The impact of molecular weight on microstructure and charge transport in semicrystalline polymer semiconductors-poly(3-hexylthiophene), a model study

Felix Peter Vinzenz Koch; Jonathan Rivnay; Sam Foster; Christian Müller; Jonathan M. Downing; Ester Buchaca-Domingo; Paul Westacott; Liyang Yu; Mingjian Yuan; Mohammed Baklar; Zhuping Fei; Christine Luscombe; Martyn A. McLachlan; Martin Heeney; Garry Rumbles; Carlos Silva; Alberto Salleo; Jenny Nelson; Paul Smith; Natalie Stingelin

doi:10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2013.07.009

The impact of molecular weight on microstructure and charge transport in semicrystalline polymer semiconductors-poly(3-hexylthiophene), a model study

Felix Peter Vinzenz Koch, Jonathan Rivnay, Sam Foster, Christian Müller, Jonathan M. Downing, Ester Buchaca-Domingo, Paul Westacott, Liyang Yu, Mingjian Yuan, Mohammed Baklar, Zhuping Fei, Christine Luscombe, Martyn A. McLachlan, Martin Heeney, Garry Rumbles, Carlos Silva, Alberto Salleo, Jenny Nelson, Paul Smith, Natalie Stingelin^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Biomedical Engineering

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

290 Scopus citations

Abstract

Electronic properties of organic semiconductors are often critically dependent upon their ability to order from the molecular level to the macro-scale, as is true for many other materials attributes of macromolecular matter such as mechanical characteristics. Therefore, understanding of the molecular assembly process and the resulting solid-state short- and long-range order is critical to further advance the field of organic electronics. Here, we will discuss the structure development as a function of molecular weight in thin films of a model conjugated polymer, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), when processed from solution and the melt. While focus is on the microstructural manipulation and characterization, we also treat the influence of molecular arrangement and order on electronic processes such as charge transport and show, based on classical polymer science arguments, how accounting for the structural complexity of polymers can provide a basis for establishing relevant processing/structure/property-interrelationships to explain some of their electronic features. Such relationships can assist with the design of new materials and definition of processing protocols that account for the molecular length, chain rigidity and propensity to order of a given system.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1978-1989
Number of pages	12
Journal	Progress in Polymer Science
Volume	38
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2013.07.009
State	Published - Dec 2013

Funding

We are very grateful to the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council ( EP/G060738/1 and EP/F061757/1 ) the Dutch Polymer Institute (LATFE Programme) and the ACS Petroleum Fund (New Directions Proposal) for financial support. Portions of this research were carried out at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, a national user facility operated by Stanford University on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. J.R. gratefully acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the form of a Graduate Research Fellowship. NS is furthermore supported by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Independent Researcher Fellowship under the grant agreement No. 279587. M.Y. and C.K.L. acknowledge the National Science Foundation (NSF CAREER Award DMR 0747489). G.R. acknowledges support from the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Programme at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Keywords

Chain-extended crystals
Charge transport
Molecular weight
Poly(3-hexylthiophene)
Semicrystalline

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ceramics and Composites
Surfaces and Interfaces
Polymers and Plastics
Organic Chemistry
Materials Chemistry

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10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2013.07.009

Cite this

Koch, F. P. V., Rivnay, J., Foster, S., Müller, C., Downing, J. M., Buchaca-Domingo, E., Westacott, P., Yu, L., Yuan, M., Baklar, M., Fei, Z., Luscombe, C., McLachlan, M. A., Heeney, M., Rumbles, G., Silva, C., Salleo, A., Nelson, J., Smith, P., & Stingelin, N. (2013). The impact of molecular weight on microstructure and charge transport in semicrystalline polymer semiconductors-poly(3-hexylthiophene), a model study. Progress in Polymer Science, 38(12), 1978-1989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2013.07.009

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title = "The impact of molecular weight on microstructure and charge transport in semicrystalline polymer semiconductors-poly(3-hexylthiophene), a model study",

abstract = "Electronic properties of organic semiconductors are often critically dependent upon their ability to order from the molecular level to the macro-scale, as is true for many other materials attributes of macromolecular matter such as mechanical characteristics. Therefore, understanding of the molecular assembly process and the resulting solid-state short- and long-range order is critical to further advance the field of organic electronics. Here, we will discuss the structure development as a function of molecular weight in thin films of a model conjugated polymer, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), when processed from solution and the melt. While focus is on the microstructural manipulation and characterization, we also treat the influence of molecular arrangement and order on electronic processes such as charge transport and show, based on classical polymer science arguments, how accounting for the structural complexity of polymers can provide a basis for establishing relevant processing/structure/property-interrelationships to explain some of their electronic features. Such relationships can assist with the design of new materials and definition of processing protocols that account for the molecular length, chain rigidity and propensity to order of a given system.",

keywords = "Chain-extended crystals, Charge transport, Molecular weight, Poly(3-hexylthiophene), Semicrystalline",

author = "Koch, {Felix Peter Vinzenz} and Jonathan Rivnay and Sam Foster and Christian M{\"u}ller and Downing, {Jonathan M.} and Ester Buchaca-Domingo and Paul Westacott and Liyang Yu and Mingjian Yuan and Mohammed Baklar and Zhuping Fei and Christine Luscombe and McLachlan, {Martyn A.} and Martin Heeney and Garry Rumbles and Carlos Silva and Alberto Salleo and Jenny Nelson and Paul Smith and Natalie Stingelin",

