1
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Wang CI, Maier JC, Jackson NE. Accessing the electronic structure of liquid crystalline semiconductors with bottom-up electronic coarse-graining. Chem Sci 2024; 15:8390-8403. [PMID: 38846409 PMCID: PMC11151863 DOI: 10.1039/d3sc06749a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Understanding the relationship between multiscale morphology and electronic structure is a grand challenge for semiconducting soft materials. Computational studies aimed at characterizing these relationships require the complex integration of quantum-chemical (QC) calculations, all-atom and coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics simulations, and back-mapping approaches. However, these methods pose substantial computational challenges that limit their application to the requisite length scales of soft material morphologies. Here, we demonstrate the bottom-up electronic coarse-graining (ECG) of morphology-dependent electronic structure in the liquid-crystal-forming semiconductor, 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-7-octyl-benzothienobenzothiophene (BTBT). ECG is applied to construct density functional theory (DFT)-accurate valence band Hamiltonians of the isotropic and smectic liquid crystal (LC) phases using only the CG representation of BTBT. By bypassing the atomistic resolution and its prohibitive computational costs, ECG enables the first calculations of the morphology dependence of the electronic structure of charge carriers across LC phases at the ∼20 nm length scale, with robust statistical sampling. Kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations reveal a strong morphology dependence on zero-field charge mobility among different LC phases as well as the presence of two-molecule charge carriers that act as traps and hinder charge transport. We leverage these results to further evaluate the feasibility of developing mesoscopic, field-based ECG models in future works. The fully CG approach to electronic property predictions in LC semiconductors opens a new computational direction for designing electronic processes in soft materials at their characteristic length scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-I Wang
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 505 S Mathews Avenue Urbana Illinois 61801 USA
| | - J Charlie Maier
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 505 S Mathews Avenue Urbana Illinois 61801 USA
| | - Nicholas E Jackson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 505 S Mathews Avenue Urbana Illinois 61801 USA
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2
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Wood EL, Greco C, Ivanov DA, Kremer K, Daoulas KC. Mesoscopic Modeling of a Highly-Ordered Sanidic Polymer Mesophase and Comparison With Experimental Data. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:2285-2298. [PMID: 35290739 PMCID: PMC8958507 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c10599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Board-shaped polymers
form sanidic mesophases: assemblies of parallel
lamellae of stacked polymer backbones separated by disordered side
chains. Sanidics vary significantly with respect to polymer order
inside their lamellae, making them “stepping stones”
toward the crystalline state. Therefore, they are potentially interesting
for studying crystallization and technological applications. Building
on earlier mesoscopic models of the most disordered sanidics Σd, we focus on the other extreme, near-crystalline order, and
develop a generic model that captures a highly ordered Σr mesophase. Polymers are described by generic hindered-rotation
chains. Anisotropic nonbonded potentials, with strengths comparable
to the thermal energy, mimic board-like monomer shapes. Lamellae equilibrated
with Monte Carlo simulations, for a broad range of model parameters,
have intralamellar order typical for Σr mesophases:
periodically stacked polymers that are mutually registered along their
backbones. Our mesophase shows registration on both monomer and chain
levels. We calculate scattering patterns and compare with data published
for highly ordered sanidic mesophases of two different polymers: polyesters
and polypeptoids. Most of the generic structural features that were
identified in these experiments are present in our model. However,
our mesophase has correlations between chains located in different
lamellae and is therefore closer to the crystalline state than the
experimental samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma L Wood
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Cristina Greco
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Dimitri A Ivanov
- Institute for Problems of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Semenov Prospect 1, 142432 Chernogolovka, Russia.,Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1, 119991 Moscow, Russia.,Institut de Sciences des Matériaux de Mulhouse, CNRS UMR 7361, 15 Jean Starcky, F-68057 Mulhouse, France.,Sirius University of Science and Technology, 1 Olympic Ave, 354340, Sochi, Russia
| | - Kurt Kremer
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Kostas Ch Daoulas
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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3
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Reisjalali M, Manurung R, Carbone P, Troisi A. Development of hybrid coarse-grained atomistic models for rapid assessment of local structuring of polymeric semiconductors. MOLECULAR SYSTEMS DESIGN & ENGINEERING 2022; 7:294-305. [PMID: 35646391 PMCID: PMC9074845 DOI: 10.1039/d1me00165e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Decades of work in the field of computational study of semiconducting polymers using atomistic models illustrate the challenges of generating equilibrated models for this class of materials. While adopting a coarse-grained model can be helpful, the process of developing a suitable model is particularly non-trivial and time-consuming for semiconducting polymers due to a large number of different interactions with some having an anisotropic nature. This work introduces a procedure for the rapid generation of a hybrid model for semiconducting polymers where atoms of secondary importance (those in the alkyl side chains) are transformed into coarse-grained beads to reduce the computational cost of generating an equilibrated structure. The parameters are determined from easy-to-equilibrate simulations of very short oligomers and the model is constructed to enable a very simple back-mapping procedure to reconstruct geometries with atomistic resolution. The model is illustrated for three related polymers containing DPP (diketopyrrolopyrrole) to evaluate the transferability of the potential across different families of polymers. The accuracy of the model, determined by comparison with the results of fully equilibrated simulations of the same material before and after back-mapping, is fully satisfactory for two out of the three cases considered. We noticed that accuracy can be determined very early in the workflow so that it is easy to assess when the deployment of this method is advantageous. The hybrid representation can be used to evaluate directly the electronic properties of structures sampled by the simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Reisjalali
