Managing Local Order in Conjugated Polymer Blends via Polarity Contrast

Matthew Dyson^a^,^b, Eirini Lariou^c, Jaime Martin^d^,^e, Ruipeng Li^f, Harikrishna Erothu^g^,^h, Guillaume Wantzⁱ, Paul Topham^h, Olivier Dautel^j, Sophia Hayes^c, Paul Stavrinou^k, Natalie Stingelin^b^,^l^,^m

^aMolecular Materials and Nanosystems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands, Netherlands

^bDepartment of Chemistry and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, United Kingdom

^cDepartment of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, Nicosia, Cyprus

^dPOLYMAT, University of the Basque Country, ES, Avenida de Tolosa 72, San Sebastian, Spain

^eIKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, ES, Bilbao, Spain

^fNational Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Lab, Upton, New York, USA, United States

^gCentre for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, Green Fields, Vaddeswaram, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh-522 502, India

^hAston Institute of Materials Research, Aston University, Birmingam B4 7ET, Reino Unido, United Kingdom

ⁱUniversité de Bordeaux, IMS, CNRS, UMR-5218, Bordeaux INP, ENSCBP, 33405 Talence, France

^jInstitut Charles Gerhardt de Montpellier, Laboratoire AM2N, UMR-5253, Université de Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, Rue de l'École Normale, 8, Montpellier, France

^kDepartment of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, Parks Road, United Kingdom

^lSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA

^mLaboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques − LCPO, UMR5629 Université de Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Bâtiment B8 CS50023, 33615 Pessac Cedex, France

Proceedings of Interfaces in Organic and Hybrid Thin-Film Optoelectronics (INFORM)

València, Spain, 2019 March 5th - 7th

Organizers: Natalie Stingelin, Hendrik Bolink and Michele Sessolo

Oral, Matthew Dyson, presentation 008
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.inform.2019.008
Publication date: 8th January 2019

The optoelectronic landscape of conjugated polymers is highly dependent on their molecular arrangement and packing, with minute changes in local order, such as chain conformation and torsional backbone order/disorder, frequently having a substantial effect on macroscopic properties.[1-3] Here, we show that blending semiconducting polymers with insulating commodity plastics, an approach previously shown to benefit charge transport[4,5] and improve flexibility,[6] enables controlled manipulation of semiconductor backbone planarity. The key is to create a polarity difference between the semiconductor backbone and its side chains, while matching the polarity of the side chains and the additive. We demonstrate the applicability of this approach by judicious comparison of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) with two of its more polar derivatives, namely the diblock copolymer poly(3-hexylthiophene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (P3HT-b-PEO) and the graft polymer poly[3-but(ethylene oxide)thiophene] (P3BEOT), as well as their blends with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). Proximity between polar side chains and a similarly polar additive reduces steric hindrance between individual chain segments by essentially ‘expelling’ the side chains away from the semiconducting backbones. This process, shown to be facilitated via exposure to polar environments such as humid air/water vapor, facilitates backbone realignment towards specific chain arrangements, thereby enabling control of backbone planarity graft polymers with aqueous/ionic compatiblity that are usually torsionally disordered.[7]

References:

[1] Spano, F. C.; Silva, C. H- and J-Aggregate Behavior in Polymeric Semiconductors. Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 2014, 65, 477–500.

[2] Hildner, R.; Köhler, A.; Müller‐Buschbaum, P.; Panzer, F.; Thelakkat, M. Π‐Conjugated Donor Polymers: Structure Formation and Morphology in Solution, Bulk and Photovoltaic Blends. Adv. Energy Mater. 2017, 1700314.

[3] Botiz, I.; Astilean, S.; Stingelin, N. Altering the Emission Properties of Conjugated Polymers. Polym. Int. 2016, 65, 157–163.

[4] Abbaszadeh, D.; Kunz, A.; Wetzelaer, G. A. H.; Michels, J. J.; Crăciun, N. I.; Koynov, K.; Lieberwirth, I.; Blom, P. W. M. Elimination of Charge Carrier Trapping in Diluted Semiconductors. Nat. Mater. 2016, 15, 628–633.

[5] Strobel, N.; Eckstein, R.; Lehr, J.; Lemmer, U.; Hernandez-sosa, G. Semiconductor:Insulator Blends for Speed Enhancement in Organic Photodiodes. Adv. Electron. Mater. 2017, 4, 1700345.

[6] Scaccabarozzi, A. D.; Stingelin, N. Semiconducting:Insulating Polymer Blends for Optoelectronic Applications—a Review of Recent Advances. J. Mater. Chem. A 2014, 2, 10818–10824.

[7] Giovannitti, A.; Maria, I. P.; Hanifi, D.; Donahue, M. J.; Bryant, D.; Barth, K. J.; Makdah, B. E.; Savva, A.; Moia, D.; Zetek, M.; et al. The Role of the Side Chain on the Performance of N-Type Conjugated Polymers in Aqueous Electrolytes. Chem. Mater. 2018, 30, 2945–2953.

Acknowledgements:

MD, PS and NS thank the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for funding via the Centre for Doctoral Training in Plastic Electronics Materials (EP/G037515/1). MD, NS, PS, SH and EL also thank the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Network “H2020-MSCAITN-2014 INFORM – 675867”. JM furthermore thanks MINECO for the Ramón y Cajal contract and the Ikerbasque Foundation for the Ikerbasque Research Fellow program; and NS gratefully acknowledges additional support from the IdEx Bordeaux Excellence program (ANR-10-IDEX-03-02). PDT and HE thank funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2010 SYNABCO n° 273316 and FP7/2011 under grant agreement ESTABLIS n° 290022). This work is based upon research conducted at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) which is supported by the National Science Foundation under award DMR-1332208.

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