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Design of Active Defects in Semiconductors: 3D Electron Diffraction Revealed Novel Organometallic Lead Bromide Phases Containing Ferrocene as Redox Switches

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Abstract

Once the optical, electronic, or photocatalytic properties of a semiconductor are set by adjusting composition, crystal phase, and morphology, one cannot change them anymore, respectively, on demand. Materials enabling postsynthetic and reversible switching of features such as absorption coefficient, bandgap, or charge carrier dynamics are highly desired. Hybrid perovskites facilitate exceptional possibilities for progress in the field of smart semiconductors because active organic molecules become an integral constituent of the crystalline structure. This paper reports the integration of ferrocene ligands into semiconducting 2D phases based on lead bromide. The complex crystal structures of the resulting, novel ferrovskite (≃ ferrocene perovskite) phases are determined by 3D electron diffraction. The ferrocene ligands exhibit strong structure-directing effects on the 2D hybrid phases, which is why the formation of exotic types of face- and edge-sharing lead bromide octahedra is observed. The bandgap of the materials ranges from 3.06 up to 3.51 eV, depending on the connectivity of the octahedra. By deploying the redox features of ferrocene, one can create defect states or even a defect band leading to control over the direction of exciton migration and energy transport in the semiconductor, enabling fluorescence via indirect to direct gap transition.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2201126
JournalAdvanced functional materials
Volume32
Issue number24
E-pub ahead of print8 Mar 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 Jun 2022

Keywords

  • ferrocene materials
  • hybrid perovskites
  • MicroED
  • molecular switches
  • semiconductors

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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