title: In Situ Electrochemical Synthesis and Deposition of Discotic Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene Molecules on Electrodes: Self-Assembled Structure, Redox Properties, and Application for Supercapacitor.
abstract: Discotic hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC) molecules are synthesized by electrochemical cyclodehydrogenation reaction and in situ self-assembled to π-electronic, discrete nanofibular objects with an average diameter about 70 nm, which are deposited directly onto the electrode. The nanofibers consist of columnar arrays of the π-stacked HBC molecules and the intercolumnar distance is determined to be 1.19 nm by X-ray diffraction, which corresponds well to the distance of 1.1 nm observed by high-resolution transmitting electron microscopy. The diameter of the molecular columns matches the size of the discotic HBC molecule indicating face-to-face π-stacking of HBC units in the column. The HBC nanofibers on electrode are redox active, and the nanosized columnar structures provide a huge surface area, which is a great benefit for the charging/discharging process, delivering excellent capacitance of 155 F g(-1) . The described electrochemical deposition method shows great advantage for self-assembling the family of insoluble and structurally designable graphene-like nano materials, which constitutes an important step toward molecular electronics.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Leiqiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yunan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nian
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zengqi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yuguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
keywords: electrochemical deposition; electrodes; hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene; nanofibers; self-assembly; supercapacitors