Photoinduced Self‐Assembled Nanostructures and Permanent Polaron Formation in Regioregular Poly(3‐hexylthiophene) |
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| Authors: | Newton M. Barbosa Neto Marcia D. R. Silva Paulo T. Araujo Renato N. Sampaio |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Naturais – Programa de Pós‐gradua??o em Física, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém PA, Brazil;2. Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal de Uberlandia, Uberlandia, MG, Brazil;3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA;4. Center of Materials for Information Technology (MINT Center), University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA;5. Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA |
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| Abstract: | Solution processing of conjugated polymers into ordered self‐assembled precursors has attracted great interest in the past years owing to the ability to manipulate their structural and physical properties. Regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) has become the benchmark polymer in this scenario, where ordered lamellar structures significantly improve carrier mobility of the thin films due to increased crystallinity, extended intrachain conjugation, and ordered interchain π‐stacking. Here, a new photoinduced approach is presented for the generation of highly ordered P3HT aggregate structures that is amenable to the use of visible light to control the aggregate formation. Strong intra‐ and interchain interactions in the solution precursors allow for permanent formation of localized and delocalized polarons that are stable for months. Spin‐coated thin films are found to preserve, in part, the morphological and physical properties of the aggregated P3HT solution precursors with high degree of crystallinity and short π‐stack interchain distances. |
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| Keywords: | aggregates poly(3‐hexylthiophene) photoinduced polaron visible‐light |
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