Effect of Molecular Weight on the Morphology of a Polymer Semiconductor–Thermoplastic Elastomer Blend
Abstract
Polymer semiconductors (PSCs) are essential active materials in mechanically stretchable electronic devices. However, many exhibit low fracture strain due to their rigid chain conformation and the presence of large crystalline domains. Here, a PSC/elastomer blend, poly[((2,6-bis(thiophen-2-yl)-3,7-bis(9-octylnonadecyl)thieno[3,2-b]thieno[2',3':4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene)-5,5'-diyl)(2,5-bis(8-octyloctadecyl)-3,6-di(thiophen-2-yl)pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione)-5,5'-diyl]] (P2TDPP2TFT4) and polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene (SEBS) are systematically investigated. Specifically, the effects of molecular weight of both SEBS and P2TDPP2TFT4 on the resulting blend morphology, mechanical, and electrical properties are explored. In addition to commonly used techniques, atomic force microscopy-based nanomechanical images are used to provide additional insights into the blend film morphology. Opposing trends in SEBS-induced aggregation are observed for the different P2TDPP2TFT4 molecular weights upon increasing the SEBS molecular weight from 87 to 276 kDa. Furthermore, these trends are seen in device performance trends for both molecular weights of P2TDPP2TFT4. SEBS molecular weight also has a substantial influence on the mesoscale phase separation. Strain at fracture increases dramatically upon blending, reaching a maximum value of 640% ± 20% in the blended films measured with film-on-water method. These results highlight the importance of molecular weight for electronic devices. In addition, this study provides valuable insights into appropriate polymer selections for stretchable semiconducting thin films that simultaneously possess excellent mechanical and electrical properties.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[2];
[3];
[2]
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering Stanford University Stanford CA 94305 USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering Stanford University Stanford CA 94305 USA
- School of Polymer Science and Engineering The University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg MS 3940 USA
- Department of Chemistry Stanford University USA
- Corning Incorporated Corning New York NY 14831 USA
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE); National Science Foundation (NSF); German Research Foundation (DFG)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1914341
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1975751; OSTI ID: 1994837; OSTI ID: 1995593
- Grant/Contract Number:
- DE‐AC02‐76SF00515; SC0016523; DGE-1656518; AC02-76SF00515; DMR-2047689; DFG 456522816; ECCS-2026822
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Electronic Materials
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Advanced Electronic Materials Journal Volume: 9 Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 2199-160X
- Publisher:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Organic semiconductors; Polymer blend; Elastomer; Polymer semiconductor; Organic field effect transistor
Citation Formats
Peña‐Alcántara, Amnahir, Nikzad, Shayla, Michalek, Lukas, Prine, Nathaniel, Wang, Yunfei, Gong, Huaxin, Ponte, Elisa, Schneider, Sebastian, Wu, Yilei, Root, Samuel E., He, Mingqian, Tok, Jeffrey B. ‐H., Gu, Xiaodan, and Bao, Zhenan. Effect of Molecular Weight on the Morphology of a Polymer Semiconductor–Thermoplastic Elastomer Blend. United States: N. p., 2023.
Web. doi:10.1002/aelm.202201055.
Peña‐Alcántara, Amnahir, Nikzad, Shayla, Michalek, Lukas, Prine, Nathaniel, Wang, Yunfei, Gong, Huaxin, Ponte, Elisa, Schneider, Sebastian, Wu, Yilei, Root, Samuel E., He, Mingqian, Tok, Jeffrey B. ‐H., Gu, Xiaodan, & Bao, Zhenan. Effect of Molecular Weight on the Morphology of a Polymer Semiconductor–Thermoplastic Elastomer Blend. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.202201055
Peña‐Alcántara, Amnahir, Nikzad, Shayla, Michalek, Lukas, Prine, Nathaniel, Wang, Yunfei, Gong, Huaxin, Ponte, Elisa, Schneider, Sebastian, Wu, Yilei, Root, Samuel E., He, Mingqian, Tok, Jeffrey B. ‐H., Gu, Xiaodan, and Bao, Zhenan. Thu .
"Effect of Molecular Weight on the Morphology of a Polymer Semiconductor–Thermoplastic Elastomer Blend". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.202201055.
@article{osti_1914341,
title = {Effect of Molecular Weight on the Morphology of a Polymer Semiconductor–Thermoplastic Elastomer Blend},
author = {Peña‐Alcántara, Amnahir and Nikzad, Shayla and Michalek, Lukas and Prine, Nathaniel and Wang, Yunfei and Gong, Huaxin and Ponte, Elisa and Schneider, Sebastian and Wu, Yilei and Root, Samuel E. and He, Mingqian and Tok, Jeffrey B. ‐H. and Gu, Xiaodan and Bao, Zhenan},
abstractNote = {Polymer semiconductors (PSCs) are essential active materials in mechanically stretchable electronic devices. However, many exhibit low fracture strain due to their rigid chain conformation and the presence of large crystalline domains. Here, a PSC/elastomer blend, poly[((2,6-bis(thiophen-2-yl)-3,7-bis(9-octylnonadecyl)thieno[3,2-b]thieno[2',3':4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene)-5,5'-diyl)(2,5-bis(8-octyloctadecyl)-3,6-di(thiophen-2-yl)pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione)-5,5'-diyl]] (P2TDPP2TFT4) and polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene (SEBS) are systematically investigated. Specifically, the effects of molecular weight of both SEBS and P2TDPP2TFT4 on the resulting blend morphology, mechanical, and electrical properties are explored. In addition to commonly used techniques, atomic force microscopy-based nanomechanical images are used to provide additional insights into the blend film morphology. Opposing trends in SEBS-induced aggregation are observed for the different P2TDPP2TFT4 molecular weights upon increasing the SEBS molecular weight from 87 to 276 kDa. Furthermore, these trends are seen in device performance trends for both molecular weights of P2TDPP2TFT4. SEBS molecular weight also has a substantial influence on the mesoscale phase separation. Strain at fracture increases dramatically upon blending, reaching a maximum value of 640% ± 20% in the blended films measured with film-on-water method. These results highlight the importance of molecular weight for electronic devices. In addition, this study provides valuable insights into appropriate polymer selections for stretchable semiconducting thin films that simultaneously possess excellent mechanical and electrical properties.},
doi = {10.1002/aelm.202201055},
journal = {Advanced Electronic Materials},
number = 9,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jan 19 00:00:00 EST 2023},
month = {Thu Jan 19 00:00:00 EST 2023}
}
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