Design of High‐Mobility Diketopyrrolopyrrole‐Based π‐Conjugated Copolymers for Organic Thin‐Film Transistors

Since the report of the first diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)‐based polymer semiconductor, such polymers have received considerable attention as a promising candidate for high‐performance polymer semiconductors in organic thin‐film transistors (OTFTs). This Progress Report summarizes the advances in the molecular design of high‐mobility DPP‐based polymers reported in the last few years, especially focusing on the molecular design of these polymers in respect of tuning the backbone and side chains, and discussing the influences of structural modification of the backbone and side chains on the properties and device performance of corresponding DPP‐based polymers. This provides insights for the development of new and high‐mobility polymer semiconductors.     

The Effects of Side Chains on the Charge Mobilities and Functionalities of Semiconducting Conjugated Polymers beyond Solubilities

Recent decades have witnessed the rapid development of semiconducting polymers in terms of high charge mobilities and applications in transistors. Significant efforts have been made to develop various conjugated frameworks and linkers. However, studies are increasingly demonstrating that the side chains of semiconducting polymers can significantly affect interchain packing, thin film crystallinity, and thus semiconducting performance. Ways to modify the side alkyl chains to improve the interchain packing order and charge mobilities for conjugated polymers are first discussed. It is shown that modifying the branching chains by moving the branching points away from the backbones can boost the charge mobilities, which can also be improved through partially replacing branching chains with linear ones. Second, the effects of side chains with heteroatoms and functional groups are discussed. The siloxane‐terminated side chains are utilized to enhance the semiconducting properties. The fluorinated alkyl chains are beneficial for improving both charge mobility and air stability. Incorporating H bonding group side chains can improve thin film crystallinities and boost charge mobilities. Notably, incorporating functional groups (e.g., glycol, tetrathiafulvalene, and thymine) into side chains can improve the selectivity of field‐effect transistor (FET)‐based sensors, while photochromic group containing side chains in conjugated polymers result in photoresponsive semiconductors and optically tunable FETs.     

Diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)‐Based Donor–Acceptor Polymers for Selective Dispersion of Large‐Diameter Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes

Low‐bandgap diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)‐based polymers are used for the selective dispersion of semiconducting single‐walled carbon nanotubes (s‐SWCNTs). Through rational molecular design to tune the polymer–SWCNT interactions, highly selective dispersions of s‐SWCNTs with diameters mainly around 1.5 nm are achieved. The influences of the polymer alkyl side‐chain substitution (i.e., branched vs linear side chains) on the dispersing yield and selectivity of s‐SWCNTs are investigated. Introducing linear alkyl side chains allows increased polymer–SWCNT interactions through close π–π stacking and improved C–H–π interactions. This work demonstrates that polymer side‐chain engineering is an effective method to modulate the polymer–SWCNT interactions and thereby affecting both critical parameters in dispersing yield and selectivity. Using these sorted s‐SWCNTs, high‐performance SWCNT network thin‐film transistors are fabricated. The solution‐deposited s‐SWCNT transistors yield simultaneously high mobilities of 41.2 cm² V^?1 s^?1 and high on/off ratios of greater than 10⁴. In summary, low‐bandgap DPP donor–acceptor polymers are a promising class of polymers for selective dispersion of large‐diameter s‐SWCNTs.     

Well‐Balanced Ambipolar Conjugated Polymers Featuring Mild Glass Transition Temperatures Toward High‐Performance Flexible Field‐Effect Transistors

Conjugated polymers, which can be fabricated by simple processing techniques and possess excellent electrical performance, are key to the fabrication of flexible polymer field‐effect transistors (PFETs) and integrated circuits. Herein, two ambipolar conjugated polymers based on (3E,7E)‐3,7‐bis(2‐oxo‐1H‐pyrrolo[2,3‐b]pyridin‐3(2H)‐ylidene)benzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b′]difuran‐2,6(3H,7H)‐dione and dithienylbenzothiadiazole units, namely PNBDOPV‐DTBT and PNBDOPV‐DTF2BT , are developed. Both copolymers possess almost planar conjugated backbone conformations and suitable highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)/lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels (?5.64/?4.38 eV for PNBDOPV‐DTBT and ?5.79/?4.48 eV for PNBDOPV‐DTF2BT ). Note that PNBDOPV‐DTBT has a glass transition temperature (140 °C) lower than the deformation temperature of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), meaning well‐ordered molecular packing can be obtained on PET substrate before its deformation in mild thermal annealing process. Flexible PFETs based on PNBDOPV‐DTBT fabricated on PET substrates exhibit high and well‐balanced hole/electron mobilities of 4.68/4.72 cm² V^?1 s^?1 under ambient conditions. After the further modification of Au source/drain electrodes with 1‐octanethiol self‐assembled monolayers, impressively high and well‐balanced hole/electron mobilities up to 5.97/7.07 cm² V^?1 s^?1 are achieved in the flexible PFETs. Meanwhile, flexible complementary‐like inverters based on PNBDOPV‐DTBT on PET substrate also afford a much high gain of 148. The device performances of both the PFETs and inverters are among the highest values for ambipolar conjugated polymers reported to date.