Multi-scale ordering in highly stretchable polymer semiconducting films

Abstract

Stretchable semiconducting polymers have been developed as a key component   to enable skin-like wearable electronics, but their electrical performance must be improved to enable more advanced functionalities. Here, we report a solution processing approach that can achieve multi-scale ordering and alignment of conjugated polymers in stretchable semiconductors to substantially improve their charge carrier mobility. Using solution shearing with a patterned microtrench coating blade, macroscale alignment of conjugated-polymer nanostructures was achieved along the charge transport direction. In conjunction, the nanoscale spatial confinement aligns chain conformation and promotes short-range π-π ordering,   significantly reducing the energetic barrier for charge carrier transport. As a result, the mobilities of stretchable conjugated-polymer films have been enhanced up to threefold and maintained under a strain up to 100%. This method may also serve as the basis for large-area manufacturing of stretchable semiconducting films, as demonstrated by the roll-to-roll coating of metre-scale films.

Physical sensors for skin‐inspired electronics

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Wood‐Inspired Morphologically Tunable Aligned Hydrogel for High‐Performance Flexible All‐Solid‐State Supercapacitors

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Steric Poly(diarylfluorene‐co‐benzothiadiazole) for Efficient Amplified Spontaneous Emission and Polymer Light‐Emitting Diodes: Benefit from Preventing Interchain Aggregation and Polaron Formation

“…Rational molecular design of conjugated polymers is crucial for tuning molecular self‐organization behavior in the solid state and consequently for improving the performance and stability of organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic solar cells (OSCs), organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs), and organic lasers (OLs) . Interchain π–π interaction plays a central role in polymer‐based optoelectronic because of the dense aromatic packing leading to oriented superstructures that enable efficient exciton and charge transport, however, its effect on light emission is often detrimental due to the formation of non/weakly emissive intermolecular excited states such as polaron pairs or excimers and aggregation‐caused quenching (ACQ) . What's more, multiple secondary noncovalent interactions resulting from heavy heteroatom substitution and rigid aromatic polymer backbones can facilitate compact interchain packing, which consequently affect the film morphology, energy bandgap, photoluminescence (PL) color purity, and light emission efficiency .…”