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  • Perspective
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Blueprinting macromolecular electronics

Nature Chemistry volume 3, pages 431–436 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Recently, by mastering either top-down or bottom-up approaches, tailor-made macromolecular nano-objects with semiconducting properties have been fabricated. These engineered nanostructures for organic electronics are based on conjugated systems predominantly made up of sp2-hybridized carbon, such as graphene nanoribbons. Here, we describe developments in a selection of these nanofabrication techniques, which include graphene carving, stimulus-induced synthesis of conjugated polymers and surface-assisted synthesis. We also assess their potential to reproduce chemically and spatially precise molecular arrangements, that is, molecular blueprints. In a broad context, the engineering of a molecular blueprint represents the fabrication of an integrated all-organic macromolecular electronic circuit. In this Perspective, we suggest chemical routes, as well as convergent on-surface synthesis and microfabrication approaches, for the ultimate goal of bringing the field closer to technology.

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Figure 1: Ideal and reality.
Figure 2: Cutting a macromolecule into functional electronic elements.
Figure 3: Stitching molecules together into macromolecular architectures.
Figure 4: Programming surface reactions into extended macromolecular architectures.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Matthias Treier and Veronica Barone for sharing helpful data and for useful discussions. This work was financially supported by the EC Marie-Curie RTNs PRAIRIES (MRTN-CT-2006-035810) and THREADMILL (MRTN-CT-2006-036040) as well as the ITNs SUPERIOR (PITN-GA-2009-238177) and GENIUS (PITN-GA-2010-264694), the EC FP7 ONE-P large-scale project no. 212311, the NanoSci-E+ project SENSORS and the International Center for Frontier Research in Chemistry (FRC, Strasbourg).

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  1. Carlos-Andres Palma

    Present address: Present address: Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128, Mainz, Germany.,

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  1. Nanochemistry Laboratory, ISIS – CNRS 7006, Université de Strasbourg, 8 allée Gaspard Monge, Strasbourg, 67000, France

    Carlos-Andres Palma & Paolo Samorì

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Correspondence to Paolo Samorì.

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Palma, CA., Samorì, P. Blueprinting macromolecular electronics. Nature Chem 3, 431–436 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1043

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