Dynamic-template-directed multiscale assembly for large-area coating of highly-aligned conjugated polymer thin films

Erfan Mohammadi, Chuankai Zhao, Yifei Meng, Ge Qu, Fengjiao Zhang, Xikang Zhao, Jianguo Mei, Jian-Min Zuo, Diwakar Shukla and Ying Diao ()
Additional contact information
Erfan Mohammadi: University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign
Chuankai Zhao: University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign
Yifei Meng: University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign
Ge Qu: University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign
Fengjiao Zhang: University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign
Xikang Zhao: Purdue University
Jianguo Mei: Purdue University
Jian-Min Zuo: University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign
Diwakar Shukla: University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign
Ying Diao: University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Solution processable semiconducting polymers have been under intense investigations due to their diverse applications from printed electronics to biomedical devices. However, controlling the macromolecular assembly across length scales during solution coating remains a key challenge, largely due to the disparity in timescales of polymer assembly and high-throughput printing/coating. Herein we propose the concept of dynamic templating to expedite polymer nucleation and the ensuing assembly process, inspired by biomineralization templates capable of surface reconfiguration. Molecular dynamic simulations reveal that surface reconfigurability is key to promoting template–polymer interactions, thereby lowering polymer nucleation barrier. Employing ionic-liquid-based dynamic template during meniscus-guided coating results in highly aligned, highly crystalline donor–acceptor polymer thin films over large area (>1 cm2) and promoted charge transport along both the polymer backbone and the π–π stacking direction in field-effect transistors. We further demonstrate that the charge transport anisotropy can be reversed by tuning the degree of polymer backbone alignment.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms16070 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms16070

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms16070

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().