Toughening of a Soft Polar Polythiophene through Copolymerization with Hard Urethane Segments.

Polar polythiophenes with oligoethylene glycol side chains are exceedingly soft materials. A low glass transition temperature and low degree of crystallinity prevents their use as a bulk material. The synthesis of a copolymer comprising 1) soft polythiophene blocks with tetraethylene glycol side chains, and 2) hard urethane segments is reported. The molecular design is contrary to that of other semiconductor-insulator copolymers, which typically combine a soft nonconjugated spacer with hard conjugated segments. Copolymerization of polar polythiophenes and urethane segments results in a ductile material that can be used as a free-standing solid. The copolymer displays a storage modulus of 25 MPa at room temperature, elongation at break of 95%, and a reduced degree of swelling due to hydrogen bonding. Both chemical doping and electrochemical oxidation reveal that the introduction of urethane segments does not unduly reduce the hole charge-carrier mobility and ability to take up charge. Further, stable operation is observed when the copolymer is used as the active layer of organic electrochemical transistors.

High Thermoelectric Power Factor of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) through In-Plane Alignment and Doping with a Molybdenum Dithiolene Complex.

We report a record thermoelectric power factor of up to 160 µW m-1 K-2 for the conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). This result is achieved through the combination of high-temperature rubbing of thin films together with the use of a large molybdenum dithiolene p-dopant with a high electron affinity. Comparison of the UV-vis-NIR spectra of the chemically doped samples to electrochemically oxidized material reveals an oxidation level of 10%, i.e., one polaron for every 10 repeat units. The high power factor arises due to an increase in the charge-carrier mobility and hence electrical conductivity along the rubbing direction. We conclude that P3HT, with its facile synthesis and outstanding processability, should not be ruled out as a potential thermoelectric material.

All-Polymer Conducting Fibers and 3D Prints via Melt Processing and Templated Polymerization.

Because of their attractive mechanical properties, conducting polymers are widely perceived as materials of choice for wearable electronics and electronic textiles. However, most state-of-the-art conducting polymers contain harmful dopants and are only processable from solution but not in bulk, restricting the design possibilities for applications that require conducting micro-to-millimeter scale structures, such as textile fibers or thermoelectric modules. In this work, we present a strategy based on melt processing that enables the fabrication of nonhazardous, all-polymer conducting bulk structures composed of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) polymerized within a Nafion template. Importantly, we employ classical polymer processing techniques including melt extrusion followed by fiber spinning or fused filament 3D printing, which cannot be implemented with the majority of doped polymers. To demonstrate the versatility of our approach, we fabricated melt-spun PEDOT:Nafion fibers, which are highly flexible, retain their conductivity of about 3 S cm-1 upon stretching to 100% elongation, and can be used to construct organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). Furthermore, we demonstrate the precise 3D printing of complex conducting structures from OECTs to centimeter-sized PEDOT:Nafion figurines and millimeter-thick 100-leg thermoelectric modules on textile substrates. Thus, our strategy opens up new possibilities for the design of conducting, all-polymer bulk structures and the development of wearable electronics and electronic textiles.

Solar Energy Storage by Molecular Norbornadiene-Quadricyclane Photoswitches: Polymer Film Devices.

Devices that can capture and convert sunlight into stored chemical energy are attractive candidates for future energy technologies. A general challenge is to combine efficient solar energy capture with high energy densities and energy storage time into a processable composite for device application. Here, norbornadiene (NBD)-quadricyclane (QC) molecular photoswitches are embedded into polymer matrices, with possible applications in energy storing coatings. The NBD-QC photoswitches that are capable of absorbing sunlight with estimated solar energy storage efficiencies of up to 3.8% combined with attractive energy storage densities of up to 0.48 MJ kg-1. The combination of donor and acceptor units leads to an improved solar spectrum match with an onset of absorption of up to 529 nm and a lifetime (t 1/2) of up to 10 months. The NBD-QC systems with properties matched to a daily energy storage cycle are further investigated in the solid state by embedding the molecules into a series of polymer matrices revealing that polystyrene is the preferred choice of matrix. These polymer devices, which can absorb sunlight and over a daily cycle release the energy as heat, are investigated for their cyclability, showing multicycle reusability with limited degradation that might allow them to be applied as window laminates.

Thermally Activated in Situ Doping Enables Solid-State Processing of Conducting Polymers.

Free-standing bulk structures encompassing highly doped conjugated polymers are currently heavily explored for wearable electronics as thermoelectric elements, conducting fibers, and a plethora of sensory devices. One-step manufacturing of such bulk structures is challenging because the interaction of dopants with conjugated polymers results in poor solution and solid-state processability, whereas doping of thick conjugated polymer structures after processing suffers from diffusion-limited transport of the dopant. Here, we introduce the concept of thermally activated latent dopants for in situ bulk doping of conjugated polymers. Latent dopants allow for noninteractive coprocessing of dopants and polymers, while thermal activation eliminates any thickness-dependent diffusion and activation limitations. Two latent acid dopants were synthesized in the form of thermal acid generators based on aryl sulfonic acids and an o-nitrobenzyl capping moiety. First, we show that these acid dopant precursors can be coprocessed noninteractively with three different polythiophenes. Second, the polymer films were doped in situ through thermal activation of the dopants. Ultimately, we demonstrate that solid-state processing with a latent acid dopant can be readily carried out and that it is possible to dope more than 100 µm-thick polymer films through thermal activation of the latent dopant.

