Probing Film Morphology and Ionic Transport in Organic Semiconductors

非技术描述：同时传导电子和离子的聚合物作为信号换能器具有技术价值，可以将生物系统与现代数字电子世界连接起来。该项目使用独特的显微镜工具，对这些聚合物的加工和结构如何影响其传导离子的能力，以及离子的传输如何反过来影响电子通过材料的传导提供了基本的理解。该项目的科学知识影响了生物电子学中聚合物材料性能的技术应用，也有利于更广泛的应用，如用于电化学储能的聚合物粘合剂，以及用于能量收集应用的潜在电子材料。该项目还建立在首席研究员在教育方面的良好记录的基础上，通过开发独特的可扩展的外展材料，作为最近创建的大使项目的一部分，培训学生进行外展活动。该项目包括对本科生研究的直接支持，并通过巩固首席研究员与雷尼尔学者组织的成功合作关系，解决科学领域代表性不足群体面临的潜在问题。技术描述：该项目的科学目标是对共轭聚合物薄膜中薄膜加工、局部结构和离子传输之间的关系有一个基本的了解，重点是了解局部非均质性的作用。共轭聚合物最近成为生物和数字环境之间的界面信号转导的有前途的材料。本项目通过应用一套独特的扫描探针显微镜方法，探索与此类应用相关的这些材料的基本结构/功能特性。具体来说，该项目采用电化学应变显微镜对共轭聚合物薄膜中的离子运动进行局部测量。此外，局部扫描探针电位法对掺杂离子的平面器件结构可以更好地理解色散离子输运的结构起源。最后，利用时间分辨静电力显微镜的独特能力来研究发生在时间上超过6个数量级的电子、离子和结构弛豫动力学，但具有亚衍射分辨率。重要的是，该项目利用环境（温度、溶剂、掺杂剂、偏压）控制下的原位成像研究结构和功能的共同演化，以了解混合离子/电子输运材料在真实空间中的结构和功能是如何相互关联的。

Nontechnical description: Polymers that simultaneously conduct both electrons and ions are of technological interest as signal transducers that can interface biological systems with the world of modern digital electronics. The project uses unique microscopy tools to provide a fundamental understanding of how the processing and structure of these polymers affects their ability to conduct ions, and how the transport of ions in turn affects the conduction of electrons through the material. The scientific knowledge from this project impacts technological applications for improving the materials performance of polymers in bioelectronics, and also stands to benefit broader applications such as polymer binders for use in electrochemical energy storage, and potentially also electronic materials for energy harvesting applications. This project additionally builds on the strong track record of the principal investigator in education by developing distinct scalable outreach materials as part of a recently created ambassadors project that trains students to conduct outreach. The project includes direct support for undergraduate research, and addresses pipeline issues facing under-represented groups in the sciences by cementing a successful partnership the principal investigator has undertaken with the Rainier Scholars organization.Technical description: The scientific goal of this project is to gain a fundamental understanding of the relationship between film processing, local structure, and ion transport in conjugated polymer thin films, with an emphasis on understanding the role of local heterogeneity. Conjugated polymers have recently emerged as promising materials for transducing signals at the interface between the biological and digital environments. This project explores fundamental structure/function properties of these materials as relevant to such applications by applying a unique set of scanning probe microscopy methods. Specifically, the project employs electrochemical strain microscopy to make local measurements of ion motion in conjugated polymer films. In addition, local scanning probe potentiometry of planar device structures doped with ions enables better understanding of structural origins of dispersive ionic transport. Finally, the unique capabilities of time-resolved electrostatic force microscopy are exploited to study electronic, ionic, and structural relaxation dynamics occurring over more than 6 orders of magnitude in time, but with sub-diffraction resolution. Importantly, the project studies the coevolution of structure and function using in situ imaging with environmental (temperature, solvent, dopant, bias) control to understand how structure and function correlate in mixed ionic / electronic transport materials properties in real space.