Supramolecular electronics is the experimental field of

supramolecular chemistry Supramolecular chemistry refers to the branch of chemistry concerning chemical systems composed of a discrete number of molecules. The strength of the forces responsible for spatial organization of the system range from weak intermolecular force ...

that bridges the gap between

molecular electronics Molecular electronics is the study and application of molecular building blocks for the fabrication of electronic components. It is an interdisciplinary area that spans physics, chemistry, and materials science. The unifying feature is use of m ...

and bulk

plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

in the construction of

electronic circuitry An electronic circuit is composed of individual electronic components, such as resistors, transistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes, connected by conductive wires or traces through which electric current can flow. It is a type of electrica ...

at the nanoscale ¹. In supramolecular electronics, assemblies of pi-conjugated systems on the 5 to 100

nanometer 330px, Different lengths as in respect to the molecular scale. The nanometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: nm) or nanometer (American and British English spelling differences#-re, ...

length scale are prepared by

molecular self-assembly In chemistry and materials science, molecular self-assembly is the process by which molecules adopt a defined arrangement without guidance or management from an outside source. There are two types of self-assembly: intramolecular and intermo ...

with the aim to fit these structures between

electrode An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials ...

s. With single-molecules as researched in

at the 5 nanometer scale this would be impractical. Nanofibers can be prepared from

polymer A polymer (; Greek ''poly-'', "many" + '' -mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic and ...

s such as

polyaniline Polyaniline (PANI) is a conducting polymer and organic semiconductor of the semi-flexible rod polymer family. The compound has been of interest since the 1980s because of its electrical conductivity and mechanical properties. Polyaniline is one ...

and

polyacetylene Polyacetylene (IUPAC name: polyethyne) usually refers to an organic polymer with the repeating unit . The name refers to its conceptual construction from polymerization of acetylene to give a chain with repeating olefin groups. This compound ...

¹².

Chiral Chirality is a property of asymmetry important in several branches of science. The word ''chirality'' is derived from the Greek (''kheir''), "hand", a familiar chiral object. An object or a system is ''chiral'' if it is distinguishable from i ...

oligo(p-phenylenevinylene)s self-assemble in a controlled fashion into (helical) wires ³. An example of actively researched compounds in this field are certain

coronene Coronene (also known as superbenzene and cyclobenzene) is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) comprising seven peri-fused benzene rings. Its chemical formula is . It is a yellow material that dissolves in common solvents including benzene, tol ...

References

* ¹ ''Chemistry: Material marriage in electronics'' E. W. Meijer, Albert P. H. J. Schenning

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

419, 353-354 (26 Sep 2002) * ² ''Supramolecular electronics; nanowires from self-assembled -conjugated systems'' A. P. H. J. Schenning and E. W. Meijer

Chemical Communications ''ChemComm'' (or ''Chemical Communications''), formerly known as ''Journal of the Chemical Society D: Chemical Communications'' (1969–1971), ''Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications'' (1972–1995), is a peer-reviewed scientific ...

, 2005, (26), 3245 - 325
Abstract
* ³ ''Towards supramolecular electronics'' A.P.H.J. Schenning ''et al.'' Synthetic Metals 147 (2004) 43–4
Article

Electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

Molecular electronics Nanoelectronics {{electronics-stub