Diffusion-Limited Crystallization: A Rationale for the Thermal Stability of Non-Fullerene Solar Cells.

Organic solar cells are thought to suffer from poor thermal stability of the active layer nanostructure, a common belief that is based on the extensive work that has been carried out on fullerene-based systems. We show that a widely studied non-fullerene acceptor, the indacenodithienothiophene-based acceptor ITIC, crystallizes in a profoundly different way as compared to fullerenes. Although fullerenes are frozen below the glass-transition temperature Tg of the photovoltaic blend, ITIC can undergo a glass-crystal transition considerably below its high Tg of ∼180 °C. Nanoscopic crystallites of a low-temperature polymorph are able to form through a diffusion-limited crystallization process. The resulting fine-grained nanostructure does not evolve further with time and hence is characterized by a high degree of thermal stability. Instead, above Tg, the low temperature polymorph melts, and micrometer-sized crystals of a high-temperature polymorph develop, enabled by more rapid diffusion and hence long-range mass transport. This leads to the same detrimental decrease in photovoltaic performance that is known to occur also in the case of fullerene-based blends. Besides explaining the superior thermal stability of non-fullerene blends at relatively high temperatures, our work introduces a new rationale for the design of bulk heterojunctions that is not based on the selection of high- Tg materials per se but diffusion-limited crystallization. The planar structure of ITIC and potentially other non-fullerene acceptors readily facilitates the desired glass-crystal transition, which constitutes a significant advantage over fullerenes, and may pave the way for truly stable organic solar cells.

Double doping of conjugated polymers with monomer molecular dopants.

Molecular doping is a crucial tool for controlling the charge-carrier concentration in organic semiconductors. Each dopant molecule is commonly thought to give rise to only one polaron, leading to a maximum of one donor:acceptor charge-transfer complex and hence an ionization efficiency of 100%. However, this theoretical limit is rarely achieved because of incomplete charge transfer and the presence of unreacted dopant. Here, we establish that common p-dopants can in fact accept two electrons per molecule from conjugated polymers with a low ionization energy. Each dopant molecule participates in two charge-transfer events, leading to the formation of dopant dianions and an ionization efficiency of up to 200%. Furthermore, we show that the resulting integer charge-transfer complex can dissociate with an efficiency of up to 170%. The concept of double doping introduced here may allow the dopant fraction required to optimize charge conduction to be halved.

All-Organic Textile Thermoelectrics with Carbon-Nanotube-Coated n-Type Yarns.

Thermoelectric textiles that are able to generate electricity from heat gradients may find use as power sources for a wide range of miniature wearable electronics. To realize such thermoelectric textiles, both p- and n-type yarns are needed. The realization of air-stable and flexible n-type yarns, i.e., conducting yarns where electrons are the majority charge carriers, presents a considerable challenge due to the scarcity of air-stable n-doped organic materials. Here, we realize such n-type yarns by coating commercial sewing threads with a nanocomposite of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP). Our n-type yarns have a bulk conductivity of 1 S cm-1 and a Seebeck coefficient of -14 µV K-1, which is stable for several months at ambient conditions. We combine our coated n-type yarns with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) dyed silk yarns, constituting the p-type component, to realize a textile thermoelectric module with 38 n/p elements, which are capable of producing an open-circuit voltage of 143 mV when exposed to a temperature gradient of 116 °C and a maximum power output of 7.1 nW at a temperature gradient of 80 °C.

Highly stable doping of a polar polythiophene through co-processing with sulfonic acids and bistriflimide.

Doping of organic semiconductors is currently an intensely studied field, since it is a powerful tool to optimize the performance of various organic electronic devices, ranging from organic solar cells, to thermoelectric modules, and bio-medical sensors. Despite recent advances, there is still a need for the development of highly conducting polymer:dopant systems with excellent long term stability and a high resistance to elevated temperatures. In this work we study the doping of the polar polythiophene derivative p(g42T-T) by various sulfonic acids and bistriflimide via different processing techniques. We demonstrate that simple co-processing of p(g42T-T) with an acid dopant yields conductivities of up to 120 S cm-1, which remain stable for more than six months under ambient conditions. Notably, a high conductivity is only achieved if the doping is carried out in air, which can be explained with a doping process that involves an acid mediated oxidation of the polymer through O2. P(g42T-T) doped with the non-toxic and inexpensive 1,3-propanedisulfonic acid was found to retain its electrical conductivity for at least 20 hours upon annealing at 120 °C, which allowed the bulk processing of the doped polymer into conducting, free-standing and flexible films and renders the di-acid a promising alternative to commonly used redox dopants.

An Alternative Anionic Polyelectrolyte for Aqueous PEDOT Dispersions: Toward Printable Transparent Electrodes.

Organic conducting polymers are promising electrode materials for printable organic electronics. One of the most studied conducting polymers is PEDOT: PSS, which is sufficiently conductive and transparent, but which shows some drawbacks, such as hygroscopicity and acidity. A new approach to stabilize PEDOT in aqueous dispersions involves the replacement of PSS with a basic polyanion based on a polystyrene backbone with (trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (TSFI) side groups. The PEDOT: PSTFSIK dispersions were obtained by oxidative polymerization of EDOT in an aqueous PSTFSIK solution and were characterized with regard to their composition, morphology, doping, rheological behavior, and optoelectronic performance. The PEDOT: PSTFSIK dispersions showed excellent printability and good optoelectronic performance (238 Ohm sq(-1) at 91% transmittance, σ>260 S cm(-1)) and were successfully integrated as flexible electrodes in OLED and OPV devices.