Work

Tailoring Charge Transport Properties of Anthracene‐Based Polymers by Modification of Thiophene‐Based Comonomers

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Anthracenes have become a rising star in organic semiconducting materials owing to the high stability and superior mobility. In spite of solution processability for large area fabrication, anthracene‐based polymers lag far behind small‐molecule counterparts in terms of molecular diversity and carrier mobility. Herein, we synthesized two anthracene‐based polymers via Stille reaction by incorporation of two structurally similar units bithophene and cyclopentadithiophene. Anthracene‐bithophene alternating polymer (PAnBT) polymer was calculated to take a twisted backbone conformation, showing very poor mobility of 3.6×10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1 with relatively low crystallinity and coarse film morphology. In contrast, anthracene‐cyclopentadithiophene alternating polymer (AnCPDT) polymer was calculated to adopt a planar backbone conformation and displayed significantly improved mobility up to 2.2×10−2 cm2 V−1 s−1 with relatively high crystallinity and smooth film morphology, which is one of the highest mobilities for anthracene‐based polymers. The different substitution positions of alkyl chains account for the varied polymer backbone conformations, resulting into a big discrepancy in film microstructures and charge carrier mobilities. This work demonstrates that design of planar backbone conformation is beneficial to improve charge transport characteristics for anthracene‐based polymers.

Source: Chemistry - An Asian Journal

DOI: 10.1002/asia.202401343

Authors: Zhihao Meng, Fan Sun, Tianyang Wang, Jun Jin, Xiaohui Jia, Yonggang Zhen