Two new trifunctional alkene monomers based on the highly modular perfluoropyridine scaffold were synthesized with an aliphatic and an aromatic moiety, 4penten-1-ol and eugenol, respectively. The monomers were the basis for thiol-ene thermoset materials, formulated against a difunctional or trifunctional thiol. Systems based on these novel monomers have a wide range of thermal properties, with glass transition temperatures spanning from -42 °C to 21 °C. Mixed systems obey the Fox equation, and T g s of the mixtures can be tuned to specific values in that range. Thermal degradation temperatures follow a similar trend, with decomposition temperatures ranging from 274 °C to 348 °C in nitrogen with varying compositions having tailorability therein. This new class of semifluorinated thermoset materials with tunable thermal properties has several potential applications within the aerospace industry, such as sealants and coatings, where stability and survivability at high temperatures in harsh environmental conditions are imperative.

Bis-phenylethynyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (bis-PE-POSS) compounds were synthesized and thermally cured yielding crosslinked materials. After curing at 370 C, thermal decomposition occurs near 600 C under nitrogen. These materials were synthesized by condensation of a new phenylethynylfunctional dichlorosilane onto tetrasilanol phenyl POSS, yielding two geometric isomers.

Systematically varied annealing, encapsulation, and solvent vapor treatments are conducted to produce stable OPV devices with controlled film morphology and high performance when produced in air. Active layer films are analyzed by AFM, nanomechanical mapping, UV-vis spectroscopy, and XRD. Devices prepared with isopropanol solvent vapor annealing (SVA) combined with thermal annealing (TA) show the highest environmental resistance and performance. Such devices yield average PCE of 3.3%, with stability to atmospheric exposure of up to 60 min prior to encapsulation. Encapsulated devices exposed to the laboratory environment for 30 days exhibit a decrease in PCE of 15%. On application of a second TA step PCE is recovered to over 90% of the original value. The unprecedented air stability of the cells is attributed to the formation of an active layer with a stable, favorable morphology during the SVA process, which is associated with lower oxygen content films.