Synthesis, Thermal Processing, and Thin Film Morphology of Poly(3-hexylthiophene)-Poly(styrenesulfonate) Block CopolymersShow others and affiliations
2015 (English)In: Macromolecules, ISSN 0024-9297, E-ISSN 1520-5835, Vol. 48, no 7, p. 2107-2117Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
A series of novel block copolymers, processable from single organic solvents and subsequently rendered amphiphilic by thermolysis, have been synthesized using Grignard metathesis (GRIM) and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerizations and azide-alkyne click chemistry. This chemistry is simple and allows the fabrication of well-defined block copolymers with controllable block lengths. The block copolymers, designed for use as interfacial adhesive layers in organic photovoltaics to enhance contact between the photoactive and hole transport layers, comprise printable poly(3-hexylthiophene)-block-poly(neopentyl p-styrenesulfonate), P3HT-b-PNSS. Subsequently, they are converted to P3HT-b-poly(p-styrenesulfonate), P3HT-b-PSS, following deposition and thermal treatment at 150 degrees C. Grazing incidence small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS/GIWAXS) revealed that thin films of the amphiphilic block copolymers comprise lamellar nanodomains of P3HT crystallites that can be pushed further apart by increasing the PSS block lengths. The approach of using a thermally modifiable block allows deposition of this copolymer from a single organic solvent and subsequent conversion to an amphiphilic layer by nonchemical means, particularly attractive to large scale roll-to-roll industrial printing processes.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Chemical Society (ACS), 2015. Vol. 48, no 7, p. 2107-2117
National Category
Materials Engineering
Research subject
Materials Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-64642DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5b00213ISI: 000353176900022OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-64642DiVA, id: diva2:1148432
2017-10-112017-10-112019-06-10Bibliographically approved