The main advantages of organic semiconductors are their ease of processing and more importantly their mechanical flexibility. Whereas most silicon based semiconductors are restricted to solid substrates, semiconducting polymers can easily be adapted to flexible substrates, opening up new application routes. However with the introduction of flexible and potentially wearable electronics, the susceptibility to externally induced physical damage to the organic semiconductor has to be taken into account.<br/>To circumvent the issue of material disintegration, our focus shifted to self-healing polymers, which exhibit the ability to repair induced damages or defects in their structure in order to restore the polymers initial mechanical and physical properties. To date the most common self-healing approaches are based on reversible Diels-Alder reactions, photo-induced healing or the incorporation of reactive components into the material matrix. These approaches are certainly appropriate for the healing of “traditional” polymers, but are not entirely compatible with the specificities of <i>π</i>-conjugated semiconducting polymers.<br/>In this paper we will lay out our design approach to combine the unique properties of semiconducting polymers with the advantages of self-healing materials. We will discuss our unique approach and elucidate the employed chemistry to synthesize self-healing semiconducting polymers. We will highlight how lowering the glass transition temperature of the semiconducting polymer lead to improved flow properties allowing the physical healing of damaged material, thus restoring the physical integrity and semiconducting character of the polymer.

Toward self-healing semiconducting polymers

249th National Meeting (2015)

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