note = "Funding Information: We are very grateful to the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council ( EP/G060738/1 and EP/F061757/1 ) the Dutch Polymer Institute (LATFE Programme) and the ACS Petroleum Fund (New Directions Proposal) for financial support. Portions of this research were carried out at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, a national user facility operated by Stanford University on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. J.R. gratefully acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the form of a Graduate Research Fellowship. NS is furthermore supported by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Independent Researcher Fellowship under the grant agreement No. 279587. M.Y. and C.K.L. acknowledge the National Science Foundation (NSF CAREER Award DMR 0747489). G.R. acknowledges support from the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Programme at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. ",

year = "2013",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2013.07.009",

language = "English (US)",

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Koch, FPV, Rivnay, J, Foster, S, Müller, C, Downing, JM, Buchaca-Domingo, E, Westacott, P, Yu, L, Yuan, M, Baklar, M, Fei, Z, Luscombe, C, McLachlan, MA, Heeney, M, Rumbles, G, Silva, C, Salleo, A, Nelson, J, Smith, P & Stingelin, N 2013, 'The impact of molecular weight on microstructure and charge transport in semicrystalline polymer semiconductors-poly(3-hexylthiophene), a model study', Progress in Polymer Science, vol. 38, no. 12, pp. 1978-1989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2013.07.009

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T1 - The impact of molecular weight on microstructure and charge transport in semicrystalline polymer semiconductors-poly(3-hexylthiophene), a model study

AU - Koch, Felix Peter Vinzenz

AU - Rivnay, Jonathan

AU - Foster, Sam

AU - Müller, Christian

AU - Downing, Jonathan M.

AU - Buchaca-Domingo, Ester

AU - Westacott, Paul

AU - Yu, Liyang

AU - Yuan, Mingjian

AU - Baklar, Mohammed

AU - Fei, Zhuping

AU - Luscombe, Christine

AU - McLachlan, Martyn A.

AU - Heeney, Martin

AU - Rumbles, Garry

AU - Silva, Carlos

AU - Salleo, Alberto

AU - Nelson, Jenny

AU - Smith, Paul

AU - Stingelin, Natalie

N1 - Funding Information: We are very grateful to the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council ( EP/G060738/1 and EP/F061757/1 ) the Dutch Polymer Institute (LATFE Programme) and the ACS Petroleum Fund (New Directions Proposal) for financial support. Portions of this research were carried out at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, a national user facility operated by Stanford University on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. J.R. gratefully acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the form of a Graduate Research Fellowship. NS is furthermore supported by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Independent Researcher Fellowship under the grant agreement No. 279587. M.Y. and C.K.L. acknowledge the National Science Foundation (NSF CAREER Award DMR 0747489). G.R. acknowledges support from the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Programme at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

PY - 2013/12

Y1 - 2013/12

N2 - Electronic properties of organic semiconductors are often critically dependent upon their ability to order from the molecular level to the macro-scale, as is true for many other materials attributes of macromolecular matter such as mechanical characteristics. Therefore, understanding of the molecular assembly process and the resulting solid-state short- and long-range order is critical to further advance the field of organic electronics. Here, we will discuss the structure development as a function of molecular weight in thin films of a model conjugated polymer, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), when processed from solution and the melt. While focus is on the microstructural manipulation and characterization, we also treat the influence of molecular arrangement and order on electronic processes such as charge transport and show, based on classical polymer science arguments, how accounting for the structural complexity of polymers can provide a basis for establishing relevant processing/structure/property-interrelationships to explain some of their electronic features. Such relationships can assist with the design of new materials and definition of processing protocols that account for the molecular length, chain rigidity and propensity to order of a given system.

AB - Electronic properties of organic semiconductors are often critically dependent upon their ability to order from the molecular level to the macro-scale, as is true for many other materials attributes of macromolecular matter such as mechanical characteristics. Therefore, understanding of the molecular assembly process and the resulting solid-state short- and long-range order is critical to further advance the field of organic electronics. Here, we will discuss the structure development as a function of molecular weight in thin films of a model conjugated polymer, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), when processed from solution and the melt. While focus is on the microstructural manipulation and characterization, we also treat the influence of molecular arrangement and order on electronic processes such as charge transport and show, based on classical polymer science arguments, how accounting for the structural complexity of polymers can provide a basis for establishing relevant processing/structure/property-interrelationships to explain some of their electronic features. Such relationships can assist with the design of new materials and definition of processing protocols that account for the molecular length, chain rigidity and propensity to order of a given system.

KW - Chain-extended crystals

KW - Charge transport

KW - Molecular weight

KW - Poly(3-hexylthiophene)

KW - Semicrystalline

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VL - 38

SP - 1978

EP - 1989

JO - Progress in Polymer Science

JF - Progress in Polymer Science

IS - 12

ER -

The impact of molecular weight on microstructure and charge transport in semicrystalline polymer semiconductors-poly(3-hexylthiophene), a model study

Abstract

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Keywords

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