High-Density Polymer Films for Organic Electronics**************

高性能聚合物，使便携式和低成本电子设备的能效运行成为当今研究的热点。总部设在多瓦尔(昆士兰)的1-Material Inc.是合成共轭半导体聚合物的领先公司，该公司有兴趣探索聚合物密度在决定使用此类聚合物作为其有源(半导体)层的设备中的电性能效率方面所起的作用。特别是，他们的设施不允许对他们合成的共轭半导体聚合物进行任何电学表征。这一从事研究项目汇集了材料物理/设备工程(Orgiu研究工作组，位于国家科学研究院)和聚合物合成化学(1-Material Inc.)的专家。创造一个前所未有的机会，产生新的知识，为有机电子产品开发聚合物。由Orgiu教授领导的团队将制备不同密度的聚合物薄膜并对其进行电学表征，并将密度和电学性能与1-Material建议的化学设计相关联。该项目给加拿大带来的两个主要好处是：(I)增进加拿大公司的知识，以增加加拿大制造业电子相关部门的商业机会和国际竞争力；(Ii)培训HQP，他们将受到学术界和工业界的高度需求，并能够就未来的工业需求做出明智的决定。印刷和薄膜电子产品的市场目前约为22亿美元，预计到2021年将增加到442.5亿美元。对加拿大来说，重要的是成为国际上的关键参与者，在便携式聚合物薄膜电子产品的材料生产方面走在前列。

High performance polymers, enabling the energy-efficient operation of portable and low-cost electronic devices, are intensively investigated nowadays. 1-Material Inc., a company leader in the synthesis of conjugated semiconductor polymers, based in Dorval (QC), is interested in exploring the role played by the polymer density in determining the efficiency of electrical performances in devices that employ such polymers as their active (semiconductor) layer. In particular, their facilities do not allow to carry out any electrical characterization of the conjugated semiconductor polymers they synthesize. This Engage research project brings together experts in materials physics/device engineering (Orgiu research workgroup, at Institut national de la recherche scientifique) and in polymer synthetic chemistry (1-Material Inc.) to create an unprecedented opportunity to generate new knowledge to develop polymers for organic electronics. The team led by Prof. Orgiu will prepare and electrically characterize polymer films of different density, and correlate density and electrical performance with the chemical design suggested by 1-Material. The two key benefits to Canada of this Engage project are: (i) advancing the knowledge of Canadian companies to increase business opportunities and international competitiveness of the Canadian manufacturing electronics-related sector and (ii) training of HQP who will be in high demand from both academia and industry and who can make educated decisions on future industrial needs. The market for printed and thin-film electronics is at present of about $2.2 billions, expected to increase to $44.25 billions by 2021. It is important for Canada to be a key player at the international level, to be at the forefront in the production of materials for portable polymer-based thin-film electronics.****