Title
Improved Self-Assembly of P3HT with Pyrene-Functionalized Methacrylates
Date Issued
19 October 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Pathiranage T.M.S.K.
Ma Z.
Udamulle Gedara C.M.
Pan X.
Lee Y.
Biewer M.C.
Matyjaszewski K.
Stefan M.C.
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Publisher(s)
American Chemical Society
Abstract
A block copolymer with discotic liquid crystalline behavior was synthesized using Grignard metathesis polymerization (GRIM) and initiators for continuous activator regeneration atom transfer radical polymerization (ICAR-ATRP). A novel discotic liquid crystalline mesogen, 6-(pyren-1-yloxy)hexyl methacrylate (PyMA), comprises a block that is attached to regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (rr-P3HT) generated by GRIM and subjected to end-group modification. Due to the continuous regeneration of Cu+ in the reaction mixture in ICAR-ATRP compared to conventional methods, the synthesis was successfully performed with less catalyst. The purity and yield of the final product are increased by eliminating rigorous post-synthesis purification. Stacked pyrene units have contributed to the enhanced long-range π-πinteractions and aligning of the P3HT block as observed in thin-film X-ray diffraction (XRD). Furthermore, field-effect mobilities in the order of 10-2 cm2 V-1 s-1 in bottom-gate, top-contact organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) suggest an enhancement in charge transport due to the discotic electron-rich pyrene units that help mitigate the insulating effect of the methacrylate backbone. The formation of uniform microdomains of P3HT-b-poly(PyMA) observed with tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TMAFM) on the channel regions of OFETs indicates the unique packing of the block copolymer in comparison to pristine P3HT. Thermotropic properties of the novel discotic mesogen in the presence and absence of P3HT were observed with both the poly(3-hexylthiophene)-b-poly(6-(pyren-1-yloxy)hexyl methacrylate) (P3HT-b-poly(PyMA)) block copolymer and poly(6-(pyren-1-yloxy)hexyl methacrylate) (poly(PyMA)) homopolymer using polarized optical microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).
Start page
27325
End page
27334
Volume
6
Issue
41
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Bioquímica, Biología molecular
Ingeniería química
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85117759576
Source
ACS Omega
ISSN of the container
24701343
Sponsor(s)
Funding from Welch Foundation (AT-1740) and National Science Foundation (CHE-1566059 and CHE-1609880) is gratefully acknowledged (M.C.S.). M.C.S. thanks the generous endowed chair support from the Eugene McDermott Foundation. Y.L. and E.D.G. acknowledge the Office of Naval Research for financial support under grant no. N00014-17-1-2214. The Advanced Light Source is an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under contract no. DE-AC02-05CH11231.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus