A block copolymer of crosslinkable polythiophene and removable poly(ethylene oxide) for preparing heterostructures of organic semiconductors. Issue 6 (24th January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ube, T.; Kosaka, T.; Okazaki, H.; Nakae, K.; Ikeda, T.
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 5:Issue 6(2017)
• Page Start: 1414
• Page End: 1419
• Publication Date: 2017-01-24
• Subjects: Materials -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Optical materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Electronics -- Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c6tc04409c
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7526

Abstract

Abstract : Block copolymer films composed of polythiophene with cinnamate groups and poly(ethylene oxide) were prepared as template networks of donor/acceptor heterostructures. Abstract : We prepared a block copolymer composed of polythiophene (PT) with cinnamate groups and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), which are connected through a cleavable acetal bond, aiming at constructing donor/acceptor heterostructures through post deposition of acceptor molecules into donor template networks. The block copolymer films showed phase-separated structures with domain sizes of 10–100 nm. Irradiation with UV light afforded crosslinked films through [2+2] cyclodimerization of cinnamate groups. Then, PEO was removed by acidic cleavage of the acetal bond, yielding PT template networks. Taking advantage of the insoluble networks, a fullerene derivative was deposited into the PT templates through a spin-coating process to form donor/acceptor heterostructures. The introduction of the fullerene derivative was confirmed by UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. This strategy of depositing acceptor molecules into donor template networks, instead of spin-coating from donor/acceptor blend solutions, could be applied to improve the phase-separated structures and power conversion efficiencies of polymer solar cells.