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool Crown St L69 7ZD Liverpool UK
| | - Rex Manurung
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool Crown St L69 7ZD Liverpool UK
| | - Paola Carbone
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science Oxford Road M13 9PL Manchester UK
| | - Alessandro Troisi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool Crown St L69 7ZD Liverpool UK
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4
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Berressem F, Scherer C, Andrienko D, Nikoubashman A. Ultra-coarse-graining of homopolymers in inhomogeneous systems. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2021; 33:254002. [PMID: 33845463 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/abf6e2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
We develop coarse-grained (CG) models for simulating homopolymers in inhomogeneous systems, focusing on polymer films and droplets. If the CG polymers interact solely through two-body potentials, then the films and droplets either dissolve or collapse into small aggregates, depending on whether the effective polymer-polymer interactions have been determined from reference simulations in the bulk or at infinite dilution. To address this shortcoming, we include higher order interactions either through an additional three-body potential or a local density-dependent potential (LDP). We parameterize the two- and three-body potentials via force matching, and the LDP through relative entropy minimization. While the CG models with three-body interactions fail at reproducing stable polymer films and droplets, CG simulations with an LDP are able to do so. Minor quantitative differences between the reference and the CG simulations, namely a slight broadening of interfaces accompanied by a smaller surface tension in the CG simulations, can be attributed to the deformation of polymers near the interfaces, which cannot be resolved in the CG representation, where the polymers are mapped to spherical beads.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Berressem
- Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Christoph Scherer
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Denis Andrienko
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Arash Nikoubashman
- Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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5
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Cohen AE, Jackson NE, de Pablo JJ. Anisotropic Coarse-Grained Model for Conjugated Polymers: Investigations into Solution Morphologies. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander E. Cohen
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Nicholas E. Jackson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
- Center for Molecular Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States
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6
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Müller M. Process-directed self-assembly of copolymers: Results of and challenges for simulation studies. Prog Polym Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2019.101198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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7
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Zhang L, Zhao K, Li H, Zhang T, Liu D, Han Y. Liquid Crystal Ordering on Conjugated Polymers Film Morphology for High Performance. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/polb.24885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and ChemistryChangchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun People's Republic of China
- University of Science and Technology of China Hefei People's Republic of China
| | - Kefeng Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and ChemistryChangchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun People's Republic of China
- University of Science and Technology of China Hefei People's Republic of China
| | - Hongxiang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and ChemistryChangchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun People's Republic of China
- University of Science and Technology of China Hefei People's Republic of China
| | - Tao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and ChemistryChangchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun People's Republic of China
- University of Science and Technology of China Hefei People's Republic of China
| | - Duo Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and ChemistryChangchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun People's Republic of China
- University of Science and Technology of China Hefei People's Republic of China
| | - Yanchun Han
- State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and ChemistryChangchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun People's Republic of China
- University of Science and Technology of China Hefei People's Republic of China
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8
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Kim HJ, Kim JS, Kim Y, Jung YS, Kim BJ, Kim Y. Regioregularity controlled phase behavior for Poly(3-hexylthiophene): A combined study of simple coarse-grained simulation and experiment. POLYMER 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2019.121569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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9
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Munshi J, Ghumman UF, Iyer A, Dulal R, Chen W, Chien T, Balasubramanian G. Effect of polydispersity on the bulk‐heterojunction morphology of P3HT:PCBM solar cells. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/polb.24854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Joydeep Munshi
- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Lehigh University Bethlehem Pennsylvania 18015
| | - Umar Farooq Ghumman
- Department of Mechanical Engineering Northwestern University Evanston Illinois 60208
| | - Akshay Iyer
- Department of Mechanical Engineering Northwestern University Evanston Illinois 60208
| | - Rabindra Dulal
- Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming 82071
| | - Wei Chen
- Department of Mechanical Engineering Northwestern University Evanston Illinois 60208
| | - TeYu Chien
- Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming 82071
| | - Ganesh Balasubramanian
- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Lehigh University Bethlehem Pennsylvania 18015
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10
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Greco C, Melnyk A, Kremer K, Andrienko D, Daoulas KC. Generic Model for Lamellar Self-Assembly in Conjugated Polymers: Linking Mesoscopic Morphology and Charge Transport in P3HT. Macromolecules 2019; 52:968-981. [PMID: 30792553 PMCID: PMC6376450 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2018] [Revised: 12/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
We develop a generic coarse-grained model of soluble conjugated polymers, capable of describing their self-assembly into a lamellar mesophase. Polymer chains are described by a hindered-rotation model, where interaction centers represent entire repeat units, including side chains. We introduce soft anisotropic nonbonded interactions to mimic the potential of mean force between atomistic repeat units. The functional form of this potential reflects the symmetry of the molecular order in a lamellar mesophase. The model can generate both nematic and lamellar (sanidic smectic) molecular arrangements. We parametrize this model for a soluble conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and demonstrate that the simulated lamellar mesophase matches morphologies of low molecular weight P3HT, experimentally observed at elevated temperatures. A qualitative charge-transport model allows us to link local chain conformations and mesoscale order to charge transport. In particular, it shows how coarsening of lamellar domains and chain extension increase the charge carrier mobility. By modeling large systems and long chains, we can capture transport between lamellar layers, which is due to rare, but thermodynamically allowed, backbone bridges between neighboring layers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Greco
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Anton Melnyk
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Kurt Kremer
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Denis Andrienko
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Kostas Ch. Daoulas
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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11
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12
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Persson NE, Engmann S, Richter LJ, DeLongchamp DM. In Situ Observation of Alignment Templating by Seed Crystals in Highly Anisotropic Polymer Transistors. CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS : A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 2019; 31:10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b00888. [PMID: 38618186 PMCID: PMC11015433 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b00888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
Due to the highly directional nature of transport in polymer-based organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), alignment of the polymer backbone can significantly affect device performance. While many methods of alignment have been detailed, the mechanism of alignment is rarely revealed-especially in cases of flow-induced alignment. Polymer aggregates are often observed in highly aligned systems, but their role is similarly unclear. Here, we present a comprehensive characterization of blade-coated P(NDI2OD-T2) (N2200) for OFET applications, including a rigorous, multimodal characterization of its in-plane alignment. Film thickness follows the expected power-law dependence on coating speed, while bulk polymer backbone orientation transitions from perpendicular to parallel to the coating direction as speed is increased. Charge carrier mobility >2 cm2/(V s) is achieved parallel to the coating direction for aligned N2200 coated at 5 mm/s and is found to be strongly correlated with the in-plane alignment of the fibrillar morphology at the film's surface, characterized with atomic force microscopy and near-edge X-ray absorption. We develop a model of N2200 crystal anisotropy through rotational scans of grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) and use it to analyze simultaneous in situ GIWAXS and UV-vis reflectance data from polymer solutions coated at 5 mm/s. A small population of crystals align early in the drying process, but bulk alignment occurs very late in the drying process, likely mediated by a lyotropic liquid crystal phase transition templated by the aligned crystals. Our characterization also suggests that the majority of material in N2200 thin films is noncrystalline at these conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nils E. Persson
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Sebastian Engmann
- Theiss Research, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
- Nanoscale Device Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Lee J. Richter
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Dean M. DeLongchamp
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
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13
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Zhang J, Mukherji D, Kremer K, Daoulas KC. Studying polymer solutions with particle-based models linked to classical density functionals: co-non-solvency. SOFT MATTER 2018; 14:9282-9295. [PMID: 30403244 DOI: 10.1039/c8sm01358f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate the potential of hybrid particle-based models, where interactions are introduced through functionals of local order parameters, in describing multicomponent polymer solutions. The link to a free-energy-like functional is advantageous for controlling the thermodynamics of the model. We focus on co-non-solvency - the collapse of polymer chains in dilute mixtures with two miscible good solvents, having different affinities towards the polymer. We employ a simple model where polymers and solvents are represented, respectively, by worm-like chains and single particles. Non-bonded interactions are captured by a polynomial which is third order in local densities and can, therefore, describe liquid-vapour coexistence. The parameterisation of the functional benefits from an elementary mean-field approximation to the statistical mechanics of the model. The model provides a framework for Monte Carlo simulations using a particle-to-mesh algorithm. Studies with conventional generic bead-spring and all-atom models have demonstrated that co-non-solvency is caused by preferential binding of the better solvent (termed cosolvent) with polymer. Hence, segmental loops bridged by cosolvent molecules are formed, initiating polymer collapse. The mesoscopic hybrid model differs conceptually from the conventional microscopic descriptions. Yet, it reproduces the same co-non-solvency mechanism supporting its universality. Films of adsorbed ternary solutions, showing co-non-solvency in the dilute regime, are considered at high concentrations. In this case, chains do not collapse. The properties of loops and tails of the adsorbed polymer agree with early theoretical predictions obtained for concentrated binary solutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianguo Zhang
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
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14
