Morphology and optoelectronic characteristics of organic field-effect transistors based on blends of polylactic acid and poly(3-hexylthiophene)

Chia Jung Cho, Shu Yuan Chen, Chi Ching Kuo*, Loganathan Veeramuthu, Ai Nhan Au-Duong, Yu Cheng Chiu, Shang Hung Chang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of the solvent used to prepare films of a poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) blend on the morphology and charge transport mobility of field-effect transistors (FETs). Films prepared from CH2Cl2, a poor solvent for P3HT, tended to form well-defined nanowires, attributable to P3HT self-assembly via a solubility-induced process. This phenomenon resulted in a mobility of 5.30 × 10−3 cm2 (Vs)−1 and an on/off ratio of 3.23 × 103 in a CH2Cl2-solvent P3HT/PLA-blend system with a P3HT content of 10 wt%. Even a blend with 2 wt% P3HT exhibited a mobility of 1.76 × 10−3 cm2 (Vs)−1. However, in blend systems where CHCl3 solvent was employed in film preparation, the mobility decreased as the PLA content increased, and almost no electrical characteristics were exhibited at 50 wt% P3HT due to the isolated, spherical, phase-separated morphology of P3HT aggregation. Moreover, in CH2Cl2 solvent systems, the mobility of the P3HT/PLA (10/90) blend decreased from 5.3 × 10−3 cm2 (Vs)−1 (in a glove box) to 3.7 × 10−3 cm2 (Vs)−1 (after 28 days of air exposure), whereas that of 100 wt% P3HT declined by approximately one order of magnitude. These results confirm that P3HT/PLA blends prepared from CH2Cl2 solvent can be used to fabricate environmentally friendly, low-cost FETs with favorable air stability.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)975-987
Number of pages13
JournalPolymer Journal
Volume50
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 10 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Society of Polymer Science, Japan.

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