Molecular weight dependent structure and charge transport in MAPLE-deposited poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin films

Dong, Ban Xuan; Smith, Mitchell; Strzalka, Joseph; Li, Huanghe; McNeil, Anne J.; Stein, Gila E.; Green, Peter F.

doi:10.1002/polb.24588

Molecular weight dependent structure and charge transport in MAPLE-deposited poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin films

Journal Article · Mon Feb 05 23:00:00 EST 2018 · Journal of Polymer Science. Part B, Polymer Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.24588· OSTI ID:1424899

^[1]; Smith, Mitchell ^[2]; ^[3]; Li, Huanghe ^[4]; ^[5]; ^[6]; ^[7]

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan 48109
Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan 48109
X-Ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois 60439
Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan 48109
Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan 48109; Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan 48109
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Tennessee 37996
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan 48109; Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Michigan 48109; National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver W Pkwy, Golden Colorado 80401

In this work, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) films prepared using the matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) technique are shown to possess morphological structures that are dependent on molecular weight (MW). Specifically, the structures of low MW samples of MAPLE-deposited film are composed of crystallites/aggregates embedded within highly disordered environments, whereas those of high MW samples are composed of aggregated domains connected by long polymer chains. Additionally, the crystallite size along the side-chain (100) direction decreases, whereas the conjugation length increases with increasing molecular weight. This is qualitatively similar to the structure of spin-cast films, though the MAPLE-deposited films are more disordered. In-plane carrier mobilities in the MAPLE-deposited samples increase with MW, consistent with the notion that longer chains bridge adjacent aggregated domains thereby facilitating more effective charge transport. The carrier mobilities in the MAPLE-deposited simples are consistently lower than those in the solvent-cast samples for all molecular weights, consistent with the shorter conjugation length in samples prepared by this deposition technique.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1424899

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5A00-71050

Journal Information:: Journal of Polymer Science. Part B, Polymer Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Polymer Science. Part B, Polymer Physics Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 56; ISSN 0887-6266

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (64)

