Study of 2-Benzylidene-1-indanone Derivatives as Electrodes

In this work, indanone derivatives with a triphenylamine core structure (IND-1, IND-2, and IND-3) were studied as prospective electrodes. The indanones were synthesized and characterized for optimal deposition as charge-modulating electrodes. The structural arrangement of compound IND-3 was established, and the structure crystallized in a P21/c monoclinic space group. The electrodes were evaluated for reflectance and band gaps of direct and indirect transitions. Indanones show optical band gap values in the range of 2.46 and 2.86 eV. These values were compared with those obtained theoretically by means of DFT, from which the HOMO and LUMO molecular orbitals were also calculated. To evaluate the indanone response, photoactive devices with indanone-derivative electrodes and copper phthalocyanine as a photoactive electrode were fabricated. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was conducted using a two-electrode arrangement, within a potential range of −0.1 to 1 V, a step of 10 mV, and a scan rate of 0.1 V/s. The transported current is around 10−1–104 µA, and CV revealed distinct behaviors related to each kind of indanone. Finally, the electrodes were removed from each device and analyzed by IR spectroscopy, demonstrating that they did not undergo degradation during operation and can continue to be used for the manufacture of other devices.