Efficient, Robust and Soluble Electron Transport Polymers

非技术摘要：强大、可靠和灵活的设备/电路可能会对从医疗保健和环境质量到能源和安全的各种行业产生变革。为了实现这一愿景，需要能够有效运输电荷的新材料。在这方面，传输电子的聚合物尤其具有挑战性。这项提议旨在设计和合成新的分子结构，不仅容易传输电子，而且与低成本的制造技术兼容。这项研究将对作为我们社会支柱的一系列电子技术产生影响。此外，学生将从该项目的多学科性质中受益。所有参与该计划的学生都将接受交叉培训，并在必要时通过更多的合作进一步扩大他们的知识和经验。他们将通过参加佐治亚理工学院聚合物网络-学生协会来培养领导技能，并有机会参加专业发展研讨会。国际和平协会致力于在其招聘、教育和培训活动中保持多样性。技术概述：聚合物半导体具有许多优点，这些优点源于其固有的柔韧性、溶解性和低温加工性。这种竞争性的特性使得聚酰亚胺共轭聚合物在低成本、轻质和大面积柔性光电子中得以实现。应用领域从简单的晶体管设备到用于能量转换的光伏，再到发光二极管，再到热电和传感器。这些设备的无处不在的可用性将有助于国家在医疗保健、环境质量、能源和安全方面的需求。为了实现设想的器件范围，空穴和电子传输材料都是必需的。其中，表现出电子传输特性的聚合物由于氧化稳定性差和对水分高度敏感而在可获得性方面受到更多限制。这项研究将确定具有扩展的pi共轭以保持低带隙、低HOMO水平以增强稳定性以及具有有效的pi-pi分子间相互作用以改善电荷传输性能的聚合物结构。这项研究将探索替代的烷基侧链在常见有机溶剂中溶解目标聚合物的能力，合成均聚物和施主-受体结构来调节HOMO/LUMO能级，通过光谱、显微和电学方法表征目标材料以确定重要的材料结构-加工-性能参数，并制造场效应晶体管、光伏和热电器件以评估所提出的方法的影响。将确定关键的、可合成的分子组分，它们将提供半导体聚合物圆周率共轭长度的延长，从而允许电荷传输所必需的取向和排列。这些研究将确定高效、坚固、可溶的电子传输聚合物材料，用于灵活的电子应用。

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Robust, reliable and flexible devices/circuits could be transformational for industries ranging from healthcare and environmental quality to energy and security. To attain this vision, new materials that can effectively transport charges are needed. In this regard, polymers that transport electrons are especially challenging. This proposal aims to design and synthesize new molecular structures that will not only readily transport electrons, but also be compatible with low-cost fabrication techniques. The research will impact a range of electronics technologies that are the mainstay of our society. Also, students will realize benefits from the multidisciplinary nature of the program. All students participating in this program will be cross-trained and, where necessary, will further expand their knowledge and experience through additional collaborations. They will develop leadership skills and have access to professional development workshops through participation in the Georgia Tech Polymer Network-Student Association. The PI is committed to diversity in her recruiting, education and training activities. TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Polymeric semiconductors have a number of advantages that derive from their inherent flexibility, solubility, and low temperature processability. Such competitive characteristics allow for the implementation of pi-conjugated polymers in low-cost, light-weight and large-area flexible optoelectronics. The application space ranges from simple transistor devices to photovoltaics for energy conversion, to light emitting diodes, to thermo-electrics and sensors. Ubiquitous availability of such devices will contribute the nation's needs in healthcare, environmental quality, energy and security. To enable the range of envisioned devices, both hole and electron transporting materials are required. Among these, polymers that exhibit electron transport characteristics are much more limited in their availability due to poor oxidative stability and high sensitivity to moisture. This study will identify polymer architectures having extended pi-conjugation to maintain a low bandgap, a low HOMO level for enhanced stability, and effective pi-pi intermolecular interactions to improved charge transport performance. The investigation will explore alternative alkyl side chains for their ability to solubilize targeted polymers in common organic solvents, synthesize both homopolymers and donor-acceptor architectures to tune HOMO/LUMO energy levels, characterize targeted materials via spectroscopic, microscopic and electrical methods to identify significant materials structure-processing-property parameters, and fabricate field effect transistor, photovoltaic and thermo-electric devices to evaluate the impact of the proposed approach. Key, synthetically accessible molecular components will be identified that will provide for an extension of semiconducting polymer pi-conjugation length allowing for the orientation and alignment that are an imperative for charge transport. The studies will identify efficient, robust, soluble electron transport polymer materials for flexible electronics applications.