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Bowen AS, Jackson NE, Reid DR, de Pablo JJ. Structural Correlations and Percolation in Twisted Perylene Diimides Using a Simple Anisotropic Coarse-Grained Model. J Chem Theory Comput 2018; 14:6495-6504. [PMID: 30407817 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.8b00742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Large, twisted, and fused conjugated molecular architectures have begun to appear more prominently in the organic semiconductor literature. From a modeling perspective, such structures present a challenge to conventional simulation techniques; atomistic resolutions are computationally inefficient, while traditional isotropic coarse-grained models do not capture the inherent anisotropies of the molecules. In this work, we develop a simple coarse-grained model that explicitly incorporates the anisotropy of these molecular architectures, thereby providing a route toward analyzing π-stacking, and thus qualitative electronic structure, at a computationally efficient coarse-grained resolution. Our simple coarse-grained model maintains relative orientations of conjugated rings, as well as inter-ring dihedrals, that are critical for understanding electronic and excitonic transport in bulk systems. We apply this model to understand structural correlations in several recently synthesized perylene diimide (PDI)-based organic semiconductors. Twisted and nonplanar molecular architectures are found to promote amorphous morphologies while maintaining local π-stacking. A graph theoretical network analysis demonstrates that these twisted molecules are more likely to form percolating three-dimensional pathways for charge motion than strictly planar molecules, which show connectivity in only one dimension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alec S Bowen
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60615 , United States
| | - Nicholas E Jackson
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60615 , United States.,Argonne National Laboratory , Lemont , Illinois 06349 , United States
| | - Daniel R Reid
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60615 , United States
| | - Juan J de Pablo
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois 60615 , United States.,Argonne National Laboratory , Lemont , Illinois 06349 , United States
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15
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Milchev A, Egorov SA, Binder K, Nikoubashman A. Nematic order in solutions of semiflexible polymers: Hairpins, elastic constants, and the nematic-smectic transition. J Chem Phys 2018; 149:174909. [PMID: 30408984 DOI: 10.1063/1.5049630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Coarse-grained models of lyotropic solutions of semiflexible polymers are studied by both molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations, using an implicit solvent bead-spring model with a bond-angle potential. We systematically vary the monomer density, persistence length, and contour length over a wide range and explore the full range from the isotropic-nematic transition to the nematic-smectic transition. In the nematic regime, we span the entire regime from rigid-rod like polymers to thin wormlike chains, confined in effective straight tubes caused by the collective nematic effective ordering field. We show that the distribution of bond angles relative to the director is well described by a Gaussian, irrespective of whether the chains are rod-like or rather flexible. However, the related concept of "deflection length" is shown to make sense only in the latter case for rather dilute solutions since otherwise the deflection length is of the order of about two bond lengths only. When the solution is semi-dilute, a substantial renormalization of the persistence length occurs, while this effect is absent in the isotropic phase even at rather high monomer densities. The effective radii of the "tubes" confining the chains in the related description of orientational ordering are significantly larger than the distances between neighboring chains, providing evidence for a pronounced collective character of orientational fluctuations. Hairpins can be identified close to the isotropic-nematic transition, and their probability of occurrence agrees qualitatively with the Vroege-Odijk theory. The corresponding theoretical predictions for the elastic constants, however, are not in good agreement with the simulations. We attribute the shortcomings of the theories to their neglect of the coupling between local density and orientational fluctuations. Finally, we detected for this model a transition to a smectic phase for reduced monomer densities near 0.7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrey Milchev
- Institute for Physical Chemistry, Bulgarian Academia of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Sergei A Egorov
- Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Kurt Binder
- Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Arash Nikoubashman
- Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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16
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Alves JCF, Freire JA. Distribution of Conjugation Lengths in an Ensemble of Lattice Polymers. MACROMOL THEOR SIMUL 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/mats.201800020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Joniel C. F. Alves
- Escola Politécnica; Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná; Curitiba-PR 80215-901 Brazil
| | - José A. Freire
- Departamento de Física; Universidade Federal do Paraná; Curitiba-PR 81531-990 Brazil
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17
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Bagheri B, Baumeier B, Karttunen M. Getting excited: challenges in quantum-classical studies of excitons in polymeric systems. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 18:30297-30304. [PMID: 27453482 DOI: 10.1039/c6cp02944b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
A combination of classical molecular dynamics (MM/MD) and quantum chemical calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) was performed to describe the conformational properties of diphenylethyne (DPE), methylated-DPE and poly para phenylene ethynylene (PPE). DFT calculations were employed to improve and develop force field parameters for MM/MD simulations. Many-body Green's function theory within the GW approximation and the Bethe-Salpeter (GW-BSE) equation were utilized to describe the excited states of the systems. The reliability of the excitation energies based on the MM/MD conformations was examined and compared to the excitation energies from DFT conformations. The results show an overall agreement between the optical excitations based on MM/MD conformations and DFT conformations. This allows for the calculation of excitation energies based on MM/MD conformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Behnaz Bagheri
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science & Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
| | - Björn Baumeier
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science & Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
| | - Mikko Karttunen
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science & Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
