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Nucleobase-containing polymers have received great attention for their complementary multiple hydrogen bonding between nucleobases. However, their polymerization is difficult due to poor solubility in a solvent. In this study, we successfully synthesized adenine-containing block copolymers, poly(9-(4-vinylbenzyl)adenine)-block-polystyrene (PVBA-b-PS), using reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization in polar solvents of dimethyl sulfoxide and N,N-dimethylformamide and characterized them by size exclusion chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We measured the temperature dependence of the Flory–Huggins interaction parameter (χ) between PVBA and PS as χ = 0.3847 + 55.763/T. The χ was very large (∼0.5 at 200 °C). The phase behavior of PVBA-b-PS with various volume fractions of PS block (fPS) was investigated via small-angle X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy. With increasing fPS from 0.1 to 0.8, body-centered-cubic spheres of PS, hexagonally...

Organic crystals deposited on 2-dimensional (2D) van der Waals substrates have been widely investigated due to their unprecedented crystal structures and electrical properties. van der Waals interaction between organic molecules and the substrate induces epitaxial growth of high quality organic crystals and their anomalous crystal morphologies. Here, we report on unique ambipolar charge transport of a "lying-down" pentacene crystal grown on a 2D hexagonal boron nitride van der Waals substrate. From in-depth analysis on crystal growth behavior and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy measurement, it is revealed that the pentacene crystal at the initial growth stage have a lattice-strained packing structure and unique energy band structure with a deep highest occupied molecular orbital level compared to conventional "standing-up" crystals. The lattice-strained pentacene few layers enable ambipolar charge transport in field-effect transistors with balanced hole and electron field-effect mobilities. Complementary logic circuits composed of the two identical transistors show clear inverting functionality with a high gain up to 15. The interesting crystal morphology of organic crystals on van der Waals substrates is expected to attract broad attentions on organic/2D interfaces for their electronic applications.

We present the structural and optical properties of Zn1−xMgxO thin films studied using x-ray diffraction (XRD), extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The Zn1−xMgxO films on sapphire [0001] substrates were fabricated with metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The XRD measurements showed that the Zn1−xMgxO films (x≤0.05) had a wurtzite structure without any MgO phase and were epitaxially grown along the c-axis of the Al2O3 substrate. The lattice constant of the Zn0.95Mg0.05O film shrank by 0.023 A, compared with that of ZnO crystals. From the EXAFS measurements on the Zn1−xMgxO films at Zn K-edge, we found a substantial amount of distortion in the bond length of Zn-Zn pairs with a small amount of Mg substitution on the Zn site. The PL measurements showed a gradual increment of the main exciton transitions from 3.36 eV (x=0.0) to 3.57 eV (x=0.05) at 10 K. We also observed a strong deep-level emission near 2.3 eV from the specimen with x=0.05.