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Effects of alkyl chain positioning on conjugated polymer microstructure and field-effect mobilities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2015

Bob C. Schroeder*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Christian B. Nielsen
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Paul Westacott
Affiliation:
Department of Materials and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Jeremy Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Stephan Rossbauer
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Thomas D. Anthopoulos
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Natalie Stingelin
Affiliation:
Department of Materials and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Iain McCulloch
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
*
Address all correspondence to Bob C. Schroeder at[email protected]
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Abstract

Solubilizing alkyl chains play a crucial role in the design of semiconducting polymers because they define the materials solubility and processability as well as both the crystallinity and solid-state microstructure. In this paper, we present a scarcely explored design approach by attaching the alkyl side chains on one side (cis-) or on both sides (trans-) of the conjugated backbone. We further investigate the effects of this structural modification on the solid-state properties of the polymers and on the charge-carrier mobilities in organic thin-film transistors.

Type
Polymers/Soft Matter Research Letters
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2015 

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