Premium
Enhancing Field‐Effect Mobility of Conjugated Polymers Through Rational Design of Branched Side Chains
Author(s) -
Fu Boyi,
Baltazar Jose,
Sankar Ashwin Ravi,
Chu PingHsun,
Zhang Siyuan,
Collard David M.,
Reichmanis Elsa
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201304231
Subject(s) - side chain , branching (polymer chemistry) , materials science , intermolecular force , polymer , stacking , terthiophene , acceptor , conjugated system , solubility , polymerization , electron acceptor , polymer chemistry , chemical physics , crystallography , photochemistry , organic chemistry , molecule , chemistry , physics , composite material , condensed matter physics
The design of polymer semiconductors possessing effective π–π intermolecular interactions coupled with good solution processability remains a challenge. Structure‐property relationships associated with side chain structure, π–π intermolecular interactions, polymer solubility, and charge carrier transport are reported for a donor–acceptor(1)‐donor–acceptor(2) polymer: 5‐Decylheptadecyl (5‐DH), 2‐tetradecyl (2‐DT), and linear n‐octadecyl (OD) chains are substituted onto a polymer backbone consisting of terthiophene units (T) between two different electron acceptors, benzothiadiazole (B), and diketopyrrolopyrrole (D), pTBTD, to afford pTBTD‐5DH, pTBTD‐2DT, and pTBTD‐OD, respectively. In the 5‐DH side chain, the branching position is remote from the polymer backbone, whereas it is proximal in 2‐DT. This study demonstrates that incorporation of branched side chains where the branching position is remote from the polymer backbone merges the advantages of improved solubility from branched units with effective π–π intermolecular interactions normally associated with linear chains on conjugated polymers. pTBTD‐5DH exhibits superior qualities with respect to the degree of polymerization, solution processability, π–π interchain stacking, and charge carrier transport relative to the other analogs. pTBTD‐5DH exhibits a field‐effect hole mobility of up to 2.95 cm 2 V –1 s –1 , a factor of 3–7 times that achieved with pBDT6‐DT and pBDT6‐OD.