Two-Dimensional Crystals of Poly(3-Alkyl- thiophene)s: Direct Visualization of Polymer Folds in Submolecular Resolution Mena-Osteritz, Elena; Meyer, Alexander; Langeveld-Voss, Bea M. W. Angewandte Chemie, Vol. 112, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1002/1521-3757(20000804)112:15<2791::aid-ange2791>3.0.co;2-#	journal	August 2000
Two-Dimensional Crystals of Poly(3-Alkyl- thiophene)s: Direct Visualization of Polymer Folds in Submolecular Resolution Mena-Osteritz, Elena; Meyer, Alexander; Langeveld-Voss, Bea M. W. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 39, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1002/1521-3773(20000804)39:15<2679::AID-ANIE2679>3.0.CO;2-2	journal	August 2000
Effect of Molecular Weight and Annealing of Poly(3-hexylthiophene)s on the Performance of Organic Field-Effect Transistors Zen, A.; Pflaum, J.; Hirschmann, S. Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 14, Issue 8, p. 757-764 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.200400017	journal	August 2004
Mechanism of Crystallization and Implications for Charge Transport in Poly(3-ethylhexylthiophene) Thin Films Duong, Duc T.; Ho, Victor; Shang, Zhengrong Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 24, Issue 28 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201304247	journal	April 2014
Controlled Assembly of Poly(3-hexylthiophene): Managing the Disorder to Order Transition on the Nano- through Meso-Scales Choi, Dalsu; Chang, Mincheol; Reichmanis, Elsa Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 25, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201403708	journal	December 2014
Role of Side-Chain Branching on Thin-Film Structure and Electronic Properties of Polythiophenes Himmelberger, Scott; Duong, Duc T.; Northrup, John E. Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 25, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201500101	journal	March 2015
25th Anniversary Article: Organic Field-Effect Transistors: The Path Beyond Amorphous Silicon Sirringhaus, Henning Advanced Materials, Vol. 26, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201304346	journal	January 2014
Laser Deposition of Polymer and Biomaterial Films Chrisey, D. B.; Pique, A.; McGill, R. A. ChemInform, Vol. 34, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1002/chin.200318292	journal	May 2003
Conjugated Polymer-Based Organic Solar Cells Guenes, Serap; Neugebauer, Helmut; Sariciftci, Niyazi Serdar ChemInform, Vol. 38, Issue 31 https://doi.org/10.1002/chin.200731220	journal	July 2007
MAPLE Deposition of Macromolecules Shepard, Kimberly B.; Priestley, Rodney D. Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 214, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/macp.201200621	journal	February 2013
Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology: materials, devices and display technologies Geffroy, Bernard; le Roy, Philippe; Prat, Christophe Polymer International, Vol. 55, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/pi.1974	journal	January 2006
Structure and morphology control in thin films of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) Brinkmann, Martin Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol. 49, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.22310	journal	July 2011
Control of aggregate formation in poly(3-hexylthiophene) by solvent, molecular weight, and synthetic method Scharsich, Christina; Lohwasser, Ruth H.; Sommer, Michael Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol. 50, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.23022	journal	December 2011
Vertical confinement and interface effects on the microstructure and charge transport of P3HT thin films Jimison, Leslie H.; Himmelberger, Scott; Duong, Duc T. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol. 51, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.23265	journal	February 2013
Macroscopic alignment of poly(3-hexylthiophene) for enhanced long-range collection of photogenerated carriers Li, Anton; Bilby, David; Dong, Ban Xuan Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol. 54, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.23888	journal	September 2015
Molecular organization in MAPLE-deposited conjugated polymer thin films and the implications for carrier transport characteristics Dong, Ban Xuan; Li, Anton; Strzalka, Joseph Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol. 55, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.24237	journal	September 2016
Growth of organic thin films by the matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) technique Piqué, A.; McGill, R. A.; Chrisey, D. B. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 355-356 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0257-8972(99)00376-X	journal	November 1999
Absorption in regio-regular poly(3-hexyl)thiophene thin films: Fermi resonances, interband coupling and disorder Spano, Frank C. Chemical Physics, Vol. 325, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemphys.2005.08.019	journal	June 2006
Growth of polyalkylthiophene films by matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation Gutierrezllorente, A. Organic Electronics, Vol. 5, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgel.2003.11.003	journal	March 2004
Hybrid nanocomposite thin films deposited by emulsion-based resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation for photovoltaic applications Ge, Wangyao; Atewologun, Ayomide; Stiff-Roberts, Adrienne D. Organic Electronics, Vol. 22 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgel.2015.03.043	journal	July 2015
The impact of molecular weight on microstructure and charge transport in semicrystalline polymer semiconductors–poly(3-hexylthiophene), a model study Koch, Felix Peter Vinzenz; Rivnay, Jonathan; Foster, Sam Progress in Polymer Science, Vol. 38, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2013.07.009	journal	December 2013
Matchmaking in Catalyst-Transfer Polycondensation: Optimizing Catalysts based on Mechanistic Insight Leone, Amanda K.; McNeil, Anne J. Accounts of Chemical Research, Vol. 49, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.6b00488	journal	November 2016
Additive Growth and Crystallization of Polymer Films Jeong, Hyuncheol; Shepard, Kimberly B.; Purdum, Geoffrey E. Macromolecules, Vol. 49, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5b02675	journal	March 2016
Emulsion-Based RIR-MAPLE Deposition of Conjugated Polymers: Primary Solvent Effect and Its Implications on Organic Solar Cell Performance Ge, Wangyao; Li, Nan K.; McCormick, Ryan D. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 8, Issue 30 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b05596	journal	July 2016
Enhancing Carrier Mobilities in Organic Thin-Film Transistors Through Morphological Changes at the Semiconductor/Dielectric Interface Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Processing Dong, Ban Xuan; Amonoo, Jojo A.; Purdum, Geoffrey E. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 8, Issue 45 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b08248	journal	November 2016
Crystallization Mechanism and Charge Carrier Transport in MAPLE-Deposited Conjugated Polymer Thin Films Dong, Ban Xuan; Strzalka, Joseph; Jiang, Zhang ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Vol. 9, Issue 51 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b13609	journal	December 2017
Enhanced Mobility of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Transistors by Spin-Coating from High-Boiling-Point Solvents Chang, Jui-Fen; Sun, Baoquan; Breiby, Dag W. Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 16, Issue 23, p. 4772-4776 https://doi.org/10.1021/cm049617w	journal	November 2004
Laser Deposition of Polymer and Biomaterial Films Chrisey, D. B.; Piqué, A.; McGill, R. A. Chemical Reviews, Vol. 103, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1021/cr010428w	journal	February 2003
Conjugated Polymer-Based Organic Solar Cells Günes, Serap; Neugebauer, Helmut; Sariciftci, Niyazi Serdar Chemical Reviews, Vol. 107, Issue 4, p. 1324-1338 https://doi.org/10.1021/cr050149z	journal	April 2007
Thermal and Structural Characteristics of Oligo(3-hexylthiophene)s (3HT) _n , n = 4–36 Koch, Felix Peter Vinzenz; Heeney, Martin; Smith, Paul Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 135, Issue 37 https://doi.org/10.1021/ja405792b	journal	September 2013
Dependence of Regioregular Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Film Morphology and Field-Effect Mobility on Molecular Weight Kline, R. Joseph; McGehee, Michael D.; Kadnikova, Ekaterina N. Macromolecules, Vol. 38, Issue 8, p. 3312-3319 https://doi.org/10.1021/ma047415f	journal	April 2005
Experimental Evidence for the Quasi-“Living” Nature of the Grignard Metathesis Method for the Synthesis of Regioregular Poly(3-alkylthiophenes) Iovu, Mihaela Corina; Sheina, Elena E.; Gil, Roberto R. Macromolecules, Vol. 38, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1021/ma051122k	journal	October 2005
