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Xu YC, Ding L, Yao ZF, Shao Y, Wang JY, Zhang WB, Pei J. Conjugated Polymers in Solution: A Physical Perspective. J Phys Chem Lett 2023; 14:927-939. [PMID: 36669464 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Excellent progress has been made in the optoelectronic properties of conjugated polymers by controlling solution-state aggregation. However, due to the wide variety and complex structures of conjugated polymers, it is still challenging to fully understand the complex aggregation process and microstructures both in solution and in the solid state. This Perspective focuses on the chain conformations and the aggregation of conjugated polymers in solution. We discuss the factors in detail which affect solution-state aggregation and microstructures from the perspective of polymer physics in solutions, including chemical structures and environmental conditions. Based on the understanding of multiple interactions of conjugated polymers in solution, strategies to regulate solid-state microstructures and obtain high-performance polymer-based devices from solution-state aggregation are summarized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Chun Xu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
| | - Li Ding
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
| | - Ze-Fan Yao
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
| | - Yu Shao
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
| | - Jie-Yu Wang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
| | - Wen-Bin Zhang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
| | - Jian Pei
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
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2
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Boehm BJ, McNeill CR, Huang DM. Competing single-chain folding and multi-chain aggregation pathways control solution-phase aggregate morphology of organic semiconducting polymers. NANOSCALE 2022; 14:18070-18086. [PMID: 36448546 DOI: 10.1039/d2nr04750k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the solution-phase behaviour of organic semiconducting polymers is important for systematically improving the performance of devices based on solution-processed thin films of these molecules. Conventional polymer theory predicts that polymer conformations become more compact as solvent quality decreases, but recent experiments have shown the high-performance organic-semiconducting polymer P(NDI2OD-T2) to form extended rod-like aggregates much larger than a single chain in poor solvents, with the formation of these extended aggregates correlated with enhanced electron mobility in films deposited from these solutions. We explain the unexpected formation of extended aggregates using a novel coarse-grained simulation model of P(NDI2OD-T2) that we have developed to study the effect of solvent quality on its solution-phase behaviour. In poor solvents, we find that aggregation through only a few monomers gives effectively inseparable chains, leading to the formation of extended structures of partially overlapping chains via non-equilibrium assembly. This behaviour requires that multi-chain aggregation occurs faster than chain folding, which we show is the case for the chain lengths and concentrations shown experimentally to form rod-like aggregates. This kinetically controlled process introduces a dependence of aggregate structure on concentration, chain length, and chain flexibility, which we show is able to reconcile experimental findings and is generalisable to the solution-phase assembly of other semiflexible polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belinda J Boehm
- Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
| | - Christopher R McNeill
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - David M Huang
- Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
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3
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Callaway CP, Liu AL, Venkatesh R, Zheng Y, Lee M, Meredith JC, Grover M, Risko C, Reichmanis E. The Solution is the Solution: Data-Driven Elucidation of Solution-to-Device Feature Transfer for π-Conjugated Polymer Semiconductors. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2022; 14:3613-3620. [PMID: 35037454 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c20994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The advent of data analytics techniques and materials informatics provides opportunities to accelerate the discovery and development of organic semiconductors for electronic devices. However, the development of engineering solutions is limited by the ability to control thin-film morphology in an immense parameter space. The combination of high-throughput experimentation (HTE) laboratory techniques and data analytics offers tremendous avenues to traverse the expansive domains of tunable variables offered by organic semiconductor thin films. This Perspective outlines the steps required to incorporate a comprehensive informatics methodology into the experimental development of polymer-based organic semiconductor technologies. The translation of solution processing and property metrics to thin-film behavior is crucial to inform efficient HTE for data collection and application of data-centric tools to construct new process-structure-property relationships. We argue that detailed investigation of the solution state prior to deposition in conjunction with thin-film characterization will yield a deeper understanding of the physicochemical mechanisms influencing performance in π-conjugated polymer electronics, with data-driven approaches offering predictive capabilities previously unattainable via traditional experimental means.
