Assembly and characterization of novel hydrogen-bond-induced nanoscale rods.

A class of bis-urea compounds with perylene bisimide was synthesized and characterized successfully. (1)H NMR and fluorescence spectra confirmed that strong hydrogen-bonding interactions between neighboring urea groups were formed. Interestingly, the photocurrent measurement showed that the self-assembled films of bis-urea compounds could produce steady and rapid anodic photocurrent responses. The TEM images indicated that well-defined nanoscale rods with uniform diameter distribution could be fabricated by self-assembly of hydrogen-bonding interactions and pi-pi stacking interactions of perylene rings.