Abstract
Zinc(II) bis(8-hydroxyquinolinate) (Zn(HQ)(2)) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) were combined to fabricate an organic semiconductor in a bulk heterojunction architecture and subsequently embedded in a poly 3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene-polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT-PSS) matrix. The resulting Zn(HQ)(2)-phen/PEDOT-PSS was deposited as a film upon tin-oxide-coated glass and graphite-covered Tetra Pak (TP)-recycled substrates for the manufacture of organic photoconductive devices. The topographical and micromechanical characteristics of the hybrid films were assessed by atomic force microscopy, with an average roughness of 5.6 nm, maximum tensile strength of 7.95 MPa, and Knoop microhardness of 14.7. The fundamental energy gap (E(g)) was determined employing the Kubelka-Munk function, with E(g) of 3.5-3.8 eV. These results were complemented with a computational DFT molecular orbital analysis of the species involved in the hybrid semiconductor. The devices were electrically characterized under UV irradiation conditions, obtaining the current-voltage and power-voltage relationships. The maximum current in the TP-graphite device is 1.8 × 10(-2) A and 1.1 × 10(-2) A in the device on glass-ITO. Zn(HQ)(2)-phen/PEDOT-PSS film presents its own operating regimes relating to a photoconductor or flexible photoresistor. The power in the device on glass-ITO is 120 mW and 113 mW for shortwave and longwave, respectively, and in the device on TP-graphite, it is 198 mW and 139 mW.