The role of the side chain on the performance of n-type conjugated polymers in aqueous electrolytes
File(s)acs.chemmater.8b00321.pdf (1.83 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We report a design strategy that allows the preparation of solution processable n type materials from low boiling point solvents for organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). The polymer backbone is based on NDI-T2 copolymers where a branched alkyl side chain is gradually exchanged for a linear ethylene glycol based side chain. A series of random copolymers are prepared with glycol side chain percentages of 0, 10, 25, 50, 75, 90 and 100 with respect to the alkyl side chains. These are characterized in order to study the influence of the polar side chains on interaction with aqueous electrolytes, their electrochemical redox reactions and performance in OECTs when operated in aqueous electrolytes. We observe that glycol side chain percentages of >50 % are required to achieve volumetric charging while lower glycol chain percentages show a mixed operation with high required voltages to allow for bulk charging of the organic semiconductor. A strong dependence of the electron mobility on the fraction of glycol chains was found for copolymers based on NDI-T2, with a significant drop as alkyl side chains are replaced by glycol side chains.
Date Issued
2018-04-24
Date Acceptance
2018-04-10
Citation
Chemistry of Materials, 2018, 30 (9), pp.2945-2953
ISSN
0897-4756
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
2945
End Page
2953
Journal / Book Title
Chemistry of Materials
Volume
30
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
© 2018 American Chemical Society. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Commission of the European Communities
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (E
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Grant Number
610115
643791
RG73951
EP/G037515/1
N/A
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Physical
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Chemistry
Materials Science
ORGANIC ELECTROCHEMICAL TRANSISTORS
OLIGO(ETHYLENE GLYCOL)
CHARGE-TRANSPORT
CONDUCTING POLYMERS
SOLID-STATE
MOBILITY
DEVICES
FILMS
SEMICONDUCTORS
STABILITY
03 Chemical Sciences
09 Engineering
Materials
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-04-24