Electrochemical transistors are promising devices that may lead to new applications in bioelectronics. The mechanical mismatch between bioelectronic devices and biological tissue can lead to problems with long-term stability, thereby motivating the need for soft conducting materials. As such, we aim to synthesize organic electroactive materials with ultra-soft mechanical properties. We hypothesize that conjugated bottlebrush polymers, which have reduced entanglements due to their architecture, can lead to electrically conductive polymers with soft mechanical properties. Here we have synthesized four schemes of conjugated polymers ranging from fully conjugated to semi-conjugated (with either the side chains or the backbone conjugated) to completely unconjugated for comparison. Using coupling techniques (Suzuki Coupling) and controlled radical polymerizations (reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer and atom transfer radical polymerization), we have synthesized poly(carbazole-co-diketopyrrolopyrrole)-graft-poly(3-hexylthiophene), poly(styrene)-graft-poly(3-hexylthiophene), poly(carbazole-co-diketopyrrolopyrrole)-graft-poly(styrene), and poly(styrene)-graft-poly(styrene). We have then compared the electrical and mechanical properties to ascertain the role of molecular design.

Bottlebrush conjugated polymers for electrochemical transistors

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.