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18
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Ramírez-Hernández A, Hur SM, Armas-Pérez JC, de la Cruz MO, de Pablo JJ. Demixing by a Nematic Mean Field: Coarse-Grained Simulations of Liquid Crystalline Polymers. Polymers (Basel) 2017; 9:E88. [PMID: 30970766 PMCID: PMC6431948 DOI: 10.3390/polym9030088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2016] [Accepted: 02/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Liquid crystalline polymers exhibit a particular richness of behaviors that stems from their rigidity and their macromolecular nature. On the one hand, the orientational interaction between liquid-crystalline motifs promotes their alignment, thereby leading to the emergence of nematic phases. On the other hand, the large number of configurations associated with polymer chains favors formation of isotropic phases, with chain stiffness becoming the factor that tips the balance. In this work, a soft coarse-grained model is introduced to explore the interplay of chain stiffness, molecular weight and orientational coupling, and their role on the isotropic-nematic transition in homopolymer melts. We also study the structure of polymer mixtures composed of stiff and flexible polymeric molecules. We consider the effects of blend composition, persistence length, molecular weight and orientational coupling strength on the melt structure at the nano- and mesoscopic levels. Conditions are found where the systems separate into two phases, one isotropic and the other nematic. We confirm the existence of non-equilibrium states that exhibit sought-after percolating nematic domains, which are of interest for applications in organic photovoltaic and electronic devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abelardo Ramírez-Hernández
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; (S.-M.H.); (J.C.A.-P.)
| | - Su-Mi Hur
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; (S.-M.H.); (J.C.A.-P.)
- School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea
| | - Julio C. Armas-Pérez
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; (S.-M.H.); (J.C.A.-P.)
- División de Ciencias e Ingenierías, Campus León, Universidad de Guanajuato, Loma del Bosque 103, León, Guanajuato 37150, Mexico
| | - Monica Olvera de la Cruz
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA;
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; (S.-M.H.); (J.C.A.-P.)
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19
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Harrelson TF, Moulé AJ, Faller R. Modeling organic electronic materials: bridging length and time scales. MOLECULAR SIMULATION 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/08927022.2016.1273526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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20
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Milchev A, Egorov SA, Binder K. Semiflexible polymers confined in a slit pore with attractive walls: two-dimensional liquid crystalline order versus capillary nematization. SOFT MATTER 2017; 13:1888-1903. [PMID: 28180230 DOI: 10.1039/c7sm00105c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Semiflexible polymers under good solvent conditions interacting with attractive planar surfaces are investigated by Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations and classical Density Functional Theory (DFT). A bead-spring type potential complemented by a bending potential is used, allowing variation of chain stiffness from completely flexible coils to rod-like polymers whose persistence length by far exceeds their contour length. Solvent is only implicitly included, monomer-monomer interactions being purely repulsive, while two types of attractive wall-monomer interactions are considered: (i) a strongly attractive Mie-type potential, appropriate for a strictly structureless wall, and (ii) a corrugated wall formed by Lennard-Jones particles arranged on a square lattice. It is found that in dilute solutions the former case leads to the formation of a strongly adsorbed surface layer, and the profile of density and orientational order in the z-direction perpendicular to the wall is predicted by DFT in nice agreement with MD. While for very low bulk densities a Kosterlitz-Thouless type transition from the isotropic phase to a phase with power-law decay of nematic correlations is suggested to occur in the strongly adsorbed layer, for larger densities a smectic-C phase in the surface layer is detected. No "capillary nematization" effect at higher bulk densities is found in this system, unlike systems with repulsive walls. This finding is attributed to the reduction of the bulk density (in the center of the slit pore) due to polymer adsorption on the attractive wall, for a system studied in the canonical ensemble. Consequently in a system with two attractive walls nematic order in the slit pore can occur only at a higher density than for a bulk system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrey Milchev
- Institute for Physical Chemistry, Bulgarian Academia of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria. and Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - Sergei A Egorov
- Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany and Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22901, USA
| | - Kurt Binder
- Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany
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21
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Thermodynamics of a Compressible Maier-Saupe Model Based on the Self-Consistent Field Theory of Wormlike Polymer. Polymers (Basel) 2017; 9:polym9020048. [PMID: 30970727 PMCID: PMC6431982 DOI: 10.3390/polym9020048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2016] [Revised: 01/27/2017] [Accepted: 01/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper presents a theoretical formalism for describing systems of semiflexible polymers, which can have density variations due to finite compressibility and exhibit an isotropic-nematic transition. The molecular architecture of the semiflexible polymers is described by a continuum wormlike-chain model. The non-bonded interactions are described through a functional of two collective variables, the local density and local segmental orientation tensor. In particular, the functional depends quadratically on local density-variations and includes a Maier–Saupe-type term to deal with the orientational ordering. The specified density-dependence stems from a free energy expansion, where the free energy of an isotropic and homogeneous homopolymer melt at some fixed density serves as a reference state. Using this framework, a self-consistent field theory is developed, which produces a Helmholtz free energy that can be used for the calculation of the thermodynamics of the system. The thermodynamic properties are analysed as functions of the compressibility of the model, for values of the compressibility realizable in mesoscopic simulations with soft interactions and in actual polymeric materials.
