Engineering Intrinsic Flexibility in Polycrystalline Molecular Semiconductor Films by Grain Boundary Plasticization

Dan Zhao; Jianhua Chen; Binghao Wang; Gang Wang; Zhihua Chen; Junsheng Yu; Xugang Guo; Wei Huang; Tobin J. Marks; Antonio Facchetti

doi:10.1021/jacs.9b12507

Engineering Intrinsic Flexibility in Polycrystalline Molecular Semiconductor Films by Grain Boundary Plasticization

Dan Zhao, Jianhua Chen, Binghao Wang, Gang Wang, Zhihua Chen, Junsheng Yu, Xugang Guo^*, Wei Huang, Tobin J. Marks, Antonio Facchetti

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mechanically flexible films of the highly crystalline core-cyanated perylenediimide (PDIF-CN₂) molecular semiconductor are achieved via a novel grain boundary plasticization strategy in which a specially designed polymeric binder (PB) is used to connect crystallites at the grain boundaries. The new PB has a naphthalenediimide-dithiophene π-conjugated backbone end-functionalized with PDI units. In contrast to conventional polymer-small molecule blends where distinct phase separation occurs, this blend film with plasticized grain boundaries exhibits a morphology typical of homogeneous PDIF-CN₂ films which is preserved upon bending at radii as small as 2 mm. Thin-film transistors fabricated with PB/PDIF-CN₂ blends exhibit substantial electron mobilities even after repeated bending. This design represents a new approach to realizing flexible and textured semiconducting π-electron films with good mechanical and charge transport properties.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	5487-5492
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of the American Chemical Society
Volume	142
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b12507
State	Published - Mar 25 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Catalysis
Chemistry(all)
Biochemistry
Colloid and Surface Chemistry

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@article{a077a64a970c49458449b68976d530c6,

title = "Engineering Intrinsic Flexibility in Polycrystalline Molecular Semiconductor Films by Grain Boundary Plasticization",

abstract = "Mechanically flexible films of the highly crystalline core-cyanated perylenediimide (PDIF-CN2) molecular semiconductor are achieved via a novel grain boundary plasticization strategy in which a specially designed polymeric binder (PB) is used to connect crystallites at the grain boundaries. The new PB has a naphthalenediimide-dithiophene π-conjugated backbone end-functionalized with PDI units. In contrast to conventional polymer-small molecule blends where distinct phase separation occurs, this blend film with plasticized grain boundaries exhibits a morphology typical of homogeneous PDIF-CN2 films which is preserved upon bending at radii as small as 2 mm. Thin-film transistors fabricated with PB/PDIF-CN2 blends exhibit substantial electron mobilities even after repeated bending. This design represents a new approach to realizing flexible and textured semiconducting π-electron films with good mechanical and charge transport properties.",

author = "Dan Zhao and Jianhua Chen and Binghao Wang and Gang Wang and Zhihua Chen and Junsheng Yu and Xugang Guo and Wei Huang and Marks, {Tobin J.} and Antonio Facchetti",

note = "Funding Information: We thank AFOSR (FA9550-18-1-0320; B.W.; G.W.; A.F.), the Northwestern U. MRSEC (NSF DMR-1720139; W.H.), and Flexterra Corp. for support. This work made use of the J. B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility, EPIC facility, Keck-II facility, and SPID facility of the NUANCE Center at Northwestern U., which received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF NNCI-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139); the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois. D.Z. thanks the joint-Ph.D. program supported by the China Scholarship Council (No. 201806070113) for a fellowship.",

year = "2020",

month = mar,

day = "25",

doi = "10.1021/jacs.9b12507",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "142",

pages = "5487--5492",

journal = "Journal of the American Chemical Society",

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}

Engineering Intrinsic Flexibility in Polycrystalline Molecular Semiconductor Films by Grain Boundary Plasticization. / Zhao, Dan; Chen, Jianhua; Wang, Binghao; Wang, Gang; Chen, Zhihua; Yu, Junsheng; Guo, Xugang; Huang, Wei ; Marks, Tobin J.; Facchetti, Antonio.

In: Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 142, No. 12, 25.03.2020, p. 5487-5492.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Engineering Intrinsic Flexibility in Polycrystalline Molecular Semiconductor Films by Grain Boundary Plasticization

AU - Zhao, Dan

AU - Chen, Jianhua

AU - Wang, Binghao

AU - Wang, Gang

AU - Chen, Zhihua

AU - Yu, Junsheng

AU - Guo, Xugang

AU - Huang, Wei

AU - Marks, Tobin J.

AU - Facchetti, Antonio

N1 - Funding Information: We thank AFOSR (FA9550-18-1-0320; B.W.; G.W.; A.F.), the Northwestern U. MRSEC (NSF DMR-1720139; W.H.), and Flexterra Corp. for support. This work made use of the J. B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility, EPIC facility, Keck-II facility, and SPID facility of the NUANCE Center at Northwestern U., which received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF NNCI-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139); the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois. D.Z. thanks the joint-Ph.D. program supported by the China Scholarship Council (No. 201806070113) for a fellowship.

PY - 2020/3/25

Y1 - 2020/3/25

N2 - Mechanically flexible films of the highly crystalline core-cyanated perylenediimide (PDIF-CN2) molecular semiconductor are achieved via a novel grain boundary plasticization strategy in which a specially designed polymeric binder (PB) is used to connect crystallites at the grain boundaries. The new PB has a naphthalenediimide-dithiophene π-conjugated backbone end-functionalized with PDI units. In contrast to conventional polymer-small molecule blends where distinct phase separation occurs, this blend film with plasticized grain boundaries exhibits a morphology typical of homogeneous PDIF-CN2 films which is preserved upon bending at radii as small as 2 mm. Thin-film transistors fabricated with PB/PDIF-CN2 blends exhibit substantial electron mobilities even after repeated bending. This design represents a new approach to realizing flexible and textured semiconducting π-electron films with good mechanical and charge transport properties.

AB - Mechanically flexible films of the highly crystalline core-cyanated perylenediimide (PDIF-CN2) molecular semiconductor are achieved via a novel grain boundary plasticization strategy in which a specially designed polymeric binder (PB) is used to connect crystallites at the grain boundaries. The new PB has a naphthalenediimide-dithiophene π-conjugated backbone end-functionalized with PDI units. In contrast to conventional polymer-small molecule blends where distinct phase separation occurs, this blend film with plasticized grain boundaries exhibits a morphology typical of homogeneous PDIF-CN2 films which is preserved upon bending at radii as small as 2 mm. Thin-film transistors fabricated with PB/PDIF-CN2 blends exhibit substantial electron mobilities even after repeated bending. This design represents a new approach to realizing flexible and textured semiconducting π-electron films with good mechanical and charge transport properties.

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SN - 0002-7863

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