Semiconductor composition comprising an inorganic semiconducting material and an organic binder

1. Semiconductor composition comprising an inorganic semiconducting material and an organic binder, said organic binder being of formula (I)

with

a being at each occurrence independently of any other an integer selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7,

A 0 and A 1 being at each occurrence independently of each other either C—R 5 or N, provided that at least one of the A 0 and A 1 is N,

b1, b2, b3, b4, c1, c2, c3 and c4 each being at each occurrence independently of the other 0 or 1,

Sp 1 , Sp 2 , Sp 3 and Sp 4 being at each occurrence independently of the other selected from the group consisting of formulae (III-a) to (III-h)

Ar 1 , Ar 2 , Ar 3 and Ar 4 being at each occurrence independently of the other selected from formulae (IV-a), (IV-b) or (IV-c)

wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 7 , R 8 and—if present—R 5 and R 6 are at each occurrence independently of each other a group R A or a group R B , provided that at least one, of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 7 , R 8 and—if present—R 5 is a group R A

with * denoting the respective bonds to the respective group Sp 1 , Sp 2 , Sp 3 or Sp 4 or—if such is not present—to the central unit of formulae (IV-a), (IV-b) or (IV-c), to the respective group R 1 , R 2 , R 3 or R 4 and to substituents R 7 and R 8 ;

R A being at each occurrence independently selected from the group consisting of

(i) H, F, Br, Cl, —CN, —CH 2 Br, —CH 2 OR 0 , —NC, —NCO, —NCS, —OCN, —SCN, —C(O)NR 0 R 00 , —C(O)X 0 , —C(O)R 0 , —C(O)R 0 —OR 00 , —NR 0 R 00 , —PR 0 R 00 , —O—P(OR 0 )(OR 00 ), —O—PH(O)—OR 0 , —SH, —SR 0 , —S(O)R 0 , —SO 3 H, —SO 2 R 0 , —SO 3 R 0 , —NO 2 , —SF 5 , —C≡C—R 0 , —CR 0 ═CR 00 R 000 ,

(ii) fluorinated alkyl having from 1 to 40 carbon atoms,

(iii) alkyl or fluorinated alkyl having from 1 to 40 carbon atoms, wherein two adjacent carbon atoms are replaced by —CR 0 ═CR 00 — or —C≡C—,

(iv) alkyl or fluorinated alkyl having from 1 to 40 carbon atoms, wherein one or more carbon atoms are replaced by a heteroatom or heteroatom group,

(v) aryl having from 6 to 30 carbon ring atoms,

(vi) heteroaryl having from 5 to 30 ring atoms, wherein said aryl and heteroaryl may be unsubstituted or substituted with one or more groups R S , and wherein said alkyl and fluorinated alkyl may be substituted with one or more groups selected from the group consisting of R S , aryl and heteroaryl,

R B being at each occurrence independently selected from the group consisting of

(i) H, —SiR 0 R 00 R 000 ,

(ii) alkyl having from 1 to 40 carbon atoms,

(iii) alkoxy having from 1 to 39 carbon atoms,

(iv) —(CH 2 ) d —R 9 , wherein d is an integer of from 1 to 5 and R 9 is selected from the group consisting of

(a) —SiR 0 R 00 R 000 , —C≡C—SiR 0 R 00 R 000 ,

(b) alkyl having from 1 to 19 carbon atoms,

(c) alkyl having from 1 to 19 carbon atoms, wherein two adjacent carbon atoms are replaced by CR 0 ═CR 00 — or —C≡C—,

(d) alkyl having from 1 to 19 carbon atoms, wherein one or more carbon atoms are replaced by a heteroatom or heteroatom group,

(e) aryl having from 6 to 30 carbon ring atoms, and

(f) heteroaryl having from 5 to 30 ring atoms, wherein said aryl and heteroaryl may be unsubstituted or substituted with one or more groups R S , and wherein said alkyl and fluorinated alkyl may be substituted with one or more groups selected from the group consisting of R S , aryl and heteroaryl,

R 0 , R 00 , and R 000 being at each occurrence independently of each other selected from the group consisting of H, F, C 1-40 organyl or organoheteryl, and substituted C 1-40 organyl or organoheteryl;

X 0 being at each occurrence independently selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br and I; and

R 8 being at each occurrence independently selected from the group consisting of alkyl having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms, halogenated alkyl having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms, aryl having from 6 to 30 carbon ring atoms, aryl having from 6 to 30 carbon ring atoms substituted with at least one group independently selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, I, alkyl having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms and halogenated alkyl having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms, heteroaryl having from 1 to 30 ring atoms, heteroaryl having from 1 to 30 ring atoms substituted with at least one group independently selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, I, alkyl having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms and halogenated alkyl having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms.

