2022 article
Efficient Selective Sorting of Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes Using Ultra-Narrow-Band-Gap Polymers
Talsma, W., Ye, G., Liu, Y., Duim, H., Dijkstra, S., Tran, K., … Loi, M. A. (2022, August 9). ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES.
author keywords: low-band-gap conjugated polymers; polar side chain; SWCNT FET; sorting SWCNTs; polymer wrapping
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Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 29, 2022
Conjugated polymers with narrow band gaps are particularly useful for sorting and discriminating semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWCNT) due to the low charge carrier injection barrier for transport. In this paper, we report two newly synthesized narrow-band-gap conjugated polymers (PNDITEG-TVT and PNDIC8TEG-TVT) based on naphthalene diimide (NDI) and thienylennevinylene (TVT) building blocks, decorated with different polar side chains that can be used for dispersing and discriminating s-SWCNT. Compared with the mid-band-gap conjugated polymer PNDITEG-AH, which is composed of naphthalene diimide (NDI) and head-to-head bithiophene building blocks, the addition of a vinylene linker eliminates the steric congestion present in head-to-head bithiophene, which promotes backbone planarity, extending the π-conjugation length and narrowing the band gap. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that inserting a vinylene group in a head-to-head bithiophene efficiently lifts the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level (−5.60 eV for PNDITEG-AH, −5.02 eV for PNDITEG-TVT, and −5.09 eV for PNDIC8TEG-TVT). All three polymers are able to select for s-SWCNT, as evidenced by the sharp transitions in the absorption spectra. Field-effect transistors (FETs) fabricated with the polymer:SWCNT inks display p-dominant properties, with higher hole mobilities when using the NDI-TVT polymers as compared with PNDITEG-AH (0.6 cm2 V–1 s–1 for HiPCO:PNDITEG-AH, 1.5 cm2 V–1 s–1 for HiPCO:PNDITEG-TVT, and 2.3 cm2 V–1 s–1 for HiPCO:PNDIC8TEG-TVT). This improvement is due to the better alignment of the HOMO level of PNDITEG-TVT and PNDIC8TEG-TVT with that of the dominant SWCNT specie.