(595a) Multi-Scale Ordering in Highly Stretchable Polymer Semiconducting Films
AIChE Annual Meeting
2019
2019 AIChE Annual Meeting
Materials Engineering and Sciences Division
Nanoscale Structure in Polymers
Wednesday, November 13, 2019 - 3:30pm to 3:47pm
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, the 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, which significantly reduce the energetic barrier for charge carrier transport. As a result, the mobilities of stretchable conjugated-polymer films have been enhanced by up to three-fold and maintained under stain up to 100%. This method can also serve as the basis for large-area manufacturing of stretchable semiconducting films, as demonstrated by the roll-to-roll coating of meter-scale films.