Side-Chain Free Semiconducting Polymer for High-Performance n-Type Organic Electrochemical Transistors
Yuyun Yao (University of Oxford)
Mustafeez Bashir Shah (TU Delft - Bio-Electronics)
Wanpeng Lu (University of Oxford)
Xian’e Li (University of Oxford, Linkoping University)
Rushil Vasant (University of California–Santa Barbara)
Zeinab Hamid (University of Oxford)
C.M. Coco Martin (TU Delft - Tera-Hertz Sensing)
A. Savva (TU Delft - Bio-Electronics)
Ian McCulloch (Princeton University, University of Oxford)
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Abstract
The development of organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) critically depends on the design and characterization of mixed-conducting, high-performance conjugated polymers (CPs) as channel materials, particularly for n-type OECTs. In this study, we present a novel strategy to enhance the OECT performance of a semiconducting polymer film via a postdeposition ester pyrolysis of thermally cleavable side chains, thus facilitating ion incorporation and transport within the bulk. Our approach relies on the synthesis of a high glass-transition, rigid-rod polymer, able to withstand the pyrolysis temperature without deformation and maintain the voids formed from the pyrolysis reaction which removes the thermally cleavable ester side chains. After side-chain cleavage, the resulting film exhibits increased porosity, hydrophilicity, and crystallinity. By creating bulk porosity in thin films via this approach, ion diffusion is enhanced, resulting in a superior μC* figure of merit up to 158.85 F cm–1 V–1 s–1, and a corresponding increase in normalized transconductance (31.67 S cm–1). In addition, the device switching speed and long-term stability are also observed to increase, further demonstrating the benefit of nanoscale porosity for mixed conductivity semiconductors.
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