‘Nanohoops’ could power future devices

The structures - known chemically as cycloparaphenylenes – had previously only been made using carbon. But in the journal ACS Central Science, it is revealed how the Oregon team has been able to create nanohoops with a variety of atoms, opening up their potential use in solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes or as new sensors or probes in medicine.

“These structures add to the toolbox and provide a new way to make organic electronic materials,” said Ramesh Jasti associate professor at the university’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and one of the paper’s lead authors.

“Cyclic compounds can behave like they are hundreds of units long, like polymers, but be only six to eight units around. We show that by adding non-carbon atoms, we are able to move the optical and electronic properties around.”

According to the researchers, nanohoops help solve challenges related to materials with controllable band gaps - the energies that lie between valance and conduction bands which are vital for designing organic semiconductors.