Charge-Transport Anisotropy Due to Grain Boundaries in Directionally Crystallized Thin Films of Regioregular Poly(3-hexylthiophene)

Leslie H. Jimison, Michael F. Toney, Iain McCulloch, Martin Heeney, Alberto Salleo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

308 Scopus citations

Abstract

The problem of transport across grain boundaries in semicrystalline polymers was investigated quantitatively using a directional crystallization technique to make anisotropic thin films of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) with controlled grain-boundary placement and orientation. 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene (TCB), a small-molecule solvent that is solid at room temperature, acts first as a solvent and second as a substrate for polymer epitaxy. The solvent/polymer solution is then undercooled, allowing for the selective crystallization of TCB to be induced by the introduction of a heat sink. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) confirms the presence of a continuous film, and reveals the anisotropic fiber structure. The X-ray scattering data confirms the semicrystalline nature of the films, and reveals a pronounced in-plane film texture. The high-resolution GIXS experiments confirm the crystalline anisotropy in the plane of the substrate.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1568-1572
Number of pages5
JournalAdvanced Materials
Volume21
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 27 2009
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Generated from Scopus record by KAUST IRTS on 2023-02-14

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Mechanics of Materials
  • General Materials Science
  • Mechanical Engineering

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