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22
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Groves C. Simulating charge transport in organic semiconductors and devices: a review. REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS. PHYSICAL SOCIETY (GREAT BRITAIN) 2017; 80:026502. [PMID: 27991440 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6633/80/2/026502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Charge transport simulation can be a valuable tool to better understand, optimise and design organic transistors (OTFTs), photovoltaics (OPVs), and light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). This review presents an overview of common charge transport and device models; namely drift-diffusion, master equation, mesoscale kinetic Monte Carlo and quantum chemical Monte Carlo, and a discussion of the relative merits of each. This is followed by a review of the application of these models as applied to charge transport in organic semiconductors and devices, highlighting in particular the insights made possible by modelling. The review concludes with an outlook for charge transport modelling in organic electronics.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Groves
- Durham University, School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
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23
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Kuei B, Gomez ED. Chain conformations and phase behavior of conjugated polymers. SOFT MATTER 2016; 13:49-67. [PMID: 27506183 DOI: 10.1039/c6sm00979d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Conjugated polymers may play an important role in various emerging optoelectronic applications because they combine the chemical versatility of organic molecules and the flexibility, stretchability and toughness of polymers with semiconducting properties. Nevertheless, in order to achieve the full potential of conjugated polymers, a clear description of how their structure, morphology, and macroscopic properties are interrelated is needed. We propose that the starting point for understanding conjugated polymers includes understanding chain conformations and phase behavior. Efforts to predict and measure the persistence length have significantly refined our intuition of the chain stiffness, and have led to predictions of nematic-to-isotropic transitions. Exploring mixing between conjugated polymers and small molecules or other polymers has demonstrated tremendous advancements in attaining the needed properties for various optoelectronic devices. Current efforts continue to refine our knowledge of chain conformations and phase behavior and the factors that influence these properties, thereby providing opportunities for the development of novel optoelectronic materials based on conjugated polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brooke Kuei
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Enrique D Gomez
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. and Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
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24
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Greco C, Jiang Y, Chen JZY, Kremer K, Daoulas KC. Maier-Saupe model of polymer nematics: Comparing free energies calculated with Self Consistent Field theory and Monte Carlo simulations. J Chem Phys 2016; 145:184901. [PMID: 27846703 DOI: 10.1063/1.4966919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Self Consistent Field (SCF) theory serves as an efficient tool for studying mesoscale structure and thermodynamics of polymeric liquid crystals (LC). We investigate how some of the intrinsic approximations of SCF affect the description of the thermodynamics of polymeric LC, using a coarse-grained model. Polymer nematics are represented as discrete worm-like chains (WLC) where non-bonded interactions are defined combining an isotropic repulsive and an anisotropic attractive Maier-Saupe (MS) potential. The range of the potentials, σ, controls the strength of correlations due to non-bonded interactions. Increasing σ (which can be seen as an increase of coarse-graining) while preserving the integrated strength of the potentials reduces correlations. The model is studied with particle-based Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and SCF theory which uses partial enumeration to describe discrete WLC. In MC simulations the Helmholtz free energy is calculated as a function of strength of MS interactions to obtain reference thermodynamic data. To calculate the free energy of the nematic branch with respect to the disordered melt, we employ a special thermodynamic integration (TI) scheme invoking an external field to bypass the first-order isotropic-nematic transition. Methodological aspects which have not been discussed in earlier implementations of the TI to LC are considered. Special attention is given to the rotational Goldstone mode. The free-energy landscape in MC and SCF is directly compared. For moderate σ the differences highlight the importance of local non-bonded orientation correlations between segments, which SCF neglects. Simple renormalization of parameters in SCF cannot compensate the missing correlations. Increasing σ reduces correlations and SCF reproduces well the free energy in MC simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Greco
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Ying Jiang
- School of Chemistry and Environment, Center of Soft Matter Physics and its Applications, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Jeff Z Y Chen
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L4K1, Canada
| | - Kurt Kremer
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Kostas Ch Daoulas
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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25
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Bridges CR, Ford MJ, Popere BC, Bazan GC, Segalman RA. Formation and Structure of Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Mesophases in Donor–Acceptor Semiconducting Polymers. Macromolecules 2016. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.6b01650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Colin R. Bridges
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Materials, ‡Mitsubishi Center for Advanced
Materials, and §Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Michael J. Ford
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Materials, ‡Mitsubishi Center for Advanced
Materials, and §Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Bhooshan C. Popere
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Materials, ‡Mitsubishi Center for Advanced
