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Title: Molecular Structure and Conformational Design of Donor‐Acceptor Conjugated Polymers to Enable Predictable Optoelectronic Property

Journal Article · · Advanced Materials
 [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [4];  [7]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. School of Polymer Science and Engineering Center for Optoelectronic Materials and Devices The University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg MS 39406 USA
  2. Materials and Nanotechnology Program North Dakota State University Fargo ND 58108 USA
  3. Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering North Dakota State University Fargo ND 58108 USA
  4. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry University of Windsor Windsor Ontario N9B3P4 Canada
  5. School of Materials Science and Engineering University of Science and Technology Beijing Beijing 100083 P. R. China
  6. Neutron Scattering Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN 37831 USA
  7. Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering North Dakota State University Fargo ND 58108 USA, Department of Aerospace Engineering Iowa State University Ames IA 50011 USA

Abstract Tuning the optoelectronic properties of donor‐acceptor conjugated polymers (D‐A CPs) is of great importance in designing various organic optoelectronic devices. However, there remains a critical challenge in precise control of bandgap through synthetic approach, since the chain conformation also affects molecular orbital energy levels. Here, D‐A CPs with different acceptor units are explored that show an opposite trend in energy band gaps with the increasing length of oligothiophene donor units. By investigating their chain conformation and molecular orbital energy, it is found that the molecular orbital energy alignment between donor and acceptor units plays a crucial role in dictating the final optical bandgap of D‐A CPs. For polymers with staggered orbital energy alignment, the higher HOMO with increasing oligothiophene length leads to a narrowing of the optical bandgap despite decreased chain rigidity. On the other hand, for polymers with sandwiched orbital energy alignment, the increased band gap with increasing oligothiophene length originates from the reduction of bandwidth due to more localized charge density distribution. Thus, this work provides a molecular understanding of the role of backbone building blocks on the chain conformation and bandgaps of D‐A CPs for organic optoelectronic devices through the conformation design and segment orbital energy alignment.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
1993899
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1992567
Journal Information:
Advanced Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Materials Vol. 35 Journal Issue: 41; ISSN 0935-9648
Publisher:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English

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