Schottky Device Fabrication of Linear Dicarboxylato-Bridged Mn(II) and Co(II) Coordination Polymers: Experimental and Theoretical Insights

In this study, we report the syntheses of two new coordination polymers (CPs) of Mn(II) and Co(II), [Mn(4-avp)₂(adc)(H₂O)]·(solvent)_x (1) and [Co(4-avp)₂(adc)(CH₃OH)₂] (2), respectively, using relatively less explored linear linker acetylenedicarboxylic acid (H₂adc) and polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)–based monodentate N-donor ligand 4-[2-(9-anthryl)vinyl]pyridine (4-avp). CP1 creates a two-dimensional (2D) structure in this instance, while CP2 is made up of a 1D chain polymer. It is of interest that CP1 and CP2 exhibit semiconducting behavior and behave as Schottky barrier diodes. However, CP1 exhibits higher conductivity and better Schottky diode formation when compared to CP2, which relates to the charge transportation through space via π···π interactions present in CP1. The experimental results are well validated by theoretical density functional theory (DFT) prediction based on band gap and density-of-state (DOS) calculations. It is noteworthy that fabrication of Mn/Co-based Schottky devices appears to be inadequate in the literature. Thus, this work showcases a new direction for the development of electronic device fabrication.