Materials, and §Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Guillermo C. Bazan
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Materials, ‡Mitsubishi Center for Advanced
Materials, and §Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Rachel A. Segalman
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Materials, ‡Mitsubishi Center for Advanced
Materials, and §Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
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26
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Poelking C, Andrienko D. Long-Range Embedding of Molecular Ions and Excitations in a Polarizable Molecular Environment. J Chem Theory Comput 2016; 12:4516-23. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.6b00599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carl Poelking
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
- Heidelberg Graduate School of Fundamental Physics, INF 226, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Denis Andrienko
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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27
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Peng Y, He Z, Li H, Liang C. Understanding the phase behavior from multiple-step isothermally crystallized poly(3-hexylthiophene)s. POLYMER 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2016.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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28
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Snyder CR, Gomez ED. Phase Behavior of Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl). JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE. PART B, POLYMER PHYSICS 2016; 54:1202-1206. [PMID: 29187773 PMCID: PMC5702943 DOI: 10.1002/polb.24027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The phase behavior of many conjugated polymers is rich with both crystalline and liquid crystalline phases. Recent computational efforts have identified the isotropic-to-nematic transition temperature for polymers such as poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT). Herein, model predictions are combined with experimentally determined values of the equilibrium melting temperature as a function of chain length to provide the complete phase behavior for P3HT. Additionally, because a full description of the phase behavior requires proper accounting for the regioregularity of the chain, a thermodynamic relationship is derived to predict this behavior as a function of both chain length and regioregularity and the impact of regioregularity on the expected phase diagram is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chad R. Snyder
- Materials Science and Engineering Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Enrique D. Gomez
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States
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29
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Kordt P, Andrienko D. Modeling of Spatially Correlated Energetic Disorder in Organic Semiconductors. J Chem Theory Comput 2015; 12:36-40. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.5b00764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pascal Kordt
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg
10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Denis Andrienko
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg
10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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30
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Armas-Pérez JC, Londono-Hurtado A, Guzmán O, Hernández-Ortiz JP, de Pablo JJ. Theoretically informed Monte Carlo simulation of liquid crystals by sampling of alignment-tensor fields. J Chem Phys 2015; 143:044107. [DOI: 10.1063/1.4926790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Julio C. Armas-Pérez
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
| | | | - Orlando Guzmán
- Departamento de Física, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Iztapalapa, DF 09340, México
| | - Juan P. Hernández-Ortiz
- Departamento de Materiales y Minerales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Medellín, Medellín, Colombia
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
| | - Juan J. de Pablo
- Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
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31
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Yuan Y, Shu J, Liu P, Zhang Y, Duan Y, Zhang J. Study on π–π Interaction in H- and J-Aggregates of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Nanowires by Multiple Techniques. J Phys Chem B 2015; 119:8446-56. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b02805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Rubber-Plastics, Ministry of Education/Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Rubber-plastics, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
| | - Jie Shu
- Analysis
and Testing Center, Suzhou University, Renai Road 199, 215123 Suzhou, China
| | - Ping Liu
- Key Laboratory of Rubber-Plastics, Ministry of Education/Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Rubber-plastics, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
| | - Yinping Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Rubber-Plastics, Ministry of Education/Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Rubber-plastics, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
| | - Yongxin Duan
- Key Laboratory of Rubber-Plastics, Ministry of Education/Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Rubber-plastics, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
| | - Jianming Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Rubber-Plastics, Ministry of Education/Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Rubber-plastics, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
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32
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Laquai F, Andrienko D, Mauer R, Blom PWM. Charge Carrier Transport and Photogeneration in P3HT:PCBM Photovoltaic Blends. Macromol Rapid Commun 2015; 36:1001-25. [DOI: 10.1002/marc.201500047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2015] [Revised: 03/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Frédéric Laquai
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research; Ackermannweg 10 D-55122 Mainz Germany
| | - Denis Andrienko
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research; Ackermannweg 10 D-55122 Mainz Germany
| | - Ralf Mauer
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research; Ackermannweg 10 D-55122 Mainz Germany
