Semiconductors are a major driving force of innovation for many cutting-edge digital devices used today in multiple industries, ranging from electronics to healthcare. The Internet of Things, where wirelessly connected objects are continuously acquiring data through the integration of small electronics, has been a direct result of advanced semiconductors. Among the semiconductors developed, π-conjugated semiconducting polymers (SPs) possess particularly outstanding properties as these materials have good charge transport properties and high biocompatibility/low toxicity. Despite having unique qualities, current SPs often lack important features for their application at large scale. Due to their crystallinity, SPs can have high Young’s moduli and limited mechanical properties, poor solubility in polar solvents, and low resistance to complex patterning techniques.<br/><br/>Among others, the incorporation of reversible chemical bonds in SPs has been an emerging strategy to control the electronic and mechanical properties of SPs. Recent examples of materials incorporating moieties capable of generating hydrogen bonds, as well as coordinating ligands, have been reported. The careful characterization of these materials confirmed that this approach can lead to a well-defined solid-state morphology and molecular self-assembly. Building from this new knowledge, our group utilizes various types of dynamic covalent and non-covalent bonds to generate adaptable semiconducting polymer networks. By using this strategy with different semiconducting polymer systems, we found that not only are these bonds dynamic, but that they also disrupt chain packing in the solid-state, resulting in materials that are more amorphous (softer). Some particularly interesting properties were also accessed through this rational materials design, opening new avenues to create soft electronics.<br/><br/>This presentation will cover recent design and synthetic strategies exploited by our team prepare new functional semicrystalline polymers through the utilization of reversible non-covalent and covalent bonds. Results from a detailed multimodal characterization of the solid-state morphology of the new materials in thin films will be introduced, as well as the new structure-property relationships unveiled during our investigation. Application of the materials as active materials in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) and flexible sensors will also be discussed.

Introducing reversible bonds in semiconducting polymers: Impact on thermomechanical and charge transport properties in organic field-effect transistors

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ACS Fall 2022

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