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Assembly and alignment of conjugated polymers: materials design, processing, and applications

Part of: Polymers and Soft Matter

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2015

Kyeongwoon Chung ,
Youngchang Yu ,
Min Sang Kwon ,
John Swets ,
Jinsang Kim  and
Ji Ho Youk
Kyeongwoon Chung
Affiliation:
Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
Youngchang Yu
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
Min Sang Kwon
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
John Swets
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
Jinsang Kim*
Affiliation:
Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109; Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109; Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
Ji Ho Youk
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Organic Materials Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, South Korea; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
*
Address all correspondence to Jinsang Kim atjinsang@umich.edu
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Abstract

Conjugated polymers (CPs) are widely investigated because of their intriguing optical and semiconducting properties in various optoelectronic device applications. Because of the one-dimensional p-orbital overlap along the main chain, CPs exhibit strong anisotropy in optoelectronic characteristics. Therefore, macroscopic assembly and alignment of CPs are essential to fully utilize their potential properties in real device applications. Here we review various processing strategies and material design principles for efficient CP alignment that result in highly anisotropic optical and electronic characteristics. Furthermore, we thoroughly review the incorporation of aligned CPs layers in organic light-emitting diodes, organic thin film transistors, and organic photovoltaic devices. The achieved macroscopic CP alignment has increased the optoelectronic properties and greatly improved device performance.

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Type
Polymers/Soft Matter Prospective Articles
Information
MRS Communications , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 169 - 189
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2015 

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