| | - Paul W. M. Blom
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research; Ackermannweg 10 D-55122 Mainz Germany
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33
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Gemünden P, Poelking C, Kremer K, Daoulas K, Andrienko D. Effect of Mesoscale Ordering on the Density of States of Polymeric Semiconductors. Macromol Rapid Commun 2015; 36:1047-53. [DOI: 10.1002/marc.201400725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2014] [Revised: 01/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Carl Poelking
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research; 55128 Mainz Germany
| | - Kurt Kremer
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research; 55128 Mainz Germany
| | - Kostas Daoulas
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research; 55128 Mainz Germany
| | - Denis Andrienko
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research; 55128 Mainz Germany
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34
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Gemünden P, Daoulas KC. Fluctuation spectra in polymer nematics and Frank elastic constants: a coarse-grained modelling study. SOFT MATTER 2015; 11:532-544. [PMID: 25418080 DOI: 10.1039/c4sm02075h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Monte Carlo simulations of uniaxial nematic polymer melts are performed, based on a discrete worm-like chain model combined with soft, anisotropic non-bonded potentials. Different chain lengths are considered, the contour length of the longest being an order of magnitude larger than the persistence length. From equilibrated melt configurations, density and director fluctuation spectra are calculated and compared with analytical predictions available in literature. The latter typically correspond to hydrodynamic treatments of correlations and assume that there is no chain backfolding along the nematic director. Nevertheless, it is demonstrated that the analytical theories capture several features of the spectra obtained in the current simulations, where moderate backfolding of polymer chains is observed. Based on the available analytical expressions for density and director fluctuation spectra, material properties, such as Frank elastic constants, are extracted. Their dependence on polymerisation degree is studied and found to reproduce theoretically expected trends. For example, evidence is provided that the splay constant increases linearly with chain length, when effects of hairpins are negligible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Gemünden
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
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35
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Martín J, Campoy-Quiles M, Nogales A, Garriga M, Alonso MI, Goñi AR, Martín-González M. Poly(3-hexylthiophene) nanowires in porous alumina: internal structure under confinement. SOFT MATTER 2014; 10:3335-3346. [PMID: 24637713 DOI: 10.1039/c3sm52378k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
We study the structure of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) subjected to nanoscale confinement in two dimensions (2D) as imposed by the rigid walls of nanopore anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates. P3HT nanowires with aspect ratios (length-to-diameter) above 1000 and diameters ranging between 15 nm and 350 nm are produced in the pores of the AAO templates via two processing routes. These are, namely, drying a solution or cooling from the melt. Our study focuses on the effects of nanoconfinement on the semicrystalline nature of the nanowires, the orientation of crystals, and the evolution of the structures that P3HT might develop under confinement, which we investigate by combining imaging (SEM), spectroscopic (FTIR, photoluminescence) and structural characterization (WAXS, DSC) techniques. Solution-processed P3HT nanowires are essentially amorphous and porous, whereas melt-processed nanowires are semicrystalline, and present a more compact morphology and smoother surfaces. In the latter case, the orientation of crystals was found to strongly depend on the pore diameter. In large diameter nanowires (250 nm and 120 nm), crystals are oriented laying the π-π stacking direction parallel to the nanowire axis. In contrast, in small diameter nanowires, the π-π stacking direction is mainly perpendicular to the nanowires, as crystals are likely to nucleate at pore walls. The structural evolution of P3HT upon heating into weakly (250 nm in diameter) and strongly (15 nm in diameter) confining pores has been studied. A complex set of structures is observed, i.e., crystals, a solid layered mesophase, a nematic/smectic mesophase, and the isotropic melt. Interestingly, a rare crystal polymorph (form II) is also observed under strong confinement conditions together with the usual lamellar crystal form I. Furthermore, we show that nanoconfinement stabilizes form II: such crystals are still present at 210 °C while in the bulk they get converted to form I crystals at around 50 °C.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaime Martín
- Instituto de Microelectrónica de Madrid (IMM-CSIC), Calle de Isaac Newton 8, Tres Cantos, 28760 Madrid, Spain.
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36
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Kipp D, Ganesan V. Influence of Block Copolymer Compatibilizers on the Morphologies of Semiflexible Polymer/Solvent Blends. J Phys Chem B 2014; 118:4425-41. [DOI: 10.1021/jp501207y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Dylan Kipp
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Venkat Ganesan
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
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37
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Morphology and Charge Transport in P3HT: A Theorist’s Perspective. P3HT REVISITED – FROM MOLECULAR SCALE TO SOLAR CELL DEVICES 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/12_2014_277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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38
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Poelking C, Andrienko D. Effect of Polymorphism, Regioregularity and Paracrystallinity on Charge Transport in Poly(3-hexylthiophene) [P3HT] Nanofibers. Macromolecules 2013. [DOI: 10.1021/ma4015966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Carl Poelking
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Denis Andrienko
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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