2024 | Suhao Wang, Wenjin Zhu, Ian E. Jacobs, William A. Wood, Zichen Wang, Suraj Manikandan, Jens Wenzel Andreasen, Hio-leng Un, Sarah Ursel, Sébastien Peralta, Shaoliang Guan, Jean-Claude Grivel, Stéphane Longuemart, and Henning Sirringhaus
This study investigates the enhancement of thermoelectric properties in conjugated polymers by suppressing dopant-induced disorder through ion-exchange doping. The researchers focused on polythiophene-based random copolymers (P(3HT)_{x+stat-(T)}_{y+stat-(T)}), where x and y represent the proportions of unsubstituted thiophene units. By doping with FeCl3 and BMP-TFSI, the team achieved high electrical conductivity (>400 S cm^{-1}) and power factor (>16 μW m^{-1} K^{-2}) in the doped polymer P3, significantly outperforming the undoped P1. Hall effect measurements revealed a large Hall mobility of up to 1.2 cm^2 V^{-1} s^{-1} in P3, compared to 0.06 cm^2 V^{-1} s^{-1} in P1. GIWAXS measurements showed that the in-plane π-π stacking distance in doped P3 was shortened to 3.44 Å, compared to 3.68 Å in doped P1, indicating reduced structural disorder. The study highlights the importance of minimizing dopant-induced disorder to achieve efficient charge transport in highly doped conjugated polymers, which is crucial for advanced organic electronics applications.This study investigates the enhancement of thermoelectric properties in conjugated polymers by suppressing dopant-induced disorder through ion-exchange doping. The researchers focused on polythiophene-based random copolymers (P(3HT)_{x+stat-(T)}_{y+stat-(T)}), where x and y represent the proportions of unsubstituted thiophene units. By doping with FeCl3 and BMP-TFSI, the team achieved high electrical conductivity (>400 S cm^{-1}) and power factor (>16 μW m^{-1} K^{-2}) in the doped polymer P3, significantly outperforming the undoped P1. Hall effect measurements revealed a large Hall mobility of up to 1.2 cm^2 V^{-1} s^{-1} in P3, compared to 0.06 cm^2 V^{-1} s^{-1} in P1. GIWAXS measurements showed that the in-plane π-π stacking distance in doped P3 was shortened to 3.44 Å, compared to 3.68 Å in doped P1, indicating reduced structural disorder. The study highlights the importance of minimizing dopant-induced disorder to achieve efficient charge transport in highly doped conjugated polymers, which is crucial for advanced organic electronics applications.