We have succeeded in synthesizing a new organic semiconductor material. It is expected to present a new type of semiconductor material.

A team led by Professor Young-Seok Park of the Department of Chemistry at UNIST (President Yong-Hoon Lee) announced on the 14th that they have synthesized a new anthracene derivative, 'BNBN anthracene', through continuous boron-nitrogen (BN) bonding.

In addition, a 'BOBN anthracene' molecule, in which boron-oxygen (BO) bonds and boron-nitrogen (BN) bonds are connected in succession, was used as a blue host for an organic light-emitting diode (OLED).

The developed anthracene molecule can operate even at low voltages, confirming its potential as an organic semiconductor material.

Anthracene derivatives are key materials that enhance electron mobility and light-emitting properties in carbon-based organic electronic devices. They are particularly attracting attention as core components of high-performance electronic devices.

The research team replaced the carbon-carbon bonds (CC) that make up anthracene with consecutive boron-nitrogen (BN) bonds having the same number of electrons. We synthesized a new type of anthracene derivative that had not been previously reported and studied its properties.

Compared to existing carbon-only anthracene derivatives, 'BOBN anthracene' and 'BNBN anthracene' molecules exhibit different optical and electrochemical properties.

In particular, when using 'BOBN anthracene' molecules as the blue host for organic light-emitting diodes, it was possible to operate at a lower voltage (3.1V) than before.

In addition, at the same current density, the values for current usage efficiency, energy efficiency, and amount of emitted light were found to be about 10% higher.

Additionally, the research team identified the crystal structure of 'BNBN anthracene' using an X-ray diffraction analyzer, which can obtain information about the structure of materials.

The potential for using the new molecule was confirmed by further studying structural changes, such as bond length and angle, caused by boron-nitrogen (BN) bonds by comparing it with the structure of existing carbon-only anthracene derivatives.

"This study served as a fundamental study on anthracene, a type of acene that is gaining attention as an organic semiconductor," explained Jung Sung-hwa, the first author and a researcher in the integrated master's and doctoral program in chemistry. "The continuous boron-nitrogen (BN) bonds synthesized through this research could be applied to organic semiconductors in the future."

"The synthesis and characterization of compounds with continuous boron-nitrogen (BN) bonds will contribute to basic research in the field of chemistry," said Professor Park Young-seok of the Department of Chemistry. "It will become an important tool that can be utilized to synthesize new compounds and control their electronic properties."

Professor Kim Joong-han's team from the Department of Chemistry at Catholic University, UNIST ChemistryThe results of this research, in which Professor Won-Young Choi's team and the SFC research team participated, were published online on December 11 in 'Angewandte Chemie International Edition,' the most prestigious journal in the field of chemistry.

This research was conducted with support from the Mid-Career Researcher program promoted by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) under the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Corporate SFC, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.