Structure–Function Relationship of Organic Semiconductors: From Molecules to Devices

Dear Colleagues,

Organic semiconductors have come a long way in recent decades and are now part of our daily life, shaping our way of dealing with mobile electronic devices. Perhaps most prominent and abundant is the advent of OLED displays in mobile phones. Other applications, such as photovoltaics, wearable electronics including transistors and sensors, as well as thermoelectrics, are yet to reveal their full potential. The advantages of organic semiconductors over their inorganic, mostly silicon-based counterparts are manifold. Besides abundant and eco-friendly starting materials and cheap solution processing, they have the capability of tailoring molecules for each individual purpose using the well-developed tools of synthetic chemistry.

The mechanical flexibility of organic semiconductors allows for completely new applications such as wearable electronics with yet unforeseeable potential to shape our lives.

To fully exploit all the above-mentioned advantages, an in-depth understanding of the structure–function relationship of organic semiconductors is of paramount importance. To this end, only a highly interdisciplinary strategy combining synthetic chemistry, the systematic investigation of both electronic structure and the morphology of these molecules, and the characterization of devices under real-world operation conditions will be successful. Additionally, this needs to be accompanied by theoretical approaches on all stages, allowing for predicting synthetic strategies to deepen our understanding of the results obtained by characterising these materials and the resulting devices. Taken together, this paves the way for more efficient devices based on a sound understanding of their inner workings, ensuring that organic electronics will have a share in a more sustainable future.

Therefore, this Special Issue will include/welcome contributions from synthetic chemists, spectroscopists, and device experts alike, providing an in-depth overview of the current state of research into the structure–function relationship of organic semiconductors, with a particular focus on the understanding of these materials as provided by spectroscopic investigations.

Dr. Till Biskup
Guest Editor

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• Organic electronics
• Organic semiconductors
• Structure–function relationship
• Morphology
• Electronic structure
• Synthesis
• Characterization
• Spectroscopy
• Devices
• Theory
• Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)
• Organic photovoltaics (OPV)
• Organic field-effect transistors (OFET)
• Thermoelectrics
• Wearables