Study on the regulation of polythiophene whiskers by electric field induction and the anisotropy of the film surface

Abstract

In recent years, polythiophene (P3HT) has become a kind of typical conjugated polymer material which is suitable to use on a large scale. However, it is difficult to obtain long P3HT fibers with a highly ordered arrangement due to the entanglement of molecular chains and inherent flexibility. In this work, P3HT fibers were successfully constructed and assembled by an electric-field-induced technique, which can be observed directly. The orientation of the P3HT molecules was confirmed by Raman and UV absorption spectra. The excellent anisotropic sliding properties of the surface of the assembled fibers were characterized by the water contact test. This work provides an idea for the preparation of smart sensing materials and lays a foundation for the wider application of P3HT.

External electric field treatment for improving the morphology and electrical performance of P(NDI2OD-T2)

“…33–41 Among many external fields, the application of an external electric field (EEF) to films enables realizing precise directionality control through molecular dipole alignment. 33,42–49 Additionally, since all organic materials have local dipole moments and polarizability, EEF treatment, a process that induces the alignment of dipoles, can be effectively and broadly applied without any restrictions on any target material and, therefore, can be applied to organic materials easily. EEF treatment on a film is a remarkably simple process, which onlyinvolves positioning electrodes (positive/negative) at a certain distance apart in the air and applying the field for a specific duration.…”