Modification of acenes for n-channel OFET materials

With their electron-rich skeletons, acenes have traditionally been used as hole transporting materials in organic electronic applications. However, prudent structural modifications and revision of the structure of devices can yield good electron mobilities from acene-based organic semiconductors (OSCs). The majority of OSCs predominantly exhibit hole transporting behaviour and there is a scarcity of efficient and operationally stable n-type materials. Organic field effect transistors (OFETs) have been proved to be commercially viable alternatives to their inorganic counterparts, and there is increased need for efficient electron transporting materials in n-channel OFETs to build complementary circuit elements. This has boosted thorough investigation into acene-based n-type materials. In this review, various strategies are discussed for chemical modification of acenes for n-channel OFETs.