2. Semiconductor composition according to claim 1 , wherein b1, b2, b3, b4 c1, c2, c3 and c4 are selected such that one or more of the following conditions are met, provided that they are not mutually exclusive

(i) b1 and c1 are identical and are 0 or 1,

(ii) b2 and c2 are identical and are 0 or 1,

(iii) b3 and c3 are identical and are 0 or 1,

(iv) b4 and c4 are identical and are 0 or 1, and

(v) the sum of c1, c2, c3 and c4 (i.e. c1+c2+c3+c4) is at most 3.

3. The semiconductor composition according to claim 2 , wherein the sum of cl, c2, c3 and c4 (i.e. cl+c2+c3+c4) is 0.

4. Semiconductor composition according to claim 1 , wherein at least two of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 7 , R 8 and—if present—R 5 is a group R A .

5. Semiconductor composition of claim 1 , wherein said organic binder is selected from the group consisting of formulae (I-1) to (I-16)

6. Semiconductor composition according to claim 1 , wherein said organic binder is of formula (I-16)

7. Semiconductor composition according to claim 6 , wherein the organic binder is selected from the group consisting of the following formulae (I-16-b) and (I-16-c)

wherein A 1 , A 2 , A 3 , A 4 , A 5 and A 6 are at each occurrence independently of each other either C—R 5 or N, provided that at least one of the A 1 , A 2 , A 3 , A 4 , A 5 and A 6 is N.

8. Semiconductor composition according to claim 7 , wherein the organic binder of formulae (I-16-b) or (I-16-c) is a binder of formulae (I-16-b-1), (I-16-b-2), (I-16-c-1), (I-16-c-2) or (I-16-c-3), wherein

A 1 , A 2 , A 3 and A 4 are defined as

Formula

A 1

A 2

A 3

A 4

(I-16-b-1)

C-R 5

N

C-R 5

—

(I-16-b-2)

N

C-R 5

B

—

(I-16-c-1)

C-R 5

C-R 5

C-R 5

N

(I-16-c-2)

C-R 5

N

C-R 5

N

(I-16-c-3)

N

C-R 5

N

C-R 5

9. Semiconductor composition according to claim 1 , wherein the organic binder is selected from the group consisting of the following formulae (I-16-a) to (I-16-e)

wherein A 1 , A 2 , A 3 , A 4 , A 5 and A 6 are at each occurrence independently of each other either C—R 5 or N, provided that at least one of the A 1 , A 2 , A 3 , A 4 , A 5 and A 6 is N.

10. Semiconductor composition according to claim 9 , wherein in any of formulae (I-16-a) to (I-16-e) whichever of A 2 , A 3 , A 4 , A 5 and A 6 is adjacent to R 3 is N or whichever of A 0 , A 2 , A 3 , A 4 , A 5 and A 6 is adjacent to R 4 is N or both are N.

11. Semiconductor composition according to claim 9 , wherein in any of formulae (I-16-a) to (I-16-e) the respective groups A 1 , A 2 , A 3 , A 4 , A 5 and A 6 bound to the same fusion atom are different from each other.

12. Semiconductor composition according to claim 1 , wherein R A is F or fluorinated alkyl.

13. Semiconductor composition according to claim 1 , wherein the organic binder is selected from the group consisting of the following formulae (V-a) to (V-h)

14. Semiconductor composition according to claim 1 , wherein the inorganic semiconducting material is an inorganic semiconducting nanoparticle material.

15. Semiconductor composition according to claim 1 , wherein the inorganic semiconducting material is an n-type semiconducting material.

16. Semiconductor composition according to claim 1 , wherein the inorganic semiconducting material is selected from the group consisting of metal oxides, metal sulfides, metal selenides and metal tellurides.

17. Organic electronic device comprising a semiconducting layer consisting of the semiconductor composition of claim 1 .

18. The semiconductor composition according to claim 1 wherein R A is at each occurrence independently an alkyl or fluorinated alkyl having from 1 to 40 carbon atoms, wherein one or more, non-adjacent carbon atoms are replaced by a heteroatom or heteroatom group.

19. The semiconductor composition according to claim 1 wherein A is at each occurrence independently an alkyl or fluorinated alkyl having from 1 to 40 carbon atoms; wherein one or more, non-adjacent carbon atoms are replaced by a heteroatom or heteroatom group.

20. Process for the production of an organic electronic device, said process comprising the steps of

(A-i) providing a dispersion of an inorganic semiconducting nanoparticle material in a dispersant;

(A-ii) applying said dispersion to a substrate;

(A-iii) removing said dispersant, thus obtaining a layer of an inorganic semiconducting nanoparticles material;

(A-iv) providing a solution of an organic binder of claim 1 in a solvent;

(A-v) applying said solution to the layer of an inorganic semiconducting nanoparticle material obtained in step (A-iii); and

(A-vi) removing said solvent,

or said process comprising the steps of

(B-i) mixing an inorganic semiconducting nanoparticles material, an organic binder and a solvent to obtain a semiconductor formulation;

(B-ii) applying said semiconductor formulation to a substrate; and

(B-iii) removing said solvent,

to obtain a semiconducting layer.