Investigation on thin films of new substituted quarterthiophene films of new substituted quarterthiophene

alpha,beta-dicyano substituted beta, beta*-dibutylquarterthiophene (DCNDButQT) was synthesized and fully characterized by 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR, elemental analysis, UV-visible spectroscopy, DSC, TGA and cyclic voltammetry. The band gap energy (deltaEg) calculated from cyclic voltammetry data was found to be 1.97 eV, which is in the range of semiconductor materials (deltaEg < 3.0 eV). DCNDButQT was deposited on different substrates (Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2) by vacuum deposition and solution-cast methods. The structure of the thin films analysed by AFM and XRD showed different morphology depending on cast method. The spin-coating and drop-casting films showed amorphous structure, whereas the vacuum-deposition films exhibit a fine crystalline structure. AFM of vacuum-deposition film revealed the formation of well-ordered terrace structures, the step between adjacent terraces is about 1.5 nm.