Novel Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity for Use as Photonic Materials

印刷电子是一个快速发展的领域，产生了一系列引人注目的新技术，用于照明，显示，电源和传感器。弯曲和可弯曲的OLED屏幕已经在智能手机和可穿戴设备中大规模生产；轻质塑料太阳能电池不久将装饰建筑物；智能标签和包装将包括更新集成显示器的传感器。为了使这些新技术非常便宜和大面积地应用，有必要从溶液（从专门的电子墨水）中打印半导体材料。一类非常重要的可打印半导体是共轭聚合物，它可以强烈地吸收太阳能电池的光，有效地发射激光，照明和显示器的光，执行简单的逻辑运算，并作为化学传感器响应。然而，为了使这些长链分子能够从溶液中加工出来，它们需要长而油性的侧基，这些侧基大约占材料质量的一半。目前，这需要在聚合物的可加工性及其电子、光学和热性能之间做出妥协。该提案将开发一种可打印聚合物的新方法，避免材料性能的这种妥协，然后旨在在传感器，太阳能电池和激光器的示例应用中进行演示。这些将基于固有微孔聚合物（PIMs），一类目前用于气体分离和捕获的材料。pim是一种高可溶性、刚性和扭曲的长链分子，其设计使得薄膜中的链无法有效地形成相互连接的空隙网络，从而形成微孔结构。我们将设计和合成具有重复单元的新型pim，提供适合印刷电子应用的定制光学和电子特性。我们将测量它们的物理、光学和电子性质，以了解结构-功能关系。然后，我们将开发三个精心挑选的范例设备研究（化学传感器、激光和太阳能电池），以测试它们独特特性的效用。通过从聚合物中去除油性基团，我们将赋予材料高温稳定性，这将使设备更可靠地运行。定制的分子对接点将使化学传感与隐藏的爆炸物或食物腐烂产物的蒸气相互作用。非晶薄膜将被压印和掺杂以形成微型可见塑料激光器。增强吸收和控制不同有机半导体之间的电子界面将为大面积印刷太阳能电池提供新的机会。随着我们项目的科学成果的推进，我们将积极寻求新材料产生影响的最佳机会。我们将与项目伙伴DSTL（英国国防科学技术实验室）和瑞典EOD和排雷中心（SWEDEC）合作，测试用这些材料制成的新传感器，用于探测爆炸物的痕量水平，并在实地条件下对其进行评估。我们计划与知识转移网络和苏格兰创新中心合作，探索其他设备应用的机会，并与聚合物制造商合作，确定扩大规模和未来使用的途径。

Printed electronics is a rapidly growing field, generating a remarkable array of new technologies for lighting, displays, power and sensors. Curved and bendable OLED screens are already in mass production in smart phones and wearables; lightweight plastic solar cells will soon adorn buildings; smart labels and packaging will include sensors that update integrated displays.To make these new technologies very cheaply and in large area it is necessary to print the semiconducting materials from solution (from specialised electronic inks). A very important class of printable semiconductors are conjugated polymers which can strongly absorb light for solar cells, efficiently emit light as lasers, lighting and displays, perform simple logic operations, and respond as sensors for chemicals. To make these long chain molecules processable from solution, however, they require long, oily side groups which constitute around half the mass of the material. This currently necessitates a compromise between the processability of the polymers and their electronic, optical and thermal properties.This proposal will develop a new approach to printable polymers which avoid such a compromise in materials properties, then aims to demonstrate it in example applications of sensors, solar cells and lasers. These will be based on polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs), a class of materials currently used for gas separation and capture. PIMs are highly soluble, rigid and contorted long chain molecules, which have been designed so that the chains in a thin film pack inefficiently to create a network of interconnected voids, giving a microporous structure. We will design and synthesise new types of PIMs with repeating units that provide tailored optical and electronic properties suitable for the applications of printed electronics. We shall measure their physical, optical and electronic properties to understand structure-function relationships. We will then develop three carefully chosen exemplar device studies (in chemical sensors, lasers and solar cells) to test the utility of their distinctive properties. By omitting the oily side groups from the polymer, we will confer high temperature stability to the materials, which will allow devices to operate more reliably. Tailored molecular docking sites will enable chemical sensing interactions with the vapours of concealed explosives or the products of food decay. Amorphous thin films will be imprinted and doped to form miniature visible plastic lasers. Enhanced absorption, and control of the electronic interfaces between different organic semiconductors shall present new opportunities for large-area printed solar cells.As the scientific results from our project advance, we will actively seek the best opportunities for generating impact from the new materials. We shall work with project partners DSTL (the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory) and the Swedish EOD and Demining Centre (SWEDEC) to test new sensors made from these materials for detecting trace levels of explosives, and assess them in field conditions. We plan to work with the Knowledge Transfer Network and the Scottish Innovation Centres to explore opportunities for the other device applications, and engage with polymer manufacturers to identify pathways for scale-up and future use.