Semiconducting:insulating polymer blends for optoelectronic applications—a review of recent advances

Scaccabarozzi, Alberto D.; Stingelin, Natalie

doi:10.1039/c4ta01065e

Cited by 92 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…2,5,7,9,10,16 Here, we are interested in employing the blend film approach to high performance donor-acceptor polymers with a focus on increasing film ductility while maintaining OTFT performance. Polymer semiconductors based on donor-acceptor monomers have garnered considerable attention for application in OTFTs due to their significant gains in field effect mobility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Significantly Increasing the Ductility of High Performance Polymer Semiconductors through Polymer Blending

Scott

Xue

Wang

et al. 2016

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Polymer semiconductors based on donor-acceptor monomers have recently resulted in significant gains in field effect mobility in organic thin film transistors (OTFTs). These polymers incorporate fused aromatic rings and have been designed to have stiff planar backbones, resulting in strong intermolecular interactions, which subsequently result in stiff and brittle films. The complex synthesis typically required for these materials may also result in increased production costs. Thus, developing methods to improve mechanical plasticity while lowering material consumption during fabrication will significantly improve opportunities for adoption in flexible and stretchable electronics. To achieve these goals, we consider blending a brittle donor-acceptor polymer poly[4-(4,4-dihexadecyl-4H-cyclopenta[1,2-b:5,4-b′]dithiopen-2-yl)-alt-[1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-c]pyridine] (PCDTPT) with ductile poly(3-hexylthiophene). We find that the ductility of the blend film is significantly improved compared to neat PCDTPT films, and when employed in an OTFT, the performance is largely maintained. The ability to maintain charge transport character is due to vertical segregation within the blend, while the improved ductility is achieved due to intermixing of the polymers throughout the film thickness. Importantly, applying large strains to the ductile films is shown to orient both polymers, which further increases charge carrier mobility. These results highlight a processing approach to achieve high performance polymer OTFTs that are electrically and mechanically optimized.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Significantly Increasing the Ductility of High Performance Polymer Semiconductors through Polymer Blending

Scott

Xue

Wang

et al. 2016

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…Multicomponent systems consisting of various polymer blends have recently attracted particular attention because of the tunability of their material properties (16). Recent reports have shown that blends containing a relatively small amount of semiconducting polymer in an inert polymer matrix exhibit chargetransport characteristics that are comparable or even superior to those of the pristine forms (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22).…”

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confidence: 99%

Optically transparent semiconducting polymer nanonetwork for flexible and transparent electronics

Park

Kim

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Simultaneously achieving high optical transparency and excellent charge mobility in semiconducting polymers has presented a challenge for the application of these materials in future "flexible" and "transparent" electronics (FTEs). Here, by blending only a small amount (∼15 wt %) of a diketopyrrolopyrrole-based semiconducting polymer (DPP2T) into an inert polystyrene (PS) matrix, we introduce a polymer blend system that demonstrates both high field-effect transistor (FET) mobility and excellent optical transparency that approaches 100%. We discover that in a PS matrix, DPP2T forms a web-like, continuously connected nanonetwork that spreads throughout the thin film and provides highly efficient 2D charge pathways through extended intrachain conjugation. The remarkable physical properties achieved using our approach enable us to develop prototype high-performance FTE devices, including colorless all-polymer FET arrays and fully transparent FET-integrated polymer light-emitting diodes.semiconducting polymer | organic electronics | flexible and transparent device | polymer blend | charge transport O ptically transparent and mechanically flexible circuitries have long been desired for next-generation electronics requiring unprecedented features, such as "see-through" visibility, deformability, and even skin-attachable functionality for health care systems (1-3). This new paradigm for electronic applications has motivated researchers to eagerly pursue new innovative semiconducting materials, and one promising candidate is the class of materials called semiconducting conjugated polymers (4). Their unique benefits, including mechanical flexibility, light weight, and processing advantages based on high-throughput fabrication processes using solution-printing technologies, have accelerated the development of these materials as key building blocks for next-generation ubiquitous systems (2, 5, 6). Nevertheless, these materials still cannot fulfill the ultimate requirements for future "flexible" and "transparent" electronics (FTEs). Together with their inferior charge-carrier mobility because of conformational and energetic disorder (7), their high light absorption in the visible range, which is inherent to this class of materials (absorption coefficient ∼10 5 cm −1 ) (8), makes it difficult to apply these materials in FTEs. Indeed, despite extensive investigations seeking a suitable model system for FTEs by varying the polymer-structure design and the processing techniques used, the simultaneous achievement of optical transparency and high mobility in semiconducting polymers remains a formidable challenge (9, 10).Among the various types of semiconducting polymers, lowbandgap polymers using the donor-acceptor (D-A) copolymerization scheme are promising candidate materials for FTE applications. These semiconducting copolymers usually exhibit much less absorption in the visible range compared with other typical midbandgap polymers because of their red-shifted π-π* absorption spectrum, which exhibits strong absorption in the ne...

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“…Organic semiconductor/insulating polymer blends have proven to be ideal materials for optimizing the electrical properties of organic electronic devices such as organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) [1][2][3][4]. Because charge transport occurs at the dielectric/semiconductor interface laterally, the conducting pathway from the source to drain electrode should be well-defined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thickness-dependent electrical properties of soluble acene–polymer blend semiconductors

Lee

et al. 2015

Organic Electronics

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Semiconducting:insulating polymer blends for optoelectronic applications—a review of recent advances

Abstract: The working principle of semiconductor:insulator blends are discussed, examining the different approaches that have recently been reported in literature.

Cited by 92 publications

References 36 publications

Significantly Increasing the Ductility of High Performance Polymer Semiconductors through Polymer Blending

Significantly Increasing the Ductility of High Performance Polymer Semiconductors through Polymer Blending

Optically transparent semiconducting polymer nanonetwork for flexible and transparent electronics

Thickness-dependent electrical properties of soluble acene–polymer blend semiconductors

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