Impact of Copolymer Sequence on Solid-State Properties for Random, Gradient and Block Copolymers containing Thiophene and Selenophene Palermo, Edmund F.; McNeil, Anne J. Macromolecules, Vol. 45, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1021/ma301135n	journal	July 2012
Conjugated Polymer Synthesis via Catalyst-Transfer Polycondensation (CTP): Mechanism, Scope, and Applications Bryan, Zachary J.; McNeil, Anne J. Macromolecules, Vol. 46, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1021/ma401314x	journal	September 2013
Thickness Dependence of the Crystalline Structure and Hole Mobility in Thin Films of Low Molecular Weight Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Joshi, Siddharth; Grigorian, Souren; Pietsch, Ullrich Macromolecules, Vol. 41, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1021/ma702802x	journal	September 2008
Bimodal Temperature Behavior of Structure and Mobility in High Molecular Weight P3HT Thin Films Joshi, Siddharth; Pingel, Patrick; Grigorian, Souren Macromolecules, Vol. 42, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1021/ma900021w	journal	July 2009
Transport and Stability of Laser-Deposited Amorphous Polymer Nanoglobules Shepard, Kimberly B.; Arnold, Craig B.; Priestley, Rodney D. ACS Macro Letters, Vol. 3, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1021/mz500546u	journal	October 2014
Ultrasonic-Assisted Nanodimensional Self-Assembly of Poly-3-hexylthiophene for Organic Photovoltaic Cells Kim, Bong-Gi; Kim, Myung-Su; Kim, Jinsang ACS Nano, Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1021/nn901568w	journal	March 2010
Two-dimensional charge transport in self-organized, high-mobility conjugated polymers Sirringhaus, H.; Brown, P. J.; Friend, R. H. Nature, Vol. 401, Issue 6754, p. 685-688 https://doi.org/10.1038/44359	journal	October 1999
Ultrastable nanostructured polymer glasses Guo, Yunlong; Morozov, Anatoli; Schneider, Dirk Nature Materials, Vol. 11, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3234	journal	February 2012
A general relationship between disorder, aggregation and charge transport in conjugated polymers Noriega, Rodrigo; Rivnay, Jonathan; Vandewal, Koen Nature Materials, Vol. 12, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3722	journal	August 2013
White multi-layered polymer light emitting diode through matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation Mariano, F.; Caricato, A. P.; Accorsi, G. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 4, Issue 32 https://doi.org/10.1039/C6TC01826B	journal	January 2016
Band bending in conjugated polymer films: role of morphology and implications for bulk charge transport characteristics Wenderott, J. K.; Dong, Ban Xuan; Green, Peter F. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 5, Issue 30 https://doi.org/10.1039/C7TC02302B	journal	January 2017
Soluble and processable regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) for thin film field‐effect transistor applications with high mobility Bao, Zhenan; Dodabalapur, Ananth; Lovinger, Andrew J. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 69, Issue 26, p. 4108-4110 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.117834	journal	December 1996
Modeling disorder in polymer aggregates: The optical spectroscopy of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin films Spano, Frank C. The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 122, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1914768	journal	June 2005
Molecular dynamics simulation study of the ejection and transport of polymer molecules in matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation Leveugle, Elodie; Zhigilei, Leonid V. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 102, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2783898	journal	October 2007
Excitonic versus electronic couplings in molecular assemblies: The importance of non-nearest neighbor interactions Gierschner, Johannes; Huang, Ya-Shih; Van Averbeke, Bernard The Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 130, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3065267	journal	January 2009
Determining exciton bandwidth and film microstructure in polythiophene films using linear absorption spectroscopy Clark, Jenny; Chang, Jui-Fen; Spano, Frank C. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 94, Issue 16, Article No. 163306 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3110904	journal	April 2009
Poly-(3-hexylthiophene)/[6,6]-phenyl-C ₆₁ -butyric-acid-methyl-ester bilayer deposition by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation for organic photovoltaic applications Caricato, A. P.; Cesaria, M.; Gigli, G. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 100, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3685702	journal	February 2012
Bulk heterojunction PCPDTBT:PC ₇₁ BM organic solar cells deposited by emulsion-based, resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation McCormick, Ryan D.; Nyikayaramba, Gift; Stiff-Roberts, Adrienne D. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4881058	journal	June 2014
Patchy Janus particles with tunable roughness and composition via vapor-assisted deposition of macromolecules Shepard, Kimberly B.; Christie, Dane A.; Sosa, Chris L. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4913913	journal	March 2015
Organic/hybrid thin films deposited by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) Stiff-Roberts, Adrienne D.; Ge, Wangyao Applied Physics Reviews, Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5000509	journal	December 2017
Small Bandgap Polymers for Organic Solar Cells (Polymer Material Development in the Last 5 Years) Kroon, Renee; Lenes, Martijn; Hummelen, Jan C. Polymer Reviews, Vol. 48, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1080/15583720802231833	journal	August 2008
Quantitative analysis of lattice disorder and crystallite size in organic semiconductor thin films Rivnay, Jonathan; Noriega, Rodrigo; Kline, R. Joseph Physical Review B, Vol. 84, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.045203	journal	July 2011
Role of confinement and aggregation in charge transport in semicrystalline polythiophene thin films Duong, Duc T.; Toney, Michael F.; Salleo, Alberto Physical Review B, Vol. 86, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.86.205205	journal	November 2012
Role of Intermolecular Coupling in the Photophysics of Disordered Organic Semiconductors: Aggregate Emission in Regioregular Polythiophene Clark, Jenny; Silva, Carlos; Friend, Richard H. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 98, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.206406	journal	May 2007
Scherrer grain-size analysis adapted to grazing-incidence scattering with area detectors Smilgies, Detlef-M. Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 42, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1107/S0021889809040126	journal	October 2009
The dedicated high-resolution grazing-incidence X-ray scattering beamline 8-ID-E at the Advanced Photon Source Jiang, Zhang; Li, Xuefa; Strzalka, Joseph Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, Vol. 19, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1107/S0909049512022017	journal	June 2012
GIXSGUI : a MATLAB toolbox for grazing-incidence X-ray scattering data visualization and reduction, and indexing of buried three-dimensional periodic nanostructured films Jiang, Zhang Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 48, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576715004434	journal	April 2015
Tabletop Resonant Infrared Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation of Light-Emitting Organic Thin Films Pate, Ryan; Lantz, Kevin R.; Stiff-Roberts, Adrienne D. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 14, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTQE.2008.915625	journal	January 2008
Matrix-assisted pulsed-laser evaporation (MAPLE) of functionalized polymers: applications with chemical sensors McGill, Robert A.; Chrisey, Douglas B.; Pique, Alberto Optoelectronics and High-Power Lasers & Applications, SPIE Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1117/12.309520	conference	June 1998
Influence of morphological disorder on in- and out-of-plane charge transport in conjugated polymer films Li, Anton; Dong, Ban Xuan; Green, Peter F. MRS Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2015.72	journal	November 2015
Effects of Emulsion-Based Resonant Infrared Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (RIR-MAPLE) on the Molecular Weight of Polymers McCormick, Ryan D.; Lenhardt, Jeremy; Stiff-Roberts, Adrienne D. Polymers, Vol. 4, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3390/polym4010341	journal	February 2012
Determining exciton bandwidth and film microstructure in polythiophene films using linear absorption spectroscopy Clark, Jenny; Chang, Jui-Fen; Spano, Frank C. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.0903.1670	text	January 2009

