Conjugated polymers have a wide array of potential uses in fields such as renewable energy through their use in organic electronic devices such as organic photovoltaics. Typically, these devices are fabricated with pre-synthesized polymers that are cast as films onto a substrate. However, the nature of the film morphology directly impacts device performance. Being able to grow a conjugated polymer directly from a functionalized surface could lead to higher organization and tighter packing between the molecules, therefore creating more effective devices. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are used to functionalize surfaces with molecules capable of initiating conjugated polymer growth. We are functionalizing SiO<sub>2</sub> and gold surfaces with a new SAM that initiates polymerization, and later can be selectively cleaved to release the polymer. In particular, we are using microcontact printing to nanopattern our substrates so that we can use atomic force microscopy to show that polymerization only occurs in the presence of our SAM, and then is removed under our specific conditions.

Patterning conjugated polymer growth by microcontact printing

2019 Spring National Meeting

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