'Red carbon' : a rediscovered covalent crystalline semiconductor

Carbon suboxide (C3O2) is a unique molecule able to polymerize spontaneously into highly conjugated light-absorbing structures at temperatures as low as 0 °C. Despite obvious advantages, little is known about the nature and the functional properties of this carbonaceous material. In this work, we aim to bring “red carbon”, a forgotten polymeric semiconductor, back to the community's attention. A solution polymerization process is adapted to simplify the synthesis and control the structure. This allows us to obtain this crystalline covalent material at low temperatures. Both spectroscopic and elemental analyses support the chemical structure represented as conjugated ladder polypyrone ribbons. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest a crystalline structure of AB stacks of polypyrone ribbons and identify the material as a direct bandgap semiconductor with a medium bandgap that is further confirmed by optical analysis. The material shows promising photocatalytic performance using blue light. Moreover, the simple condensation-aromatization route described here allows the straightforward fabrication of conjugated ladder polymers and could be inspiring for the synthesis of carbonaceous materials at low temperatures in general.