Preparation, characterization, and photoswitching/light-emitting behaviors of coronene nanowires

Coronene nanowires were prepared through the reprecipitation method. The as-prepared one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures were characterized by UV-vis, fluorescence spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We found that coronene nanowires in aqueous solution emitted strong green light instead of blue light for coronene molecules in THF solution. Moreover, the thin film of coronene nanowires on rGO/SiO₂/Si electrode produced a strong photocurrent response upon irradiation. In addition, a heterojunction light emitting diode (LED) device with the structure of quartz/ITO/p-coronene nanowires/n-SiC/Ti (10 nm)/Au (120 nm) has been fabricated. The strong electroluminescence (EL) emission centered at ∼430 nm was detected with a forward bias at 20 V. Our result showed that the use of organic nanowires as the p-type hole injection layer could produce diodes with performance better than those with only inorganic thin-film structures. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.