Structure and Transport Properties of the Charge-Transfer Salt Coronene-TCNQ

Coronene is a highly symmetric organic molecule whose molecular structure resembles a fragment of graphite. We have crystallized a charge-transfer complex based on coronene and TCNQ, and present crystal structure and transport properties. The complex adopts alternate stacking between coronene and TCNQ, and the charge-transfer was estimated to be of the order of 0.3 by the structure and IR analysis of TCNQ. This degree of charge-transfer is larger than those of other hydrocarbon based charge-transfer complexes reported. We find semiconductor behavior with an optical gap of 1.55 eV and a transport gap of 0.49 eV. The Childʹs law mobility is estimated to be 0.3 cm2/Vs-this along with the small transport gap suggests this compound might be attractive for device applications.