Stretchable Conjugated Polymers: A Case Study in Topic Selection for New Research Groups.
Stretchable Conjugated Polymers: A Case Study in Topic Selection for New Research Groups.
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DOI：
10.1021/acs.accounts.8b00459
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发表时间：
2018-12
影响因子：
18.3
通讯作者：
Andrew T. Kleinschmidt;D. Lipomi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Andrew T. Kleinschmidt;D. Lipomi
π共轭（半导体）聚合物领域已经被承保，主要是因为能源和医疗保健的柔性（越来越多的可拉伸）设备的前景。我们的研究小组在过去的六年里花了很多时间研究共轭聚合物的机械性能。机械坚固的材料可以延长太阳能电池和有机发光二极管（OLED）面板等设备的寿命，并实现卷对卷印刷等高吞吐量加工技术。此外，可穿戴和可植入设备，包括电子皮肤、可植入压力传感器和触觉致动器，受益于具有接近生物组织的模量和延伸率。然而，在我们实验室成立之初，人们对共轭聚合物的光电性质的理解比它们的机械性质要深入得多。因此，我们着手，作为我们实验室的第一个研究课题，了解共轭聚合物的机械性能的分子和微观结构的决定因素。这不仅是我们的科学发现，也是务实的方面，包括人员，资金和时间限制，我们的研究作为一个新生的研究小组。我们希望该帐户将为新独立的科学家提供有关开始新的研究实验室的过程的信息。我们确定了我们科学发展的三个主要阶段。(1)我们首先进行了概念验证实验，以确定化学结构和机械性能之间的基本相关性，并确定高光电性能和机械鲁棒性是否相互排斥。(2)然后，我们增加了新的测试技术，以实现更快速和更强大的测量，例如获得共轭聚合物薄膜的全应力-应变曲线，表征薄膜失效模式，以及简化玻璃化转变温度的识别。(3)最后，我们将有机合成和分子动力学模拟等新功能纳入了我们团队的工具包。这些阶段与增加的资金、人员承诺和承担长期项目的灵活性相对应。我们的研究工作确定了基于聚噻吩的半导体聚合物，其能够实现高功率转换效率并适应高度应变。此外，我们确定了几个化学和微观结构的共轭聚合物薄膜的机械性能的决定因素，如侧链的化学组成和结构和高度依赖于无定形包装结构。虽然该领域还没有生产出具有高弹性范围和重复变形的可拉伸材料，但我们希望我们的工作和该领域其他人的工作为未来的发展提供了基础。
The field of π-conjugated (semiconducting) polymers has been underwritten largely because of the promise of flexible (and increasingly, stretchable) devices for energy and health care. Our research group has spent much of the past six years studying the mechanical properties of conjugated polymers. Mechanically robust materials can extend the life spans of devices such as solar cells and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels and enable high throughput processing techniques such as roll-to-roll printing. Additionally, wearable and implantable devices, including electronic skin, implantable pressure sensors, and haptic actuators, benefit by having moduli and extensibilities close to those of biological tissue. At the time of our laboratory's inception, however, the optoelectronic properties of conjugated polymers were understood in much greater depth than their mechanical properties. We therefore set out, as our laboratory's first research topic, to understand the molecular and microstructural determinants of the mechanical properties of conjugated polymers. This is an Account not only of our scientific findings but also of the pragmatic aspects, including personnel, funding, and time constraints, behind our studies as a nascent research group. We hope that this Account will provide information to newly independent scientists about the process of starting a new research laboratory. We identify three main stages of our scientific growth. (1) We began by conducting proof-of-concept experiments to identify basic correlations between chemical structure and mechanical properties and to determine whether high optoelectronic performance and mechanical robustness were mutually exclusive. (2) We then added new metrological techniques to enable more rapid and robust measurements, such as obtaining full stress-strain curves for conjugated polymer thin films, characterizing modes of thin film failure, and simplified identification of the glass transition temperature. (3) Finally, we incorporated new capabilities, such as organic synthesis and molecular dynamics simulations, into the toolkit of our group. These stages corresponded with increased funding, personnel commitment, and flexibility to take on long-term projects. Our research efforts identified polythiophene-based semiconducting polymers capable of both achieving high power conversion efficiencies and accommodating high degrees of strain. Additionally, we identified several chemical and microstructural determinants of the mechanical properties of conjugated polymer films, such as the chemical composition and structure of side chains and a high degree of dependence on amorphous packing structure. While the field has not yet produced stretchable materials that retain state-of-the-art electronic properties with high elastic range and repeated deformation, we hope that our work and the work of others in the field has provided a foundation for future advances.