and thus require a complicated and expensive fabrication procedure. It is highly desirable to assemble semiconducting nanowires from small organic or organometallic molecules, which not only serve as low-cost and high-performance building blocks for device fabrication, but also possess structural tailorability and multifunctionality. Recent advances in molecular electronics have revealed that luminescent organic and organometallic complexes can be used to fabricate organic light emitting field-effect transistors (OLEFETs), which held promise in the development of highly integrated organic optoelectronics and electrically driven organic lasers. Luminescent platinum(II) complexes with chelating ?-conjugated ligands have engendered widespread interest as functionalized molecular materials due to their intriguing structural and spectroscopic properties. We, and others, have demonstrated that 1) intermolecular PtII···PtII and/or ligand-ligand interactions can facilitate anisotropic growth of 1-D nanomaterials with luminescent property or current modulating function; and 2) various neutral platinum(II) complexes can be used as electrophosphorescent dopants for high-performance organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). We thus envisage that it may be feasible to develop OLEFETs by incorporating switching and luminescent properties of platinum(II) nanostructures into a single compact device. Herein we report the self-assembled organoplatinum(II) nanowires and their electroluminescent and ambipolar semiconducting properties.