A metal-free approach combining sulfoxide-directed metal-free C–H cross-couplings with tuneable heterocyclizations and dimerizations allows expedient access to important organic materials.

Passive RFID sensors are capable of detecting a number of volatile organic compound vapors dependent upon the solubility parameters of the solvent and their vapor pressure.

Controllable p-type doping of both poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly(triarylamine) (PTAA) organic field effect transistors (OFETs) was achieved by immersing complete top-contact OFETs in a solution of 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4-TCNQ) in acetone. As this method is applied to complete devices, it has a greater utility than methods involving doping of the solution prior to film deposition as it allows separation of the device processing and doping steps, facilitating the use of optimal processing conditions at each stage. It was found that by varying immersion time and the concentration of the dopant solution, it was possible to vary the threshold voltage for a P3HT OFET by over 30 V. Although PTAA devices are less sensitive to oxidation by F4-TCNQ than OFETs using P3HT, they can also be controllably doped by this method up to a threshold voltage of +12 V.

The study focuses on the development of a new family of layer-by-layer coatings comprising Nafion, lysozyme and chitosan to address challenges related to microbial contamination. Circular dichroism was employed to gain insights on the interactions of the building blocks at the molecular level. Quartz crystal microbalance tests were used to monitor in real time the build-up of multilayer coatings, while atomic force microscopy, contact angle and surface zeta potential measurements were performed to assess the surface characteristics of the multilayer assemblies. Remarkably, the nanocoated surfaces show almost 100% reduction in the population of both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The study suggests that Nafion based synergistic platforms can offer an effective line of defence against bacteria, facilitating antimicrobial mechanisms that go beyond the concept of exclusion zone.

The synthesis of a series of mono and di-fluorinated TIPS pentacene compounds for application as organic semiconductors is reported. Namely the novel 1-fluoro-6,13-bis[triisopropylsilyl-ethynyl]pentacene (1-fluoro-TIPS-pentacene), 2-fluoro-TIPS-pentacene and the recently reported 1 : 1 syn : anti isomeric mixtures of 1,(8 : 11)-difluoro-TIPS-pentacenes and 2,(9 : 10)-difluoro-TIPS-pentacenes. For the first time these materials have been subjected to a study of the relationship between molecular structure and thermal/photochemical stability. The changes in the pentacene HOMO via alteration of fluorine substitution is studied and related to environmental stability. As predicted, it was found that increasing the number of electron-withdrawing fluorine substituents increases stability to photodegradation. It was also observed that stability increases (and HOMO decreases) when fluorine is present on the 1- and 1,(8 : 11)-positions closer to the central rings rather than in the 2- and 2,(9 : 10)-positions. Comparative transistor measurements for the fluoro-derivatives demonstrated competitive device performance in comparison to underivatised TIPS-pentacene. Full characterisation and NMR assignment of these materials has been accomplished by comparison over the series for the first time.