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Affiliation(s)
- Connor P Callaway
- Department of Chemistry & Center for Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0055, United States
| | - Aaron L Liu
- School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Rahul Venkatesh
- School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Yulong Zheng
- School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 901 Atlantic Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Myeongyeon Lee
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
| | - J Carson Meredith
- School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Martha Grover
- School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Chad Risko
- Department of Chemistry & Center for Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0055, United States
| | - Elsa Reichmanis
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
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4
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Callaway CP, Bombile JH, Mask W, Ryno SM, Risko C. Thermomechanical enhancement of
DPP‐4T
through purposeful
π‐conjugation
disruption. JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/pol.20210494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Connor P. Callaway
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Applied Energy Research University of Kentucky Lexington Kentucky USA
| | - Joel H. Bombile
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Applied Energy Research University of Kentucky Lexington Kentucky USA
| | - Walker Mask
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Applied Energy Research University of Kentucky Lexington Kentucky USA
| | - Sean M. Ryno
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Applied Energy Research University of Kentucky Lexington Kentucky USA
| | - Chad Risko
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Applied Energy Research University of Kentucky Lexington Kentucky USA
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5
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Manurung R, Li P, Troisi A. Rapid Method for Calculating the Conformationally Averaged Electronic Structure of Conjugated Polymers. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:6338-6348. [PMID: 34097424 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c02866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
We developed a rapid method to calculate the average electronic structure properties of large ensembles of conjugated polymer chains sampling their conformational space. This is achieved by using the localized molecular orbital (MO) method to rapidly compute the MOs and their energies for isolated polymer chains and through using a calibration scheme to further correct the obtained energies by comparison with a few accurate calculations. The method is applied to the study of the density of states and orbital localization characteristics for five polymers. It is shown that all key properties of the individual chain related to the charge mobility can be rationalized in terms of the properties of the constituent monomers, their interaction, and the conformational flexibility of the chain. More specifically we identify the features that lead to greater charge delocalization. Finally, we discuss the prospect of using this method for a computational high-throughput screening of conjugated polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rex Manurung
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, UK
| | - Ping Li
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, UK
| | - Alessandro Troisi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, UK
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6
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Alfonso-Hernandez L, Oldani N, Athanasopoulos S, Lupton JM, Tretiak S, Fernandez-Alberti S. Photoinduced Energy Transfer in Linear Guest-Host Chromophores: A Computational Study. J Phys Chem A 2021; 125:5303-5313. [PMID: 34106721 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c02644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Polymer-based guest-host systems represent a promising class of materials for efficient light-emitting diodes. The energy transfer from the polymer host to the guest is the key process in light generation. Therefore, microscopic descriptions of the different mechanisms involved in the energy transfer can contribute to enlighten the basis of the highly efficient light harvesting observed in this kind of materials. Herein, the nature of intramolecular energy transfer in a dye-end-capped conjugated polymer is explored by using atomistic nonadiabatic excited-state molecular dynamics. Linear perylene end-capped (PEC) polyindenofluorenes (PIF), consisting of n (n = 2, 4, and 6) repeat units, i.e., PEC-PIFn oligomers, are considered as model systems. After photoexcitation at the oligomer absorption maximum, an initial exciton becomes self-trapped on one of the monomer units (donors). Thereafter, an efficient ultrafast through-space energy transfer from this unit to the perylene acceptor takes place. We observe that this energy transfer occurs equally well from any monomer unit on the chain. Effective specific vibronic couplings between each monomer and the acceptor are identified. These oligomer → end-cap energy transfer steps do not match with the rates predicted by Förster-type energy transfer. The through-space and through-bond mechanisms are two distinct channels of energy transfer. The former dominates the overall process, whereas the through-bond energy transfer between indenofluorene monomer units along the oligomer backbone only makes a minor contribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Alfonso-Hernandez
- Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnologia, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes/CONICET, B1876BXD Bernal, Argentina
| | - N Oldani
- Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnologia, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes/CONICET, B1876BXD Bernal, Argentina
| | - S Athanasopoulos
- Departamento de Física, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Avenida Universidad 30, 28911 Leganés, Madrid, Spain
| | - J M Lupton
- Institut für Angewandte und Experimentelle Physik, Universität Regensburg, Universitätsstrasse 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - S Tretiak
- Theoretical Division, Center for Nonlinear Studies (CNLS), and Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, United States
| | - S Fernandez-Alberti
- Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnologia, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes/CONICET, B1876BXD Bernal, Argentina
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7
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Ghasemi M, Balar N, Peng Z, Hu H, Qin Y, Kim T, Rech JJ, Bidwell M, Mask W, McCulloch I, You W, Amassian A, Risko C, O'Connor BT, Ade H. A molecular interaction-diffusion framework for predicting organic solar cell stability. NATURE MATERIALS 2021; 20:525-532. [PMID: 33432145 DOI: 10.1038/s41563-020-00872-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Rapid increase in the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs) has been achieved with the development of non-fullerene small-molecule acceptors (NF-SMAs). Although the morphological stability of these NF-SMA devices critically affects their intrinsic lifetime, their fundamental intermolecular interactions and how they govern property-function relations and morphological stability of OSCs remain elusive. Here, we discover that the diffusion of an NF-SMA into the donor polymer exhibits Arrhenius behaviour and that the activation energy Ea scales linearly with the enthalpic interaction parameters χH between the polymer and the NF-SMA. Consequently, the thermodynamically most unstable, hypo-miscible systems (high χ) are the most kinetically stabilized. We relate the differences in Ea to measured and selectively simulated molecular self-interaction properties of the constituent materials and develop quantitative property-function relations that link thermal and mechanical characteristics of the NF-SMA and polymer to predict relative diffusion properties and thus morphological stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masoud Ghasemi
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Nrup Balar
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Zhengxing Peng
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Huawei Hu
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Yunpeng Qin
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Taesoo Kim
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Jeromy J Rech
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Matthew Bidwell
- Department of Chemistry and Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Walker Mask
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Iain McCulloch
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), KAUST Solar Center, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
- Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Wei You
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Aram Amassian
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Chad Risko
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Brendan T O'Connor
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
| | - Harald Ade
- Department of Physics and Organic and Carbon Electronics Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
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