(217s) Tuning Polymer Molecular Packing Through Solution Processing Methods and Their Characterization

Solution deposition of organic semiconductors (OSC) is a leading contender for producing large-area, inexpensive, and flexible organic electronics. We recently developed a solution deposition method called solution shearing, which resulted in better organic field effect transistor (OFET) performance for small molecules, due to changing the molecular packing of the OSC. Certain conditions on the small molecule TIPS-pentacene have yielded remarkable FET performance, with average charge carrier mobility around 2 cm² V^-1s^-1 with some transistors showing mobilities as high as 4 cm² V^-1s^-1. However, it is unclear whether solution shearing can also change the molecular packing of polymeric OSCs.

In this presentation, we discuss the applicability of solution shearing to a range of polymeric OSCs. We show effective tuning of molecular packing of polymers that can tune charge carrier performance through solution processing. We study the types of molecular packing shift that can occur in different polymers using spectroscopic methods and X-ray diffraction, and also investigate the stability of the different molecular packing, and its impact on charge transport. The ability to influence polymer molecular packing without resorting to chemical synthesis will allow for more methods to improve the FET properties of polymers in organic electronics.