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Finely Tuned Electron/Hole Transport Preference of Thiazoloisoindigo-based Conjugated Polymers by Incorporation of Heavy Chalcogenophenes

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Abstract

A series of copolymers of thiazoloisoindigo (TzII) with different chalcogenophene trimers were synthesized to systematically investigate the chalcogen effect on their charge transport properties. When only the middle thiophene ring of terthiphene (T-T-T) is replaced by heavier chalcogenophenes, a preference (expressed by the ratio of μe/μh) towards electron transport was observed descending from T-T-T to T-Se-T then to T-Te-T (Se and Te stand for selenophene and tellurophene, respectively). On the other hand, with the increased number of heavier chalcogenophenes, a preference toward hole transport was observed descending from Se-T-Se to Se-Se-Se then to Se-Te-Se. This phenomenon is well-explained by the balance between the aromatic resonance energy of the chalcogenophenes and the electronegativity of the chalcogens. Specifically, P(TzII-T-Se-T) displayed relatively balanced ambipolar property (μhmax and μemax of 3.77 and 1.59 cm2·V−1·s−1 with a μe/μh of 0.42), while P(Tzll-Se-Te-Se) exhibited the best preference to hole transfer with a μe/μh of 0.09. P(Tzll-T-Te-T) exhibited the best preference to electron transfer with a μe/μh, of 16 and the μemax of 0.64 cm2·V−1·s−1 which is the highest electron mobility among the known conjugated polymers containing tellurophenes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the research financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22075105 and 51573204) and National Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. ZR2018ZB0315). H. Zhang thanks the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51803230). Prof. J. Wang thanks the financial support from the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Chemical Materials and Devices of Ministry of Education, Jianghan University. The authors thank Dr. Chunming Yang for GIWAXS tests and beamline BL16B1 (Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility) for providing beam time.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Chemical Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Jianghan University, Wuhan, 430056, China

    Chen-Chen Li, Jia-Wei Peng, You-Bing Mu & Xiao-Bo Wan

  2. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, the Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Miao Xiong, Jie-Yu Wang & Jian Pei

  3. Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy & Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, China

    Huan-Rui Zhang

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  1. Chen-Chen Li
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Correspondence to You-Bing Mu or Xiao-Bo Wan.

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Finely Tuned Electron/Hole Transport Preference of Thiazoloisoindigo-based Conjugated Polymers by Incorporation of Heavy Chalcogenophenes

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Li, CC., Xiong, M., Peng, JW. et al. Finely Tuned Electron/Hole Transport Preference of Thiazoloisoindigo-based Conjugated Polymers by Incorporation of Heavy Chalcogenophenes. Chin J Polym Sci 39, 838–848 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-021-2552-9

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