Seeded on-surface supramolecular growth for large area conductive donor-acceptor assemblyElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Details of morphological analysis by FE-SEM, HR-TEM, and OM, XRD, UV-vis-NIR and Raman spectra, conductivity and SAXS measurements. See DOI: 10.1039/c5cc03091a

• Main Authors: Goudappagouda, Chithiravel, Sundaresan, Krishnamoorthy, Kothandam, Gosavi, Suresh W, Santhosh Babu, Sukumaran
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1359-7345; 1364-548X
• DOI: 10.1039/c5cc03091a

Charge transport features of organic semiconductor assemblies are of paramount importance. However, large-area extended supramolecular structures of donor-acceptor combinations with controlled self-assembly pathways are hardly accessible. In this context, as a representative example, seeded on-surface supramolecular growth of tetrathiafulvalene and tetracyano- p -quinodimethane (TTF-TCNQ) using active termini of solution-formed sheaves has been introduced to form an extended assembly. We demonstrate for the first time, the creation of a large-area donor-acceptor assembly on the surface, which is practically very tedious, using a seeded, evaporation-assisted growth process. The excellent molecular ordering in this assembly is substantiated by its good electrical conductivity (∼10 −2 S cm −1 ). The on-surface assembly via both internally formed and externally added sheaf-like seeds open new pathways in supramolecular chemistry and device applications. A seeded, on-surface, supramolecular growth leads to large area conductive donor-acceptor assembly via evaporation-assisted growth from active termini of solution-formed sheaf-like seeds.