Ural Federal University Experts Find Substances That Can Serve as Semiconductors in Solar Batteries
A group of scientists from the Ural Federal University and the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences synthesized new derivatives of [1, 2, 4]triazolo[1,5-a]pteridine, a tricyclic product based on the nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound pyrimidine. As a result of studying the properties of the obtained compounds, the researchers concluded that the new substances are promising for use as semiconductors in various organic optoelectronic devices. The article on the work was published in the journal Dyes and Pigments.
[1, 2, 4]Triazolo[1,5-a]pteridine was first obtained in 1981, but the reactivity and properties of these compounds have not yet been studied. Scientists from the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Ural Federal University set themselves the task of determining how these or those substituents in different positions of the heterocycle affect its characteristics.
“First of all, we were interested in how efficiently the new substances absorb and emit light, as well as conduct electric current. Thus, we found that the introduction of substituents in the pyrazine cycle of the triazolopteridine system has a more significant effect on the properties of compounds than the substituent in the triazole ring,” comments Denis Gazizov, junior researcher at the Postovsky Institute of Organic Synthesis, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, head of research, and co-author of the article.
It was also found that in some triazolopteridine derivatives a significant change in the absorption spectrum and emission of light energy occurs in the presence of small amounts, on the order of 100-millionths of organic peroxides.
“This is a prerequisite for the development of sensors based on the obtained compounds for organic peroxides. They are not only widely used in the production of polymers, but are also flammable, explosive and toxic substances,” emphasizes German Lebedkin, research engineer at the Laboratory of Medical Chemistry and Advanced Organic Materials at UrFU, a member of the research group and co-author of the paper.
Moreover, some of the synthesized compounds demonstrated good mobility of charge carriers, both electron and hole type.
“The value that characterizes semiconductor properties is based on how well a substance conducts electric current. The values obtained were proved to be quite thermally stable in the air atmosphere,” adds Denis Gazizov.
All this, according to Gazizov, opens up the prospect of using the synthesized substances as semiconductor materials in organic optoelectronic devices, primarily in solar batteries. This subject is the subject of further research of the Ural scientists.
We would like to add that employees of the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences participated in the research work. The research was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia and the Russian Science Foundation.