Aggregation control in natural brush-printed conjugated polymer films and implications for enhancing charge transportShow others and affiliations
2017 (English)In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, ISSN 0027-8424, E-ISSN 1091-6490, Vol. 114, no 47, p. E10066-E10073Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Shear-printing is a promising processing technique in organic electronics for microstructure/charge transport modification and large-area film fabrication. Nevertheless, the mechanism by which shear-printing can enhance charge transport is not well-understood. In this study, a printing method using natural brushes is adopted as an informative tool to realize direct aggregation control of conjugated polymers and to investigate the interplay between printing parameters, macromolecule backbone alignment and aggregation, and charge transport anisotropy in a conjugated polymer series differing in architecture and electronic structure. This series includes (i) semicrystalline hole-transporting P3HT, (ii) semicrystalline electron transporting N2200, (iii) low-crystallinity hole-transporting PBDTT-FTTE, and (iv) low-crystallinity conducting PEDOT:PSS. The (semi-)conducting films are characterized by a battery of morphology and microstructure analysis techniques and by charge transport measurements. We report that remarkably enhanced mobilities/conductivities, as high as 5.7x/3.9x, are achieved by controlled growth of nanofibril aggregates and by backbone alignment, with the adjusted R-2 (R-adj(2)) correlation between aggregation and charge transport as high as 95%. However, while shear-induced aggregation is important for enhancing charge transport, backbone alignment alone does not guarantee charge transport anisotropy. The correlations between efficient charge transport and aggregation are clearly shown, while mobility and degree of orientation are not always well-correlated. These observations provide insights into macroscopic charge transport mechanisms in conjugated polymers and suggest guidelines for optimization.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
NATL ACAD SCIENCES , 2017. Vol. 114, no 47, p. E10066-E10073
Keywords [en]
natural brush-printing; shear effects; polymer alignment; polymer aggregation; polymer charge transport
National Category
Condensed Matter Physics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-143940DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1713634114ISI: 000416503700010PubMedID: 29109282OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-143940DiVA, id: diva2:1169764
Note
Funding Agencies|Air Force Office of Scientific Research Grant [FA9550-15-1-0044]; Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center - US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences [DE-SC0001059]; Swedish Research Council Grant [2016-03979]; Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental Resource Grant [NSF ECCS-1542205]; Qatar National Priorities Research Program Grant [7-286-1-046]; Materials Research Science and Engineering Center Program at the Materials Research Center [NSF DMR-1121262]; US DOE [DE-AC02-06CH11357]; Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems Grant [2015-04859]; US Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology Award as part of the Center for Hierarchical Materials Design [70NANB14H012]; Keck Foundation; State of Illinois through the IIN; International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN)
2017-12-292017-12-292017-12-29