Vapor Phase Organic Chemistry to Deposit Conjugated Polymer Films on Textiles

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Professor Trisha L. Andrew at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is supported by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry (MSN) Program of the Division of Chemistry to develop a novel approach to fabricate textile-based electronic devices. Approaches for blending reactive vapor coating techniques with traditional textile manufacturing routines, such as sewing, weaving and knitting are explored. The aim is to transform familiar fabrics and threads into electronic circuit components by coating the fabric surface with conjugated organic polymers. Currently available methods for reactive vapor coating are difficult, and not applicable to optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells and light-emitting diodes. The project investigates the chemical processes involved in the vapor deposition of conjugated polymers on fabrics and the reaction conditions which enable the growth of a solar cell or light-emitting diode directly on prewoven fabrics, thus creating robust, solar harvesting textiles. Textiles capable of harvesting solar power can drive renewable energy into innovative new applications, such as solar-harvesting window curtains, and sewable solar energy-harvesting patches for outerwear and camping gear. Minority and underprivileged students from Springfield Technical Community College are recruited to pursue higher degrees in science, and engineering and are afforded opportunities for summer research experiences in an industrially-relevant project. The project explores the range of electronic polymer films that can be created by reactive vapor coating. The focus is on the chemical processes involved in the vapor deposition of Type II donor-acceptor heterojunctions, which is the basis of most organic solar cells (OSCs) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The specific aims are: 1) to investigate the vapor-phase oxidative polymerization of select heterocyclic monomers that create hole- or electron-conducting polymer semiconductors, for example fused thiophenes, benzofurans, cyclopentadienones, and thienopyrazines; 2) to develop strategies for the preparation of vapor deposited donor-acceptor composite polymers with tunable band gaps across the visible wavelength region; and 3) to explore the efficacy of post-deposition functionalization reactions to achieve structure diversity and transform hole-conducting polymers into electron-conductors.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.