Solvent Additive-Assisted Anisotropic Assembly and Enhanced Charge Transport of π-Conjugated Polymer Thin Films

Charge transport in π-conjugated polymer films involves π–π interactions within or between polymer chains. Here, we demonstrate a facile solution processing strategy that provides enhanced intra- and interchain π–π interactions of the resultant polymer films using a good solvent additive with low volatility. These increased interactions result in enhanced charge transport properties. The effect of the good solvent additive on the intra- and intermolecular interactions, morphologies, and charge transport properties of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) films is systematically investigated. We found that the good solvent additive facilitates the self-assembly of P3HT chains into crystalline fibrillar nanostructures by extending the solvent drying time during thin-film formation. As compared to the prior approach using a nonsolvent additive with low volatility, the solvent blend system containing a good solvent additive results in enhanced charge transport in P3HT organic field-effect transistor (OFET) devices [from ca. 1.7 × 10–2 to ca. 8.2 × 10–2 cm2 V–1 s–1 for dichlorobenzene (DCB) versus 4.4 × 10–2 cm2 V–1 s–1 for acetonitrile]. The mobility appears to be maximized over a broad spectrum of additive concentrations (1–7 vol %), indicative of a wide processing window. Detailed analysis results regarding the charge injection and transport characteristics of the OFET devices reveal that a high-boiling-point solvent additive decreases both the contact resistance (Rc) and channel resistance (Rch), contributing to the mobility enhancement of the devices. Finally, the platform presented here is proven to be applicable to alternative good solvent additives with low volatility, such as chlorobenzene (CB) and trichlorobenzene (TCB). Specifically, the mobility enhancement of the resultant P3HT films increases in the order CB (bp 131 °C) < DCB (bp 180 °C) < TCB (bp 214 °C), suggesting that solvent additives with higher boiling points provide resultant films with preferable molecular ordering and morphologies for efficient charge transport.