Out-of-Plane Transport and Thermal Properties of an Organic Charge-Transfer Thin Film and its Donor/Acceptor Constituents.
Abstract
Vertical charge injection and out-of-plane heat transport are central to organic electronic materials, yet remain largely unexplored in solution-processed thin films of donor-acceptor charge-transfer systems. Here, we investigate Ph-BTBT-C10, F4TCNQ, and their 1:1 charge-transfer complex (CTC) by combining structural and morphological characterization with conductive atomic force microscopy and scanning thermal microscopy. The measurements show that while Ph-BTBT-C10 and F4TCNQ present highly non-symmetric injection and low currents, the CTC exhibits increased out-of-plane conduction and a reproducible polarity-dependent metal-semiconductor-metal response, consistent with a distinct interfacial energetics landscape and enhanced effective screening/injection behavior induced by charge transfer. The out-of-plane thermal conductivity of the CTC is 1.47 ± 0.24 W m-1 K-1 and that of Ph-BTBT-C10 is 0.25 ± 0.16 W m-1 K-1. Remarkably, F4TCNQ displays an unusually high out-of-plane thermal conductivity of 2.51 ± 0.83 W m-1 K-1, which, if confirmed by independent techniques or theoretical approaches, would establish it as an important benchmark for vertical heat transport in organic molecular films. Thus, CTC films provide an increased out-of-plane conductivity, while limiting the increasing in the thermal conductivity, thereby highlighting donor‑complex engineering as a promising strategy for designing high‑performance thermoelectric materials.
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BibTeX
@misc{giglio2026outofplane,
title = {{Out-of-Plane Transport and Thermal Properties of an Organic Charge-Transfer Thin Film and its Donor/Acceptor Constituents.}},
author = {Maria Elisabetta Giglio and Alexandra Harbuzaru and L. Thomas and Dominique Vuillaume and Marta Mas-Torrent},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05701996v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Out-of-Plane Transport and Thermal Properties of an Organic Charge-Transfer Thin Film and its Donor/Acceptor Constituents.
AU - Maria Elisabetta Giglio
AU - Alexandra Harbuzaru
AU - L. Thomas
AU - Dominique Vuillaume
AU - Marta Mas-Torrent
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
PB - HAL
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05701996v1
AB - Vertical charge injection and out-of-plane heat transport are central to organic electronic materials, yet remain largely unexplored in solution-processed thin films of donor-acceptor charge-transfer systems. Here, we investigate Ph-BTBT-C10, F4TCNQ, and their 1:1 charge-transfer complex (CTC) by combining structural and morphological characterization with conductive atomic force microscopy and scanning thermal microscopy. The measurements show that while Ph-BTBT-C10 and F4TCNQ present highly non-symmetric injection and low currents, the CTC exhibits increased out-of-plane conduction and a reproducible polarity-dependent metal-semiconductor-metal response, consistent with a distinct interfacial energetics landscape and enhanced effective screening/injection behavior induced by charge transfer. The out-of-plane thermal conductivity of the CTC is 1.47 ± 0.24 W m-1 K-1 and that of Ph-BTBT-C10 is 0.25 ± 0.16 W m-1 K-1. Remarkably, F4TCNQ displays an unusually high out-of-plane thermal conductivity of 2.51 ± 0.83 W m-1 K-1, which, if confirmed by independent techniques or theoretical approaches, would establish it as an important benchmark for vertical heat transport in organic molecular films. Thus, CTC films provide an increased out-of-plane conductivity, while limiting the increasing in the thermal conductivity, thereby highlighting donor‑complex engineering as a promising strategy for designing high‑performance thermoelectric materials.
ER -