Cited By (2)

Self-Assembly Behavior of an Oligothiophene-Based Conjugated Liquid Crystal and Its Implication for Ionic Conductivity Characteristics Liu, Ziwei; Dong, Ban Xuan; Misra, Mayank Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201805220	journal	November 2018
Exploiting physical vapor deposition for morphological control in semi‐crystalline polymer films Wang, Yucheng; Jeong, Hyuncheol; Chowdhury, Mithun POLYMER CRYSTALLIZATION, Vol. 1, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/pcr2.10021	journal	December 2018

Figures / Tables (7)

Similar Records

Molecular organization in MAPLE-deposited conjugated polymer thin films and the implications for carrier transport characteristics

Journal Article · Sun Sep 18 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Polymer Science. Part B, Polymer Physics · OSTI ID:1339946

Crystallization Mechanism and Charge Carrier Transport in MAPLE-Deposited Conjugated Polymer Thin Films

Journal Article · Wed Nov 22 23:00:00 EST 2017 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces · OSTI ID:1415483

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
GIWAXS
MAPLE
UV-vis absorption
conjugated polymers
molecular weight dependence

Molecular weight dependent structure and charge transport in MAPLE-deposited poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin films

Citation Formats

References (64)

Cited By (2)

Figures / Tables (7)

Similar Records

Related Subjects