Green Synthesis of Lactone-Based Conjugated Polymers for n-Type Organic Electrochemical Transistors

Yazhou Wang, Erica Zeglio, Lewen Wang, Shengyu Cong, Genming Zhu, Hailiang Liao, Jiayao Duan, Yecheng Zhou, Zhengke Li, Damia Mawad, Anna Herland, Wan Yue, Iain McCulloch

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

60 Scopus citations

Abstract

As new and better materials are implemented for organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), it becomes increasingly important to adopt more economic and environmentally friendly synthesis pathways with respect to conventional transition-metal-catalyzed polymerizations. Herein, a series of novel n-type donor–acceptor-conjugated polymers based on glycolated lactone and bis-isatin units are reported. All the polymers are synthesized via green and metal-free aldol polymerization. The strong electron-deficient lactone-building blocks provide low-lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and the rigid backbone needed for efficient electron mobility up to 0.07 cm2 V−1 s−1. Instead, polar atoms in the backbone and ethylene glycol side chains contribute to the ionic conductivity. The resulting OECTs exhibit a normalized maximum transconductance gm,norm of 0.8 S cm−1 and a μC* of 6.7 F cm−1 V−1 s−1. Data on the microstructure show that such device performance originates from a unique porous morphology together with a highly disordered amorphous microstructure, leading to efficient ion-to-electron coupling. Overall, the design strategy provides an inexpensive and metal-free polymerization route for high-performing n-type OECTs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number2111439
JournalAdvanced Functional Materials
Volume32
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 19 2022
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics

Keywords

  • conjugated polymer
  • green chemistry
  • n-type organic semiconductor
  • organic electrochemical transistor
  • sustainable design

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