Theoretical investigation of the structure-property relationships of [n]benzocyclobutadiene carbon nanobelt: Aromaticity, singlet fission, and (hyper)polarizability

We present a theoretical design for a series of multifunctional nanomaterials that exhibit superior performance in singlet fission (SF) as well as exceptional nonlinear optical (NLO) performance. Our study focuses on a systematic investigation into the aromaticity, diradical character, excited state transition and (hyper)polarizability of the [n]benzocyclobutadiene carbon nanobelt system. To provide further guidance for designing multifunctional nanomaterials, our quantum chemical calculations propose empirical rules regarding the influence of aromatics on SF and NLO: Through an exploration of SF properties, we observed significant diradical character with radical sites exclusively located at anti-aromatic positions. Furthermore, these anti-aromatic positions serve as transition sites for excited state transitions to achieve the necessary low triplet excited states energy for SF. Then, by conducting calculations on NLO properties, we ascertain that the main tensor components of first-order hyperpolarizability (β_total) and second-order hyperpolarizability (γ_total) come from the anti-aromatic region. However, there exists a contrasting impact of anti-aromaticity on first- and second-order hyperpolarizability density. The positive and negative contributions to first-order hyperpolarizability density mainly come from both aromatic and anti-aromatic regions while for second-order hyperpolarizability density it is contradictory. This study elucidates the role of aromatic sites in multifunctional nanomaterials with respect to diradical sites, excited state transition regions, and (hyper)polarizability density distribution.