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n-Doped conjugated polymers usually show low electrical conductivities and low thermoelectric power factors, limiting their applications in n-type organic thermoelectrics. Here, we report the synthesis of a new diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) derivative, pyrazine-flanked DPP (PzDPP), with the deepest LUMO level in all the reported DPP derivatives. Based on PzDPP, a donor−acceptor copolymer, P(PzDPP-CT2), is synthesized. The polymer displays a deep LUMO energy level and strong interchain interaction with a short π−π stacking distance of 3.38 Å. When doped with n-dopant N-DMBI, P(PzDPP-CT2) exhibits high ntype electrical conductivities of up to 8.4 S cm −1 and power factors of up to 57.3 μW m −1 K −2 . These values are much higher than previously reported n-doped DPP polymers, and the power factor also ranks the highest in solution-processable n-doped conjugated polymers. These results suggest that PzDPP is a promising high-performance building block for n-type organic thermoelectrics and also highlight that, without sacrificing polymer interchain interactions, efficient n-doping can be realized in conjugated polymers with careful molecular engineering.

Molecular doping is a powerful method to fine-tune the thermoelectric properties of organic semiconductors, in particular to impart the requisite electrical conductivity. The incorporation of molecular dopants can, however, perturb the microstructure of semicrystalline organic semiconductors, which complicates the development of a detailed understanding of structure-property relationships. To better understand how the doping pathway and the resulting dopant counterion influence the thermoelectric performance and transport properties, a new dimer dopant, (N-DMBI) 2 , is developed. Subsequently, FBDPPV is then n-doped with dimer dopants (N-DMBI) 2 , (RuCp*mes) 2 , and the hydride-donor dopant N-DMBI-H. By comparing the UV-vis-NIR absorption spectra and morphological characteristics of the doped polymers, it is found that not only the doping mechanism, but also the shape of the counterion strongly influence the thermoelectric properties and transport characteristics. (N-DMBI) 2 , which is a direct electron-donating dopant with a comparatively small, relatively planar counterion, gives the best power factor among the three systems studied here. Additionally, temperature-dependent conductivity and Seebeck coefficient measurements differ between the three dopants with (N-DMBI) 2 yielding the best thermoelectric properties.

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